........infirmity. And He laid His hands on her; and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God." (vs. 11-13) She had a spirit from Satan. God may choose to cast out those demons and heal people of infirmities.
God can also make you sick! He has made the deaf and the dumb and the blind. God allowed the man in John 9 to be born blind. God wanted Lazarus dead. Jesus wanted him dead; He stayed away (John 11:1-11). Some people are sick because God wants them sick. You may have a little baby who is sick, but that may be God's plan so that you will seek Him to heal the baby.
God sometimes allows Satan to make you sick for special reasons. God had a purpose for Job. God said to Satan, "I want you to see that I have a man who can handle you. He can handle any test you give him." (Job 1:8) God may allow Satan to buffet you, such as he sent a messenger of Satan to do to Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:17, where Paul prayed three times to God to remove his thorn in the flesh, but God chose not to deliver him! So it could be a demon, or it could be God letting it happen; letting Satan do it to perfect you.
God makes you sick to perfect you. He might allow you to get sick because He has a purpose. David prays in Psalm 119:67, "Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now have I kept thy word." Then he says in vs. 71, "It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes." So, sometimes sickness drives us to seek God. It is better to be sick and Godly than well and ungodly!
Then, as I have already stated, God chastens for sin, such as Miriam's leprosy (Numbers 12:9-12); pestilence (Deut. 28:21-22); etc. God also gave Gehazi leprosy when he sinned (2 Kings 5:15-27) and in 1 Corinthians 11:30, God chastened them for their desecration of the Lords table. Paul said, "For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep."
Just as when God fed the Jews with manna in the desert, but then, when they got to the promised land where it was no longer needed, he retracted it. The same applies to the gifts of healings and miracles. Once the Word, or the Canon was complete, the signs ceased!
How can we be sure of this? Paul had the gift of healings and only used it to confirm the word of his preaching! "And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power." (1 Corinthians 2:4) However, Paul never used his gift outside of it's purpose which was to confirm the word. Paul's friend, Epaphroditus was sick to the point of death, but Paul did not heal him! It is recorded in Phillipians 2:25-27. "Yet I thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and companion in labor, and fellow soldier---for he longed after you all, and was full of heaviness, because ye had heard that he had been sick. For indeed, he was sick near near unto death, but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow." So, in this case, God would not let Paul use his gift. The sickness that Epaphroditus had, was brought on by his persecutors, for trying to help Paul. The Greek word for "sick" is "Astheneo", and means: "to be without strength; powerless; unable to acheive anything great, infirm." However, the fact is, he almost died, and Paul did not heal him until God had mercy on them both! If Paul could have used the gift of healing at will, he would have then! But, the purpose of the gift was not to keep Christians healthy, but was given as a sign to unbelievers. The gift was used only at the point when God revealed that the purpose was clear, the time was right, and it was necessary for proclamation.
Another instance, proving the gift was not given to keep Christians healthy, but was a sign to unbelievers to hear the Gospel of the kingdom is in 2 Timothy 4:20. Paul says, "---Trophimus have I left at Miletus sick." Timothy must have been sick on occassion also. Instead of using his gift of healing, or instructing to seek out someone else with the gift, he said "use a little wine for thy stomach's sake." (1 Timothy 5:23).
The fact remains, every human being on earth, including Christians, get sick! Although the Lord heals us, there is always one more sickness that takes its place, and finally, there is one sickness that none of us ever recovers from, and that is our last one! The only ones exempt from the last sickness unto death were the Old Testament Saints, Enoch and Elijah. Other than those, sickness unto death has been claiming every person born, from Adam!
POSITIVE CONFESSION-CAN IT PRODUCE HEALING?
The Bible gives many verses, which teach us that if we use good words, such as are given us in the Scriptures and Holy Writings, will definately improve our dispostion while on earth! No one likes to be around a "bad mouther", or a negative person. However, the faith healers seem to insinuate that all we have to do is verbally confess anything that we want from God, over and over, and by our confession, it will finally materialize! However, that is fantasy and is not Biblical.
You can confess healing to our last breath, but the fact is, you will finally die! "It is appointed unto every, man once to die, and then the judgement." (Hebrews 9:27) The faith teachers take verses out of context to propagate their "name it and claim it" doctrine. They use verses such as: "as it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were." (Romans 4:17). I have even heard a brother stand up in a "Full Gospel" meeting and speak to a crippled
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