Way of Life Literature: - September 20, 2006 by David Cloud - The following is an excerpt from our new 317-page book The Pentecostal-Charismatic Movement: Its History and Error, available from Way of Life Literature:
A central teaching of the Pentecostal-Charismatic movement is the false doctrine that physical healing is promised in this present life by the atonement of Jesus Christ.
"The sacrifice of Christ provided not only for the salvation of the souls of men but also for the healing of man's physical ailments. Divine healing is healing accomplished by the power of God and is available to all who believe. the same as salvation" (Church of God of Prophecy Beliefs).
"When Jesus Christ died on the cross, He redeemed us from the curse of the law--poverty, sickness and spiritual death. For spiritual death, Jesus gave us eternal life, for sickness, divine healing and health, and for poverty, wealth" (Rodney Howard-Browne, The Touch of God: A Practical Workbook, Volume 2, p. 55).
Isaiah 53:5 is often quoted as a proof text for this.
"But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."
The apostle Peter applied Isaiah 53:5 to salvation from sin. Thus, the healing spoken of in Isaiah 53:5 is spiritual healing of the soul from sin.
"Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye are healed" (1 Pet. 2:24).
Isaiah 53:5 is quoted in Matthew 8:17, in connection with Christ's healing ministry, but this does not support the teaching that Christ's death guarantees physical healing for the believer. The Lord Jesus Christ did not heal to provide an example for Christians to follow. His healing miracles were for the purpose of authenticating His Messiahship (Lk. 7:19-23; Jn 5:36; 6:14; 7:31; 9:30-32; 10:37-38; 11:42; 14:10-11; 15:24; 20:30-31; Acts 2:22).
The New Testament gives the following three examples that conclusively prove that God does not always heal the believer's sicknesses.
THE CASE OF TIMOTHY. Timothy was sick frequently and the apostle Paul instructed him to use a little wine for his stomach's sake and his often infirmities (1 Tim. 5:23). God did not heal Timothy supernaturally or permanently from his sickness nor did he instruct Timothy to curse his illnesses or to exercise "the word of faith" over them.
THE CASE OF TROPHIMUS. In 2 Timothy 4:20 we learn that another of Paul's co-workers, Trophimus, was left behind in Miletum sick. He was not supernaturally healed.
THE CASE OF PAUL. 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 describes the apostle Paul's affliction. Three times he asked God to take away this problem, but the Bible says God refused to do so. Paul was told that this infirmity was something God wanted him to have for his spiritual well being. Upon learning this, Paul bowed to God's will and wisely said: "Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong" (2 Cor. 12:10). This is a perfect example for Christians today. We should pray for healing and release from trials and difficulties, but when God does not heal, we must bow to His will and accept that sickness or trial as something from the divine hand. This is not lack of faith; it is submission to the sovereignty of Almighty God. Some Pentecostals have argued that Paul's infirmity was not a sickness, but the Greek word translated "infirmity" in 2 Cor. 12:9 (astheneia) is elsewhere translated "sickness" (Mat. 8:17; Jn. 11:4) and "disease" (Acts 28:9). To say that Paul's infirmity in 2 Corinthians 12 was not a sickness is not proper biblical interpretation but an act of desperation.
God's choicest servants throughout church history have suffered many sicknesses:
Many of the famous hymns were written by sick people. The following had tuberculosis for much of their lives and died of it: William Bradbury, who wrote "He Leadeth Me"; August Toplady, who wrote "Rock of Ages"; Philipp Doddridge, who wrote "Oh Happy Day"; and Sarah Flower Adams, who wrote "Nearer My God to Thee."
Isaac Watts, who wrote "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross," "Marching to Zion," and "Joy to the World," suffered all his life.
"Joseph Scribben, who wrote "What a Friend We Have in Jesus," had tragedy and sickness all his life.
Frank Graff, who wrote "Does Jesus Care," was sick most of his life. . Fanny Crosby, who wrote "Saved by Grace" and "Safe in the Arms of Jesus" and many other popular hymns, was blind from birth, blind for 95 years. Instead of rebuking her affliction or exercising "the word of faith" over it, she wisely testified:
"O what a happy soul am I! Although I cannot see I am resolved that in this world Contented I will be. How many blessings I enjoy, That other people don't. To weep and sigh because I'm blind, I cannot, and I won't."
Robert Murray McCheyne and David Brainard, who had a reputation for holiness and zeal for God's will, both died from lung disease at the age of 30.
Today God does heal in answer to prayer after the manner of JAMES 5:13-15.
"Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him" (Jam. 5:13-15).
This passage describes a private healing situation rather than a public healing meeting and it says nothing about someone who has the gift of healing; it refers simply to the elders of the church.
James 5 describes the method of healing that is effective throughout the church age, but to say that James 5 guarantees healing in every circumstance is contrary to the cases we have seen in the New Testament in which God did not heal sickness.
I want to state unequivocally that I believe in divine healing through prayer. I have experienced such healing, and I know many Christian friends who have experienced the same.
Let me give one example. This is the testimony of my friend Paul Timmerman, pastor of First Baptist Church of Worcester, Johnstown, New York. He experienced a miraculous healing when he was co-piloting seaplanes in the Coast Guard and he wrote it down for me in 1990.
"Hello, I'm Paul Timmerman. I give the following as testimony of the great power that our God has to heal a person. I personally have had several instances of divine healing in my life that were just plain miracles, that could be explained no other way. These were attested to by federal medical personnel and flight surgeons, and the healings that I have had are a matter of my own military record.
"The one that I would like to share for this moment happened in 1971, when I was serving with the United States Coast Guard. I was stationed at Port Angeles, Washington, [at the] Coast Guard Air Station there, flying sea planes and single engine helicopters at that time. While stationed there, I developed a very sore wrist condition, whereby the use of my hands was badly impaired, and I had growths on the insides of my wrists that started growing up and came about a half an inch high or so on each wrist. It would keep my wrist from moving, became very painful, and the doctors checked it out, and, after X-raying and all, said that it was a tissue growth called a ganglia. They tried several different medical ways to remove them, and to stop the growth of them, and to give me back the use of my wrists, and these methods failed. So they sent me to a specialist at the Army hospital, Madigan General Hospital, Fort Lewis, Washington. There the medical staff again X-rayed and examined my wrists and set up the date for surgery because there was no other alternative that they had at that point to remove the growths that were quite visible, and very sore, and hindering the use of my hands. They set up the surgery date, and the day before my surgery I had to report in to the hospital for prepping, for pre-surgery examination. And the surgeons examined again the X-rays and my wrists, and saw the extent of the damage, and prepared me for surgery for the following day.
"However, that evening, after the doctors left, I was in my hospital bed there waiting, studying my Bible, and just relying on the promises of the Lord, and I turned sincerely to the Lord and asked Him-knowing full well He had the power to heal through surgeons or through divine healing-and I just asked Him to work a miracle, and take these away, that the name of the Lord Jesus Christ would be magnified and glorified throughout that hospital, due to the miracle that had been worked.
"In the morning, much to the surprise of the doctors when they came in, the growths were completely gone from my wrists. I had full use of my hands, my wrists. And to this day, almost 20 years later, I have never had a reoccurrence of this phenomena on my wrists. The doctors then were totally baffled by what happened, thinking perhaps they had the wrong patient or whatever. I simply witnessed for the Lord Jesus Christ and told them that I had asked the Lord to work a miracle a night before if it be His will, knowing full well that He could, and that He had decided that it was for the glory and honor of Jesus Christ that He did. And He healed me that night, and like I say, it has never reoccurred. I went about the hospital just praising the Lord Jesus Christ and glorifying His name, telling others about Him, witnessing to the great miracle that took place there. And the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ went throughout that hospital to many military men, and the doctors, of course, had nothing to say but that they certainly had done nothing to change that, but that condition was totally healed."
Further, it is important to understand that the Pentecostal-Charismatic healers cannot heal after the fashion of Jesus Christ and the apostles. There is not one example in the Gospels or the book of Acts wherein Christ or the apostles attempted to heal and failed. They could heal any and all diseases.
It is important to understand that the Pentecostal-Charismatic healers cannot heal after the fashion of Jesus Christ and the apostles. Their talk about living "book of Acts Christianity" is nothing more than talk. G.H. Montgomery, former editor of Oral Roberts' Abundant Life magazine, testified: "I make the following statement after serious thought and consideration. I first attended a healing campaign in 1949, and in the intervening years between then and now I have attended a great many of these great meetings. ... But I HAVE YET TO MEET ONE MAN OR WOMAN WHO HAD THE POWER OF GOD TO PERFORM MIRACLES AS JESUS PERFORMED THEM" (Montgomery, The Enemies of the Cross).
In the section on the history of Pentecostalism we saw many examples of "faith healers" who cannot heal. The healing ministries of John Dowie, Charles Parham, Smith Wigglesworth, Aimee Semple McPherson, Kathryn Kuhlman, William Braham, Jack Coe, Charles Price, Oral Roberts, Morris Cerullo, Charles and Frances Hunter, Kenneth Hagin, John Wimber and others were examined and found to be bogus.
The case of Smith Wigglesworth can stand for all of the other Pentecostal faith healers, because he is considered one of the greatest of them. He taught that God promises perfect physical wholeness, that the Christian has the power to command things into being, and that the Christian can operate in the same sign gifts that Jesus Christ exhibited. Even so, very few of those who sought Wigglesworth's healing ministrations were ever healed. His own wife died six years after he became a Pentecostal and his son died two years after that. His daughter, who assisted in his meetings, was never healed of her deafness. For three years Wigglesworth himself suffered with gallstones. We who understand that physical healing is not PROMISED for this present time know that such things are part of God's sovereign plan and we are not confused by these events. God often heals in answer to prayer, but He does not always heal. According to the doctrine that physical healing is guaranteed in the atonement and is a part of the gospel, though, the things that happened to Wigglesworth should not have occurred. Those who hold this doctrine tell us that sickness is never a blessing of God, that it is of the devil, that it has been defeated on the cross. According to his own doctrine, Wigglesworth's daughter should have been healed of her deafness, his gallstones should have been supernaturally removed, his wife should have been healed of the sickness that took her life when she was but a young woman, and his son should have been healed of the sickness that took him away in childhood.
Jamie Buckingham is a more recent example. He wrote 40 books that sold some 20 million copies and was an editor for the influential Charisma magazine. In June 1990, after he was diagnosed with cancer, Buckingham's wife and some prominent charismatic leaders prophesied that he would be healed. Buckingham said that God spoke to him while he was in the shower and told him that he was going to live to be "at least 100 years of age in good health and with clear mind, creating and producing until the day I die in my own bed." The October 1990 issue of Charisma featured an article entitled "Healed!" describing Buckingham's alleged healing. The April 1991 issue of Charisma featured "My Summer of Miracles," in which Buckingham again described his miracle healing. Ten months later, on February 17, 1992, Jamie Buckingham died, about 40 years shy of the 100 that he said God had promised him.
ROMANS 8:22-25 reminds us that we will not receive our glorified state until Christ returns. Until then we are subject to the trouble and death of this sin-cursed world, and that includes sickness.
"For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it."
[This article is excerpted from the new book THE PENTECOSTAL-CHARISMATIC MOVEMENTS: THE HISTORY AND THE ERROR. I have been examining and re-examining the Pentecostal-Charismatic movements for more than three decades since I was led to Christ by a Pentecostal in 1973 and began to seek God's will about tongues-speaking and the miraculous gifts of the early churches. I have built a large library of materials on this subject and have interviewed Pentecostals and Charismatics and attended their churches in many parts of the world. I have also attended large Charismatic conferences with press credentials. I have approached these studies with an open mind in the sense of having a commitment only to the truth and not to anyone's tradition. I am a member of an independent Baptist church but Baptist doctrine and practice is not my authority; the Bible is. Each fresh evaluation of the Pentecostal-Charismatic movement has brought an increased conviction that it is unscriptural and dangerous. This book begins with my own experience with the Pentecostal movement. The next section deals with the history of the Pentecostal movement, beginning with a survey of miraculous signs from the second to the 18th centuries.
We then examine the movements in the 19th century that led up to the creation of Pentecostalism and the outbreak of "tongues-speaking" at Charles Parham's Bible school in Topeka, Kansas, in 1901, and at William Seymour's Azusa Street Mission in Los Angeles in 1906. We examine some of the major Pentecostal denominations, the Latter Rain Covenent, the major Pentecostal healing evangelists, the Sharon Schools and the New Order of the Latter Rain, the Manifest Sons of God, the Word-Faith movement and its key leaders, the Charismatic Movement, the Roman Catholic Charismatic Renewal, the Pentecostal Prophets, the Third Wave, and the recent Pentecostal scandals. We conclude the historical section with a look at the Laughing Revival. In the last section of the book we deal with the theological errors of the Pentecostal-Charismatic movements (exalting experience over Scripture, emphasis on the miraculous, Messianic and apostolic miracles can be reproduced, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the baptism of fire, exalting the Holy Spirit, tongues speaking is for today, sinless perfectionism, healing is guaranteed in the atonement, spirit slaying, spirit drunkenness, visions of Jesus, trips to heaven, women preachers, and ecumenism). The final section of the book answers the question: "Why are people deluded by Pentecostal-Charismatic error?" David and Tami Lee, former Pentecostals, after reviewing a section of the book said: "Very well done! We pray God will use it to open the eyes of many and to help keep many of His children out of such deception." And Mary Keating, also a former Charismatic, said, "The book is excellent and I have no doubt whatever that the Lord is going to use it in a mighty way. Amen!!"
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