1500 Years of Apostasy

In one of my first sermons, in which I was teaching the people how to receive healing by faith in Jesus Christ, I told them, “Even if you do not need healing now, you still need to pay attention. Even if you think that medical science is more advanced than it has ever been, new diseases are coming. New diseases are coming that medical science will not be able to cure. And suppose medical science will discover the cure to a new disease, how do you know that it will find it in time to save you? Look! By the time it reaches everyone, if it ever reaches everyone, another new disease is born.” This is not some prophetic statement, because I assume that even unbelievers realize this. Since then I have labored to advocate Christ’s message of healing, which is to say, I have preached the gospel. The most fanatical opposition has come from those who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ, but in reality they are those who have hijacked the community of Christ to establish their own religious customs and empires. It was also like this in the time of Christ. Those who claimed to follow Moses would speak against his ministry of healing, calling the Lord a false teacher, a deceiver, a blasphemer, and one possessed by demons. Jesus said that if they truly believed Moses, then they would have believed him, because Moses prophesied about him. If the people are true followers of Jesus, they would believe me, because I merely repeat what he said.

And Jesus said, “A tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak what is good when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” In one place where he said this, he was answering those who attacked his ministry of healing. He said that those who blaspheme the Son could be forgiven, but those who blaspheme the Spirit could never be forgiven. What these people said against the ministry of healing revealed what kind of people they were. They were wicked people who likely blasphemed the Spirit, and would never be forgiven. They would burn in hell forever. They claimed to be followers of Moses, but they were nothing of the kind. They claimed to be children of Abraham, but as Jesus observed, Abraham would never have wanted to kill the Son of God. They were children of the devil. Now those who oppose the ministry of healing can claim all kinds of wonderful things about themselves, but their words betray them. Jesus would have never opposed what I teach, or what I do, when I am merely repeating what he said, and doing what he commanded. The apostles would have never opposed me, for they would not have dared to contradict Jesus. They can claim to be children of God. They can claim to be followers of Jesus. They can claim to be spiritual descendants of the apostles. But a tree is known by its fruit. How can they speak good things when they are evil? They speak evil on this same topic of Christ’s ministry of healing. Now if Jesus said that the people at his time blasphemed the Spirit, and that the words revealed an abundance of evil in their hearts, who am I to propose a different diagnosis, when people in my time do the same thing? A tree is known by its fruit. They are the children of the ones who would speak like they do.

Christians should have been the ones leading the charge to save lives in the name of Jesus, and do it with a divine power that others cannot replicate unless they join us in the faith. After more than 1500 years of apostasy in this most basic of the gospel ministries, and after reformations upon reformations, revivals upon revivals, when we have had multiple opportunities to examine our doctrines and practice over and over again, most Christians still have not awaken to righteousness. Now unbelievers are leading the charge to save lives. They do not give up even though their measly science fails again and again. They do not give up even though research proves to be expensive, and the process arduous. They keep marching forward even though some of their comrades perish in the way. And with all their fumbling efforts and blasphemous theories, they have saved countless “Christian” lives. As these so-called Christians boast about how “the will of God” has made them sick, and how all the promises of miracle healing in their infallible Scripture have lost all relevance, the wicked evolutionists shake their heads and save their lives anyway. This is not common grace, but common wrath. Both groups despise the precious promises of God, secured by the blood of Jesus for all those who would have faith in him. Neither camp can escape the outpouring of divine judgment.

People call themselves Christians but mock the doctrine of healing. Sarcasm and malice drip from their lips. The faithful ones have been carrying out this ministry, speaking, and writing, and praying overtime in an uphill battle to make up for the willful neglect of their so-called brothers. When miracles happen, these people pay no attention. But when they are itching for a debate, they whine, “If what you say is true, show us! Show us!” They have the same Bible. They should have been doing the same thing, and then together we could show the world! But they would not. They are like the heathens who struck Christ in the face and sneered, “Prophesy! Who hit you?” And they are like those who say, “Physician, heal yourself! Do here in London what we heard you did in Boston!” It is uncanny how much they are similar to those who mocked and murdered Jesus Christ.

Jesus was indeed a prophet, but he was not a clown show. He did not perform at the demand of unbelievers, but at the demand of believers, at the demand of faith. When his miracles happened in front of skeptics, they called him a deceiver, or perhaps a magician, and then they associated his work with demons and blasphemed the Holy Spirit, damning themselves forever. Likewise, we can indeed heal the sick and cast out demons, not because we are special in ourselves, but because Jesus said that anyone who has faith can do these things. Think about it, if our “Christian” critics can do these things, would they not happily join with us? You see, they cannot do these things. They know within themselves that they cannot do these things. They cannot do these things not because Jesus did not promise them, but because they have no faith. But it is easier for them to say that Jesus never promised them than to admit that they have no faith, or perhaps even that they have never believed in Jesus. If they are true followers of Christ, they would be helping us, not fighting us. They would applaud us for healing the sick and for teaching the doctrine. And they would do these things with us. The apprentice is not greater than the master, but it is enough for the apprentice to be like the master. We can indeed do in London what they heard that we did in Boston, but when they witness signs and wonders, they will respond in the same way that their spiritual forefathers did. They will call the followers of Christ deceivers and magicians. And they will blaspheme the Holy Spirit.

 
Public Health Hazards

As for how the church should respond to the government’s call to suspend assembly in order to reduce the spread of contagious disease during a pandemic, I will say upfront that all anti-healing and cessationist congregations are public health hazards, and they must cease assembly immediately, preferably permanently. The world has been in a spiritual pandemic and does not realize it. These heretical cults are spiritual viruses. They spread spiritual poison and call it their religion. It is their religious conviction to infect as many people as they can with unbelief and tradition, so as to erode humanity at the deepest level. The effect then manifests in all aspects of life, corrupting people’s health, finances, relationships, and worst of all, their faith in God. Specifically, in the area of physical health, their doctrines turn good into evil and evil into good. They forbid people to have faith in God’s promises of health and healing by faith. They extol the benefits of sickness and call it the will of God. This has done incalculable damage to the church and to humanity through the centuries. It has resulted in millions of premature deaths, unnecessary suffering, lost fortunes and opportunities, and thousands of other consequences. Truth matters. Their anti-healing and cessationist heresies have damaged the immune system of humans in general, rendering them more susceptible to diseases and viruses of all kinds, old or new, known or unknown. The only exceptions are those who have believed in the word of God, and know that by faith in Jesus Christ we have been removed from the authority of darkness and planted in the kingdom of the Son of God.

Anti-healing churches must cease assembly, not because any human government has ordered it, but because they have never followed God’s charter for the church of Jesus Christ. The church ought to have pruned these heretical branches centuries ago. The anti-healing counterfeit churches are responsible for the spread of diseases and deaths. The whole world is reaping what they have sown. They ought to be shut down, especially at this time of pandemic. I pray that many people will finally wake up and change churches. The false gospel of sickness is killing themselves and their families. They have been offering themselves on the altar of sickness. They have been performing human sacrifices on their husbands, their wives, their parents, their children, and their friends. All this is supposed to be worship, when God is in a whole other building clear across town! The church ought to have dealt with this disgrace long ago, instead of allowing it to fester. When the churches did not do anything, individual followers of Christ ought to have revolted. We have been peaceful to the point of murder. We have been so polite toward the people of unbelief that millions have suffered and died, even though Jesus Christ took their infirmities and carried their sicknesses, and even some reprobates could have been healed by the name of Jesus, so that God may bear witness to himself. If human governments were to become involved, it ought to charge these churches with public endangerment, for their criminal doctrine of no-healing and no-miracle. Anti-healing heretics hide behind the doctrine of divine sovereignty, as if God would do far less than what he has promised. That would not be called sovereignty, but dishonesty. God is not a man that he should lie, but he will watch over his word to perform it. God is sovereign, and this is why he would perform even more healing miracles than he promised. He is not a liar, so he will never do less than what he said. But he is sovereign, so he is free to do more than what he said. And the Bible says that he will do more than what we can request or imagine. Whether by Christians or non-Christians, anti-healing churches must be stopped. They are literally, physically killing people. And in fact, there is no telling how many souls they have destroyed and sent to the lake of fire by spreading doctrines that contradict the word of God. Anti-healing cults are more deadly than any pandemic. All Christians should celebrate and thank the heathens for shutting them down. But to destroy them permanently, Christians must participate. Christians must overturn all doctrines and institutes of unbelief, preach the truth about healing, and heal the sick in the name of Jesus.

It is laughable that political preachers complain about abortions all the time, but they are the ones who have been aborting adults and children alike, right from their pulpits as they spew forth their satanic venom of unbelief, tradition, cessationism, and anti-healing doctrines. Many people claim that they do not wish their babies to be born with sickness and abnormalities, and this is why they consider abortion. You say that is an excuse. True, but you judge them for murder by the standard of the word of God, and then you commit murder by denying the doctrine of healing in the same word of God. You appeal to the word of God to expose their excuse, but you withhold and even persecute the promise of God for healing that would remove this excuse for abortion. You are complicit in the killing of these babies. You are so self-righteous as you speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, but you attempt to silence the God who does speak for himself. The statistics that you cite to condemn abortion are the statistics that condemn you. All the things that you call the abortionists also apply to you, if you fail to preach and practice the healing that God teaches in his word. Of course, there are other excuses, such as poverty, or the inability to supply for the child. Thus we also charge the anti-prosperity cults for rejecting the many promises of God on this matter. God can supply what they need to raise their children, if they would only have faith in him. Anti-prosperity heretics wield the word of God to shove aside the poverty excuse from the abortionists, but in the next breath they also shove aside the same word of God that is the proper solution to the excuse. As Jesus said, “For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.” All the condemnations that anti-prosperity cults declare toward the abortionists also apply to themselves. However, our current focus is healing. Anti-healing heretics, you are perhaps even more guilty than the abortionists, because you claim to know the word of God as you declare the standard and condemn others, but you reject the same word of God that teaches healing. Many parents might have hesitated if they knew that there is even a chance that their babies could be born normal, healed by the power of God. But you — YOU — take that away from them. And now you complain that they wish to stop people like you from assembling? Man! I have wanted trash like you to disappear for so long. What a relief it is to rid the world of scum like you, if even only for several weeks!

Christians, demand an explanation from your leaders. “We have been coming to this God-forsaken wreck you call a church. You tell us that if we wish to hear from God, we should listen to the Bible, but then you teach against what the Bible says. You tell us to accept circumstances as the will of God, instead of what the Bible promises as the will of God. You portray suffering as so beneficial that it is as if our pains are redemptive. You burden us with your doctrines and customs that serve no purpose other than to honor your human heritage. We give you our service. We give you our money. We give you our children! Now our families and friends are dying. They are losing their jobs. Their hopes and plans are in ruins. And you want us to keep coming to hear more of this rubbish? Look at these hundreds of verses in the Bible that promise us healing and prosperity in God. These…these would have saved us. These could have saved our children. These could have saved our businesses and even entire nations. But you persecuted those of us who dared to venture toward that direction of faith in God. You have doomed us. Why haven’t we been told about these things? What have we been paying you for? Why, why have we been sitting there like idiots listening to you babble on week after week? To tell us that all these hundreds of verses do not mean what they say? Why have we been looking up to you in your stupid clown robes, sprinkling water everywhere and waving those tiny crackers around? Are you insane, or just stupid? We never verified your credentials. Did you get your theology degree from an asylum, or worse, did you get it from a seminary? Are you an agent sent from Satan, and you knew what you were doing all along?” Say this to your leaders. Demand the church to change, or to close forever. But wait, why am I speaking as if they bear all the blame? You are also condemned. You should have confronted your pastors and theologians decades ago. You are complicit in the sickness and destitution of your families and friends. We can go further than that. Indeed, you should have confronted your leaders with the Bible, but you have had the same Bible. Even if they refused to teach the truth, you should have learned and believed the truth. You are no less guilty than your leaders for the state of the world, for the souls that have perished, and for those who have suffered and died. If you have had access to the word of God, and if you have not stood for the doctrine of healing by faith in Jesus, then you are a murderer. You are a murderer just like your pastor.

 
Irrelevant and Non-Essential

All of this is self-evident to those who believe the word of God, but most churches do not care much about that. As usual, Christians complain about the order to suspend assembly not from a biblical perspective, but from a political perspective. We can take time to address this, but it is not productive. Christians care so much about things from a political perspective because they are unspiritual, and because they are stupid. Indeed, it can be practical to exploit the law of man to make life easier on the church, but it only lasts as long as the state respects its own law. And of course the same Christians will either have nothing to say to their brothers and sisters in another country that has no protection from the law of man, or they will have to offer them another set of doctrines to consider. However, the teachings of Jesus Christ must apply to all peoples in all kinds of conditions. It is stupid to lean on the law of man for protection from the tyranny of man. It is the same men that decide what laws to make, how to interpret their laws, and whether to honor their laws. A peaceful protest against a tyrannical regime that is not wiped out by tanks in several hours is due to the regime’s tolerance and self-interest, and not because there is genuine power in a peaceful protest. Once the patience runs out, the protest is suppressed. Then the bodies of the minions are scattered all over the place. The leaders flee the country and obtain scholarships from Harvard, as well as book deals and television interviews. The regime stays the same. International bodies make token objections, and then return to trade. Everything continues like it was before. The irony is that any positive effect of such a protest comes under the power of the target of this protest. If it works, the credit goes to the tyrant, not to the protest. What about threats to overturn the regime? What about appeals to international pressure? But then we are talking about various kinds of force. The methods of men against men work only when the men in power have it in their hearts to allow it to work. No peaceful appeals can turn the heart of an irrational and insistent tyrant. The early disciples appealed to God for boldness to preach the gospel, and for God to perform signs and wonders and to heal the sick by the name of Jesus. The Christian method is not political pressure, but spiritual violence.

Now the issue is whether the government should have the power to order the church to suspend assembly. However, we must admit a distinction when this order comes during a pandemic. The government is not targeting churches, or even religious groups in general, but it wishes to suspend all public gatherings. It does not intend to criminalize the churches. And it does not intend to suspend public gatherings on a permanent basis. Does your government forbid even two Christians who live under the same roof to come together to worship God? No. But Jesus said, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” There is your church. Does your government forbid Christians to communicate by electronic messages and video calls? No. You can do that as much as you wish. Thus this has nothing directly to do with religious freedom. Of course, if the government uses a temporary order to suspend public gatherings to prepare for a permanent and targeted persecution against religious groups, or Christian churches in particular, then it changes the issue. Even if that were to happen, Christians have themselves to blame because they have defied God’s command and failed to establish a public reputation for healing the sick, a reputation that would have made it more difficult for any government to target Christians during a pandemic. However, at this time there is no indication that the government is interested in that at all. There are indeed places where there is genuine religious discrimination and persecution, but we are not referring to those places, and those places have prohibitions in place apart from any pandemic. Right now we are considering the major democracies that we live in. And in these places, the churches are so irrelevant that the government has not even considered targeting the churches in this time of national emergency. Christians have been so weak, so worldly, so void of faith and miracle power, and now they think everything is about them? The government is simply attempting to reduce the spread of disease. They are striving with mere human methods and inventions what the churches should have been doing by divine powers. Now the government urges people to stay home, and the churches are complaining? What right do you have to complain? What have you done for people’s health lately — or the last 1500 years? You have been hiding, avoiding, denying, and even condemning the divine promises and powers for miraculous healing splattered all over the word of God. Now you are complaining? Now you suddenly care about God? Oh, shut up and stay home.

Governments are shutting down “non-essential” businesses and gatherings, and Christians are indignant that they are included among the non-essential. What would you do if they let you gather? Aren’t you just going to gossip about the pandemic anyway? Aren’t you just going to talk about your sicknesses and worries as usual? Your pastor is going to tell you how everybody suffers, how it is all the will of God. He is going to tell you to think about it from this perspective, that perspective, and every other perspective except the biblical perspective of divine healing and immunity. Psalm 91 says, “For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease,” and your pastor will say, “But God is sovereign.” Sovereign to do what? To break a promise that he himself wrote, when no one forced him to write it? This absurdity has been mainstream Christian doctrine for 1500 years. Why hear it again? Do you want to die? In fact, if you are so keen on defying the government, you should stay home even if they force you to go to church. Anti-healing cults are death traps, not houses of healing and prayer. What is so essential about telling people that sickness is the will of God? What is so essential about convincing people that, what Jesus called satanic bondage, is really a gift from God? Is it so essential to teach people this doctrine of demons? What is so urgent about trashing the ministry of Jesus and committing blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? Can’t we wait until things calm down before you burn in hell? You will have plenty of time to drag people down with you. Really, what is so essential about church gatherings, when Christians do not even believe their own God or their own Scripture? All this is useless. All this does more harm than good. If there is anything essential, it is essential that these houses of unbelief and disease should shut down. Government overstep? What overstep? Shouldn’t a government be allowed to protect its people from the gospel of sickness preached by the churches, especially in the middle of pandemic? Knowing what I know, that would be the first thing I would do. Even as a Christian, or especially because I am a Christian, I would even specifically target the churches for precisely this reason, if I were to save the nation.

Tell me, if there is any government overstep, why is the government asking churches to suspend assembly? You say, “Wait, this makes no sense. It is the very meaning of government overstep.” Let me explain. Throughout the New Testament records, Jesus and his followers were known by their ministry of healing miracles, and the master had guaranteed that these would continue and increase among those who have faith in him. If our churches truly consist of people who have faith in Jesus, then we would be known for our ministry of healing miracles. If the government were to overstep its authority in a time of pandemic and national emergency, ignoring any separation between church and state, then instead of ordering churches to suspend assembly, they would abduct Christians and compel them to minister to the sick. This is not happening. Why? Because it has never crossed their minds that Christians are relevant to healing the sick! The word of God portrays Christians as wielders of miracle healing power. They can heal the sick in the name of Jesus when no one else can. If they even sneeze “JESUS!” a cripple nearby gets up. This is the one thing that even unbelievers knew about Christians before they learned about our doctrines. But now…not so much. There are indeed churches that teach the word of God on healing, but they have been so diluted by false churches, the anti-healing cults, that Christians are no longer known for healing the sick. In fact, they are known for being sick, and for surrendering to being sick, because it is “the will of God.” They talk about a “God,” but instead of interpreting circumstances by some divine verbal revelation, they regard whatever circumstances they face as the will of this “God”; therefore, their “God” is Circumstances. That is what they worship. It is paganism. What overstep? No federal agents have kicked down my door. No government agency has sent me summons and threatened me to appear before them so that I can teach healing to the masses and pray for them, so that together with other Christians, I can save lives and rescue the economy and other aspects of the country. If I say that I am a Christian, they think I am just like others who call themselves Christians, and this would mean I am irrelevant in a pandemic. If the government has known that Christians are effective at healing the sick when no one else is, when things get dire enough, they could reach a point where they would make an exemption for Christians until a medical solution is discovered. It is an emergency after all. Then the atheists would cry foul, but lives are saved. Now the government tells everyone to stay home, including the churches. The Christians cry foul, but lives are saved. Whose fault is it that things turn out this way? It is the Christians’ fault. But never mind the government. Jesus is much more angry at the churches than the churches are angry at the government. The government poses no threat compared to the wrath of God. What did Jesus say about the servant who buried the talents, and then shoved it back in the master’s face at his return? “Cast the worthless servant into the darkness outside, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Why isn’t the government closing down hospitals? It is because hospitals are relevant in a pandemic. Churches ought to be even more relevant to healing the sick than the hospitals, but they are not, because they do not preach their own God and they do not practice what is in their own Bible. There is an overabundance of healing in the Christian God and the Christian Scripture, but Christians do not preach it, and even fight against it. Therefore, churches are irrelevant in a pandemic. The government is not saying that God is non-essential — Christians have made sure that people do not even care enough about God to consider him in a national emergency. The government is not saying that God is non-essential, but God is not in the churches. If God is there, he would do what only he can do, such as performing miracles of healing. If God is not in the churches, shutting down churches cannot be considered an act of defiance against God. Let the churches start preaching the gospel and healing the sick. Let the churches take this message and this power to the streets. Then when the government opposes us, we can talk about religious persecution. Otherwise, there is not much of a religion, but just a book club. There is no persecution. Just shut up and stay home.

You cannot be ashamed of the word of God on healing — the strongest power for physical healing in existence — and then proclaim your relevance in a pandemic. It is too late to be indignant now. You did it to yourself. Not me — I have been preaching and practicing healing, but “Christians” have been fighting me and trying to dilute my reach. There is no blood on my hands. We had our chance, but we were too busy fighting among ourselves about whether God even meant what he said. Wait, not me. You. I have been teaching this, reaching the teachable and rebuking the obstinate. But you — you have been fighting this, making this a matter of debate instead of faith and obedience. Now people are dead because of you. Now the churches are shoved aside because of you. Even hair salons give people more joy than your anti-gospel about Jesus Christ, your message of sickness, poverty, and senseless suffering. People like you shut down my favorite donut shops — all of them — you sickos. If I cannot have my donuts, you cannot have your stupid churches. Shut up and stay home. Christians had God’s solution to sickness and suppressed it for 1500 years. They hid it from humanity. It is too late to start acting like heroes. Let the atheist and evolutionist doctors save you — again — and maybe consider finally taking the gospel seriously when this is over. Anti-healing leaders, you have enslaved the people long enough. When this is over, let the people go. Let them go somewhere else, where they can believe the word of God and receive what it says. Unless God stirs up some faith in you, abandon the ministry and sit under some teachers that operate a genuine gospel work, that preach the word and heal the sick. Let it go. You have resisted the Spirit, and it has led to disaster. As for the public, if we still do not revolt against unbelief, revolt against traditional institutions that do not teach healing by faith in Jesus or even teach against it, then the next time a pandemic happens, our churches will be shoved to the side again.

 
The Right to Disassemble

Don’t you come at me with a verse like Hebrews 10:25 and declare with all gusto that we are not supposed to suspend assembly. Elsewhere I have addressed that verse at length. It backfires against most churches that appeal to it. The verse is intended to demand faithfulness to Christ, and not intended to be exploited by church leaders to manipulate their people into tolerating heresy and abuse. Or can the Church of Satan use this verse too? In context, it says that we should not suspend assembly due to fear of persecution from the authorities. How is that relevant, when the government is not targeting the churches, and when the churches have forsaken the word of God long ago? What good does it do to not forsake assembly, when you refuse to do what is right during assembly? The Bible says that in a church gathering, one would teach, one would have a revelation, one would speak in tongues, and another would prophesy. Does that happen in your church? If not, why assemble? Churches must not suspend assembly due to fear of persecution, but the churches have feared to teach what the word of God says about ministering healing miracles. What difference does it make, if such churches do not gather? Churches must not suspend assembly due to fear of persecution, but the churches have persecuted those who practice what the word of God says about receiving healing miracles. What difference does it make, if such churches forsake assembly? It is all a pretense. The verse is saying that we must not forsake assembly in order to remain faithful to Jesus Christ. However, if the churches themselves have long ago rejected the teaching of Jesus Christ, then to remain faithful to Jesus Christ would mean to forsake assembly in these churches. Christians must not continue assembly due to fear of persecution from the churches! Have the courage to forsake assembly even if these churches condemn you. Christians, if the churches do not teach about the healing promises of God and practice the ministry of miracle healing in the name of Jesus, then even if they threaten you with persecution, do not assemble. In fact, you have the right to threaten the churches with the word of God. The churches are now in the same position as those who persecuted the early disciples. For them to use a verse like Hebrews 10:25 to threaten you would be as absurd as if the Jews that persecuted the believers had used the verse to force Christians to attend their synagogues. The verse is not mainly for assembly, but against compromise. The verse is about faithfulness to Jesus, not faithfulness to the church. There is flexibility when it comes to assembly if there is no compromise due to fear. On the other hand, if a church is unfaithful to Jesus, refusing his commands and promises, then to continue assembly would be to compromise. When are you going to take Jesus Christ seriously? When the pandemic is over, do not assemble at your old church that preaches unbelief and sickness. Do not go to a church just because it says “Christian” on the door. Listen to what it says. Watch what it does. If it does not follow Jesus Christ on this matter of healing in full force, forsake assembly immediately. Some talk about healing, but they merely pay lip service to it. There are no obvious and frequent healing miracles there. Do not attend. Assemble all you want, but at some place where they believe the gospel. As that preacher says, “Don’t waste your life,” and in the next breath says, “Don’t waste your cancer.” Right…don’t waste your life at his place.

For the sake of completeness, we should mention the conspiracy theories. They make no difference to my response. This is because I am not mainly concerned about whether the pandemic is real or not, or whether the statistics reported are accurate or not, or how or where the virus originated. These are the least of my concerns. The conspiracy theories represent a separate issue than what we are talking about. We are supposing the situation exists as represented to us, and we can have a meaningful discussion about it. Moreover, my main concerns do not need to be associated with current events, but they relate to the principles of biblical healing, to how churches have defied the commands of Christ, and to how churches ought to behave before the world and toward government orders, especially when the churches have apostatized from Christ the Healer for an extended period, even one that has lasted for centuries. All of these items are solid topics of discussion regardless of any immediate context in the world, real or imagined. As for conspiracy theories related to our governments, again, at this time there is no indication that religious groups are targeted. And even if there is religious discrimination, my main concerns relate to healing and the church. An apostate church is a greater evil than any tyrannical or scheming government. And we do have an apostate church, one that has defied Christ throughout the centuries on this matter of healing the sick by faith in his name.

What about churches that have been faithful to teach and to practice the Bible’s doctrine of healing? What about Christians that have demonstrated supernatural healing and immunity verifiable by medical experts? Is there any reason for the government to order them to suspend assembly? Indeed a major issue has been removed, but the matter is not so simple. It remains that the order does not target the churches, and it is temporary. And how does a government distinguish between churches that believe in healing and those that do not? A much needed upheaval among the churches over this issue has not occurred. If the churches that believe healing themselves have not renounced and separated from those that do not, is it up to the government to decide? Wouldn’t that be further overstep? In any case, rather than engaging this matter from the political perspective, I wish to maintain the focus on the doctrine of healing in my answer to this. Churches should cooperate and temporarily suspend assembly, but for different reasons. In this context I will divide the churches into four broad categories. I would prefer to make more precise distinctions, but that would render the discussion too tedious.

The first group of churches — and Christians — belong to the no-healing and anti-healing category. They do not believe what the Bible says about healing. Or they do not emphasize it. Or they are against it. The whole range of attitudes that fall short of an active and outspoken policy regarding the Bible’s teaching on miracle healing would come under this category. This includes those who claim that they believe in healing, but relegate the whole matter to the sovereignty of God. They are liars, because God in his sovereignty has made definite commands and promises regarding healing. If they respect the sovereignty of God, they would respect these commands and promises. They worship circumstances, not the God of the Bible. These are unfaithful churches, even counterfeit churches. We have already discussed them. They are public health hazards. They are a danger to humanity. They should be shut down even during normal times, if not by the government, then certainly by Christians. Whatever the government does to them, I have no sympathy. So we move on to consider those churches that believe in biblical healing.

The second group of churches affirm biblical healing, but there is no real faith. They go through the motions of laying hands on the sick, but healing miracles do not happen. There is no actual demonstration of the doctrine. When they gather, some of their members would jump up and down, scream and shout, and in general act like insane people. But there is no power. These churches are marginally better than no-healing churches. They are in fact better, because they at least put the matter before the people in a supportive fashion, so that there is a better chance for someone within these congregations to be awakened to the truth, and to develop genuine faith in biblical healing. However, since there is no actual healing power among them, there is also no supernatural immunity from contagious diseases. Therefore, they should temporarily suspend assembly just like the no-healing churches.

The third group of churches affirm biblical healing, but they lean too much on the gifts of the Spirit instead of faith in the promises of God. Since I have explained the distinction between miracles that occur by the gifts of the Spirit versus by other means, I will not explain it again here. Suffice it to say that the gifts of the Spirit represent only one of several modes by which God performs miracles. There are indeed demonstrations of healing miracles when these churches gather. The miracles are often few relative to the number of sick people in attendance, but sometimes there are hundreds of miracles in a single meeting. However, this just illustrates my point — an over-dependence on the gifts of the Spirit, so that with a general faith we depend on the sovereignty of God to perform more than what the people specifically believe — render the occurrences of miracles sporadic and unpredictable. This kind of performance cannot seize enough attention from the medical community, and it is insufficient to challenge the dominance of the scientific mindset. Moreover, of immediate relevance is the fact that a sporadic and unpredictable distribution of healing miracles leaves much of the congregation vulnerable to contagious diseases. That said, these churches can still be extremely helpful where there are widespread non-contagious diseases. If we can gather in these churches those with cancer, arthritis, heart disease, various injuries, blindness, and so on, many of these people would be healed. The problem is that, since they depend on the gifts of the Spirit, we cannot say which ones would be healed. And since they do not emphasize faith in the word of God, there is no increased immunity from contagious diseases. Therefore, although they are in a much better position, they should also temporarily suspend assembly just like the no-healing churches.

The fourth group of churches — and Christians — are the only kind that properly represent the biblical doctrine of healing. They believe in the Jesus of the Bible, the one who said, “According to your faith, be it unto you.” What you believe will happen, is what will happen. What you believe God will do for you, is what God will do for you. They believe in what God said about his own nature, as one who forgives all our sins and heals all our diseases. They believe that the lifestyle and attitude of the Son of God revealed the will of God as one who is eager to heal the sick. They believe in what Jesus did to secure healing for our bodies. They believe in what Jesus commanded about the ministry of healing for all his followers. They believe in what the Bible promises about physical healing for all those who have faith. Then they teach the Bible — intelligently, repeatedly, and diligently — so that those who listen to them would have this faith to receive from God. And because of this, they are consistent and effective. Their people know how to receive and minister healing from God in a sober and deliberate manner. The miracles are not random or sporadic. They are predictable, received and ministered on purpose. With a high degree of accuracy, they can discern which ones would receive, as when Paul perceived that a crippled man had faith to be healed, and cried, “Stand up on your feet!” They also welcome the gifts of the Spirit, and because they have love and compassion toward people, they zealously desire more power. But the gifts only add to the effects that they already produce by faith in the word of God. This is the only group of churches that, in principle, should not need to suspend assembly. However, because they have never established a sufficient reputation before the world, and because their influence has been so diluted by the previous groups, it is with regret that I say they should also suspend assembly. The good news is that because they solely depend on faith in the word of God, with the gifts of the Spirit added only as a bonus, and because the word of God is easily transmitted especially in this age of advanced technology, this group of churches and believers is also the least hindered or negatively affected by complying with the government’s order to suspend assembly. They can still teach people the word of God about healing. And people who read and listen to their words can still receive healing by their own faith, directly from God. All of them will come out on the other side stronger, better, healthier, and more spiritual than ever before.

Let me say more about this. The New Testament teaches that we should be concerned about public opinion, not in the sense that we should cater to the false beliefs and wicked desires of the non-Christians, but that we should present the Christian faith in the best light possible, maintaining the impression that our God is one that teaches us to live in faith, in peace, in compassion, and in integrity. This teaching is perhaps unfamiliar to a great number of Christians, so here is a partial list of relevant verses: 2 Samuel 12:14, Nehemiah 5:9, Romans 2:24, 1 Corinthians 10:32-33, 2 Corinthians 6:3, 1 Timothy 5:14, 1 Timothy 6:1, Titus 2:5, 1 Peter 2:12, 1 Peter 3:16. There are many more. Jesus himself did some things “lest we should offend them.” He never hesitated to offend the religious leaders. In fact, he contradicted their creeds and violated their customs on purpose. However, he avoided unnecessary offense toward those who could not have understood. It was the same with Paul. Several times he said that we ought to behave this way or that way so that “the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed.” Of course, some unbelievers would blaspheme God no matter what, but Christians should not add fuel to the fire. And indeed, in some aspects it is possible to achieve a positive reputation. For example, if Christians never cheat in business, unbelievers might still consider them fools for believing in God, but they will say, “At least they always honor their word.” If Christians never cover up sexual abuse that occur in their midst, but speedily and publicly punish the offenders, and make a point of hunting down the criminals to bring them before the authorities, the unbelievers would say, “Well, if they say this never happened, of course it never happened.” But Christians do cheat in business, constantly. And Christians do cover up sexual abuse, so much so that we do not even know how much has been covered up. And now we are so indignant about religious freedom! We have not followed the example of Jesus and the apostles. We have not cared about integrity and public opinion about the Christian faith. To the world, the Christian faith represents hypocrisy, not integrity. Be ashamed, not indignant. Be embarrassed, not self-righteous. If we have cared about how outsiders perceive the faith that the Lord entrusted to us, we would have behaved differently through the centuries. Then the unbelievers would say, “I still do not believe what they say, but I will have to admit, they are a peaceful and productive people. They are an asset to society.” If this is the best that we can achieve among those who refuse to believe, we should still attempt it. It is right to offend the unbelievers as much as possible, as often as possible, if it is for the truth, but Christians often offend because of pride and self-righteousness, or they stand up for what they wish is right in their minds after they have contradicted what they knew to be right in the word of God. And Jesus has to pay for our mistakes with his reputation.

Since the churches have worked hard through the centuries to establish themselves as the most useless institutions in a time of widespread disease, when they randomly grow a spine and stand up for a principle that no outsider cares about, one that is not even necessarily biblical, this is not going to give them a positive impression about the faith of Jesus Christ. When outsiders think about Christians, healing almost never comes to mind. On the rare occasions when they see some Christians that pray for the sick, immediately they see even more Christians attack them. So at a time when healing is the most relevant thing to the entire world, Christians become nothing other than a public nuisance, nay, a public hazard, when they defy medical opinion and insist on a practice that to the outsiders is the very thing that threatens healing the most. Christians have ceded the entire domain of healing the sick to the heathens, abiding by the Hippocratic Oath instead of the Great Commission. This is the worst time to grow a spine for a principle that is unrelated to healing the sick. It is an invitation for maximum contempt. Christians have offered no extended and intelligent explanation on healing the sick to the non-Christians, followed by demonstrations and evidences that would withstand scrutiny by medical experts — and indeed, although we believe that human science is severely flawed, healing miracles performed by the power of Christ can satisfy their standards. Thus if we suddenly defy medical advice, the unbelievers would not consider us principled, but backward and selfish. They would think that not only the Christians would be the ones that perish, but they would contribute to the spread of this contagious disease to all others. Concerning most Christians, who have no faith that the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set us free from the law of sin and death, this assessment by the heathens would be correct.

Do not be angry with your governments. They are trying to save lives, including yours. They are trying to save you from the fallout of your stupid religious tradition and unbelief. Be angry with your churches. Be angry with your pastors and theologians. Be angry with your orthodox heroes, both historic and modern. Be angry with all those who opposed healing by faith in Jesus Christ. Be angry even with those who merely neglected to teach it. All of them have sinned against God, and against all of humanity. Will you finally exorcise these people from your life? You will not, right? So you should be most angry with yourself. Be angry with yourself. You have the same Bible. You have the same message from God as all these other people. If they did not believe God, you could have believed God. But you have not done your part to believe what he said and to teach others. The more angry you are with your governments, and the more you defy them at this time, the more you condemn yourself. You reap what you sow. You have been sowing messages and attitudes of sickness, and now this is what you reap. Your theology is so masochistic that you are even proud to be sick. Jesus called it satanic bondage, but you think it is some badge of holiness or some gift from God. And you have attacked those who believe in biblical healing. Now when people get sick, Jesus is the last thing they think of — because of people like you. So when they attempt to stem the spread of disease by enforcing isolation, and Christians insist on gathering, the churches do not appear as solutions to anything, but only as problems in the eyes of unbelievers. You are guilty. You have allowed this situation to develop. The only innocent ones are those who have promoted biblical healing as hard as they could, but have been drowned out by the voices of unbelief. If you have been faithful to the teachings of Scripture on healing, and if you are indignant that the government does not offer you an exemption or consider you essential, then from now on work hard to distinguish yourself from others who claim to be Christians, but who are in fact no-healing and anti-healing heretics.

Of course we are considered non-essential. Christians are not essential even in the psychological sense, because even heathen therapists offer more comfort than false teachers who keep talking about the will of God and the gift of sickness. It is a thorough disgrace. This is what the cessationist cults have gotten us. What good is it, if churches gather only for the sake of gathering? There is only harm, and no benefit. The churches are not even teaching what the word of God says about the issue. It is far better for people to stay home and read the Bible for themselves. Perhaps some of them will discover the truth when not distracted by their unregenerate pastors. If we had presented biblical healing in a sober and intelligent manner all this time, and if we have provided medically verifiable cases to the experts, and if we had demonstrated immunity to even new diseases and viruses — you may not believe the gospel includes any of these things, but let us suppose these things are true — then it would not matter if the churches (the churches that have faith) insist on gathering during a pandemic. In fact, even the unbelievers would support this and come to our meetings. We would be the only group allowed to remain open to do whatever we wish, if the world has known what the name of Jesus could do. But the world does not know. Christians have made sure of that. It is too late to expect special treatment in this present crisis, but we know what we ought to do moving forward. Christians must invest heavily into biblical healing, with their hearts, their time, their money — everything. Christians must develop faith to consistently experience healing miracles in a widespread, global scale. There must be a pandemic of healing. They need to be louder and bolder in teaching it and in practicing it. They must become less polite with their critics. They must establish a zero tolerance policy for all no-healing or anti-healing cults and figures. For those who have believed in healing by faith, even when they have done well for themselves, they have not been entirely faultless. They have not been fierce and ruthless enough. They have mingled too much with no-healing and anti-healing heretics. They have not done enough to separate themselves, to demonstrate a distinction before those who could not tell the difference. All of this must be done without sacrificing an intelligent and deliberate approach to the doctrine and practice. Is this possible? Christians are sinful, stubborn, and most of them are not even true Christians. So think this will happen naturally. Nevertheless, what is impossible with man, is possible with God. And I will certainly do my part.

 
A Most Spiritual Ministry

Members of the Reformed tradition are especially hypocritical. They declare that God is for all of life. They declare that there is no distinction between the sacred and the secular. Some of them declare that the body is as important as the spirit. More than a few of their most respected theologians even declare the unity of the body and spirit such that there should not be a distinction. I have criticized them on all these points, because either they do not mean what they say, or they are outright wrong, and some points are heretical and blasphemous. Of course God is for all of life, but the Reformed do not believe this. They make God into a heuristic principle to talk about all of life, and that is as far as they go. And I have argued that there is a sharp distinction between the sacred and the secular, and the spirit and the body. I affirm that there is a priority between them, so that the spirit is more important than the body, but God cares about both and provides for both. In any case, when I teach about biblical healing, the Reformed are the ones who complain that I focus too much on the body. What? Do they hear themselves? Besides being a hypocritical response that contradicts their own claims, it is a direct assault on the most obvious thing about the ministry of Jesus, the thing that he used to introduce himself, the thing so obvious that even foreigners heard about it before the rest of the gospel: “You know what happened throughout Judea…how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.” This is the thing I am too focused on? If this is what the Reformed is about, then we should consider an official renunciation of the tradition and leave it behind forever. We must declare it apostate. We have no need of such trash. But if this is not what the Reformed is about, then let those who still cling to this human tradition prove themselves and “produce fruit in keeping with repentance.”

Healing is important to all of life. Jesus understood this. Healing is especially spiritual. His healing miracles led many to faith and repentance, to worship and praise toward God. Even unbelievers know that healing affects all of life, all aspects of a nation, an economy, even all aspects of humanity and history. Christians know that it is also important to the “spiritual” life. If the Reformed are still too stupid to know this after a pandemic, then there is perhaps no saving them from the judgment of God. Sickness cripples not only bodies, but also livelihoods, the education of children, and even church gatherings. It can break a nation. It can wreck the world. It can devastate the church. Don’t the Reformed know that all aspects of life and thought are related to one another like this? Some of them even pretend to teach this like they are experts, don’t they? Faith is for all of life. It does not just talk about all of life, as the Reformed do. Faith produces actual results, even miracles and other tangible effects, in all of life. This is because God himself answers faith in all areas of life. The Reformed teach that God is for all of life, but they do not believe it, and this makes them the most hypocritical and weakest of all Christians. Excuse me, I mean all those who claim to be Christians. Insulted? Angry? I don’t care, because the government is protecting me from you and I am staying home, you Gnostic morons. Speaking of the Gnostics…I mean the Reformed, wait, I mean the Gnostics. Which is which? Let me start over. The Reformed are fond of calling everybody Greek this or Gnostic that. If somebody says that this spiritual thing is more important than that physical thing…”GREEEEK!” If somebody says that there is a sharp distinction between the spirit and the body…”GNOSTIC!!!!!” If somebody points out that “for everything God created is good” does not give you a license to indulge in sports and beer…”GREEEK!” If somebody says that God still speaks in visions and dreams…”GNOSTIC!!!!!” Then you have someone tell me, “The difference between me, the Reformed, and someone like you is that I favor the healing of souls, while you emphasize the healing of the body.” Does this make sense to anyone who has been exposed to my preaching and writing? I emphasize almost everything. Sure, in the calling of God, some might pay more attention to certain issues and tasks, and I try to be “Greek” and “Gnostic” like Jesus in following what he emphasized, but as someone who has considered himself mainly a healing evangelist since the first day of ministry — yes, the kind that theologians always criticize, and can never imitate — I have emphasized plenty of other things. The truth is that the Reformed are the most Greek and Gnostic of the whole lot, or even worse than Greek and Gnostic, and they exclude God from almost all areas of life, allowing him only as a principle of discussion or interpretation, never as an active and obvious power or person.

Healing of the body is one of the most spiritual ministries. Jesus loved it like nothing else, and he said that he was only following the Father’s lead. He performed this ministry by the power of the Holy Spirit, and on this topic he warned that anyone who speaks against the Spirit will never be forgiven. Never! Thus anyone who downplays this aspect of the Christian faith insults all three members of the Trinity at the same time. Healing of the body by the power of God is such a spiritual work, and it often prepares for the healing of the spirit. One man had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. Jesus healed him, and said to him, “Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.” This shows that not only does the healing of the body prepare for the healing of the spirit, but the sickness in the spirit, or sin, could lead to a sickness in the body. All of life is related, and Jesus is for all of life. One man had been blind from birth. Jesus said that the work of God would be displayed in his life. Doesn’t that sound spiritual? He healed the man of the blindness. This led to a most exhilarating episode that exposed the confusion and hypocrisy of the religious traditionalists. And then Jesus said to the man, “Do you believe in the Son of Man? You have now seen him. In fact, he is the one speaking to you.” The man answered, “Lord, I believe,” and worshiped Jesus. This sounds a little spiritual, does it not? Physical healing did that. In another place, Jesus said, “Son, your sins are forgiven. And to show that the Son of Man has the authority to forgive sins, take your mat and go home!” Don’t you dare pit one against the other. There is no telling how many have weakened in spirit, and even spurned the gospel and were thrown in hell, because Christians never told them about a Jesus who would heal the sick. If you are so spiritual, you would believe the word of God about physical healing. If you do not believe the word of God about physical healing, it must mean that you are not spiritual. The more you believe in God for physical healing, the more spiritual you will become, because it would mean that you are looking at God more than you are looking at your circumstances, and that you are paying more attention to his promises than physical feelings and human opinions. How is that not spiritual? As the Bible says, Abraham believed against all hope that he would become the father of nations, because God promised him. He faced the fact that his body was old and his wife was barren, yet still did not waver, but believed that God was able to do what he had promised. This, the Bible says, is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” Abraham was justified by faith in a promise of physical healing.

As for how we should minister to those infected by this sickness, we should not make it a special case. Of course, it might be more contagious than many others, and medical science has not developed a reliable or widespread response to it. To us, one sickness is just as impossible to heal as another, because we have no power in ourselves to heal anybody. Whatever the condition, we have been able to heal the sick only by faith in God. And to God, it is really just another stupid virus. Thus there is no difference either to us or to God. To design special instructions for prayer at this time would be to say that we have not been teaching the correct methods all along or that we have reserved some other measures until needed. Goliath was perhaps stronger than the lion and the bear, but David came against him the same way, with the tools of a shepherd and in the name of the Lord. The most reliable method to minister to the sick has always been to teach them the word of God on the subject, so that they can receive directly from God, with or without our prayers for them. We can review the promises of God concerning healing, and also review the methods we have used and that are illustrated in the word of God. However, I would like to add that in the case of contagious diseases, Christians ought to walk in faith and not presumption. It is not necessary to lay hands on the sick when we pray for their healing. For example, in the case of lepers, Jesus at times touched them with his hands, but at times he only declared their healing and sent them on their way. Healing can occur either way. Now we can say that he deliberately touched some of them to lift the stigma of uncleanness from lepers. This does not always apply, and he did not touch all of them. And those with the virus today are not considered spiritually unclean, so that there is no reason to touch them on purpose in order to counter religious tradition. Even if we possess immunity by faith, it might be proper to demonstrate excellent hygiene when we pray for the sick to avoid offense. On a related note, faith is not an excuse for nasty habits. Christians ought to be more clean than everybody else. Other than that, we have no new instructions. The name of Jesus will work against all diseases, new or old, contagious or not, strong or weak.

Few issues warrant a civil war among Christians more than biblical healing. A full-scale attack against anti-healing cults is long overdue. They have allowed the current condition to occur, and they will continue to exploit the people’s suffering and add to their burdens in order to maintain their religious positions. Their no-healing and anti-healing heresies, anti-faith, anti-promise, and faux-sovereignty heresies, as well as their cessationist heresies all reveal who they are in their hearts. As Jesus said, “How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” We must expose the anti-healing heretics in the public view, and exterminate them with the prayer of faith and the word of God. However, the most reliable approach to combat heresies is to preach the truth. Thus it is even more important for us to have faith in the word of God about healing, and then teach others about it. Do not engage in endless debates with those who claim to be followers of Jesus, but who will never agree to what he said. Reach out to those who might listen to the gospel of healing — the only gospel in the word of God. There are still millions of people who do not know that it is possible for God to heal the sick. It has never crossed their minds that God would do something visible and tangible for them, and he would perform a miracle for them, that he would answer their prayers in an immediate and obvious fashion. Tell them. And we must not stop there. We must build our lives upon God’s promises on healing, and receive and minister this healing in our actual experience. God’s promises are not just pretty words on a page, but they are meant to produce powerful effects. Jesus said, “According to your faith, it will be done to you.” What you believe will happen to you, is what will happen to you. If you believe against healing, you will not get any of it. If the anti-healing heretics become sick and repent, we must still pray for them to receive healing. And their sins will also be forgiven. This is the compassion of Jesus. However, if they harden their hearts against the truth, then they will receive in their bodies the full effects of their theology of sickness, poverty, and suffering. God will see to it that they will reap the full devastation of their false doctrines in their bodies, in their finances, in the relationships, and in their families and children. As the Scripture says, “As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you the very things I heard you say.”