Ian Thomson

Why are some people not physically healed through prayer and even die prematurely? Some friends have said to me “perhaps we need to see the big picture—the one which God alone can see”. And “God’s ways are so hidden to us”.

 Now that sounds nice and spiritual. But are God’s ways so mysterious and unavailable to us?

No. God has already has given us the “big picture” in sending His Son to us. “In these last days he has spoken to us by His Son!” (Hebrews 1:2). There are many things in God’s big picture and these he does not keep from us, his friends! He makes his ways known to his friends. Let’s see what the apostle Paul says in 1 Cor 2:9-10 . . .

“Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, And which have not entered the heart of man, All that God has prepared for those who love Him. For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. (NASB)

Many preachers just quote verse 9 and leave out verse 10. This is terribly wrong.

Verse 9 is from the prophet Isaiah (Isa 65:9) who looked forward to its fulfilment. Now it is fulfilled! Now we have a better covenant with better promises.

The Lord Jesus calls us “no longer servants for the servant does not know what his master’s plans are, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you” (Jn 15:15). We, in the New Covenant, in Jesus, are His family, His friends.

So, He does not keep from us the bigger picture of what He has in store for us. They are revealed to us …. “even to the depths of God”. What a privilege! And what a responsibility! His big picture is to save us—from our sins and from our sicknesses and deliver us from oppression and set the captives free (Mat 8:16—18, Luke 4:20—21). That is the big heart of the Father. It is why Jesus came. It is why he suffered for us. And it is why he calls us to heal the sick and do what he did—by the Holy Spirit.

Wait a moment. Can you really imagine Jesus praying for a paralysed person like this: “Father if it is your will, heal this paralysed man?”

Of course, that would be utterly foreign to the Gospel accounts.

No. “Jesus went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the Devil” (Acts 10:38). Please note that Jesus never prayed for the sick. He did not need to ask the Father whether it was God’s will but he consistently spoke to the sicknesses and diseases and commanded wholeness. God has revealed his will to us.

This power and authority he has given to his followers and that has never been withdrawn. As Jesus was in the world, so must we, his followers be.

In Matthew’s Gospel Jesus told a parable comparing the kingdom of heaven with a man who sowed good wheat seed in his field but an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat. However the farmer stopped the workers from rooting out the weeds “because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest.” At harvest time then they can first collect the weeds to be burned, and then gather the wheat into the barn.

But His disciples came to him and asked Him to explain the parable. He answered,

“The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man.  The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.

 “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear. (Matthew 13:37—43)

So Jesus explains in his parable that the field is the world, and not the “church” as many wrongly assume.

That “the church” is not in Jesus’ mind here is clear. In fact, there are only two references to “church” in the gospels and both are in Matthew’s Gospel and neither mean what we mean today by the word “church”. And apart from these two, Jesus said nothing about “church”. Rather he spoke continually about the Kingdom of God and our relationship with His Father. How faraway we are in our thinking from Jesus!

Actually, the word “church” has a pagan, not a biblical origin as it comes from the Greek mythological goddess of magic, Circe, (Greek Κίρκη Kírkē). However the Greek word ekklesia which means “assembly” or “gathering” has been mistranslated in most English bibles and consistently rendered “church”, conveying a religious organisation, something not envisaged in the New Covenant scriptures.

So this parable has nothing to do with a local assembly of Christian believers who are “called out” of the world to be different—people of the Kingdom—“shining like the sun”! There, they must deal with a person who refuses to repent from open sinning and exercise discipline, even separation from the gathering, as the apostle Paul taught.

I went to bed last night rejoicing in the Lord, my sadness of the injustice turning to joy after reading a fB piece posted by a friend taken from THE AUSTRALIAN newspaper 1st May 2015– the true story of the hours before their death ….

Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran spent their last hours with Salvation Army ministers before they became the first prisoners to be led from their cells for execution.

Father Charlie Burrows, a priest who ministers prisoners in Cilacap, said there were no tears as Chan, 31 and Sukumaran, 34, were handcuffed and taken to the firing range on Nusakambangan Island to be shot dead.
“There was no crying because I would say the dominant things in their mind was to lessen the suffering of the people being left behind,” he told the Seven network today.
“They didn’t want them to suffer any more than needs be and they were definitely going to be strong, not for themselves but for their loved ones, the people they were leaving behind.”
Fr Burrows said the men’s hands were handcuffed to the front so they could shake hands with the “big number of warders outside.”
“When the time came to be taken out to the place of execution, they all shook hands and spoke together — also with the warders,” he said earlier.
He said the prisoners had agreed they would not cause difficulties for warders, who were “just doing their job, nothing personal”.
Earlier, it emerged that in his last three days, Andrew Chan developed a soul-saving routine to prepare, as best as possible, himself, Myuran Sukumaran and their fellow death-row inmates for their executions.
It is understood Chan, 31, gathered the condemned prisoners to worship together each morning.
He won the hearts of the guards, who allowed the other prisoners — four Nigerian men, Okwuduli Oyatanze, Martin Anderson, Raheem Agbaje Salami and Silvester Obiekwe Nwolise, Brazilian Rodrigo Gularte and Indonesian Zainal Abidin — to join in prayer.
Before the executions, Chan led them in worship for two hours, says a pastor who did not wish to be named. It was “a time of joyful yet solemn worship as they prepared … for eternity with God’’.
A Catholic priest who attended Gularte said the mentally ill man did not understand he was to be killed until being shackled to the stake.
Charles Burrows, a Cilacap parish priest who has been witness and spiritual adviser at several executions on Nusakambangan, said he had tried to prepare Gularte. “But Rodrigo only seemed to grasp that he was being executed when they started putting the chains on his hands and feet — he said then, ‘Am I being executed?’”
Gularte, 42, who was arrested in 2004 for importing cocaine, was later diagnosed as a severe paranoid schizophrenic but Attorney-General Muhammad Prasetyo repeatedly refused to consider this as reason to lift his death sentence.
Despite their fear, Father Burrows said all the convicts were “relatively calm, singing hymns and praying” with their spiritual advisers.
Witnesses described the scene as amazing.
While being prepared for the firing squad, the prisoners sang hymns, including Amazing Grace and Worship His Holy Name, even as they were tied to the stakes. They reportedly refused to be blindfolded. They were shot while singing.
Pastor Karina De Vega said she had never seen people die who were so joyful, at peace and seeming excited to be meeting God.
Earlier, as supporters sought to comfort Chan and Sukumaran, it was in fact they who prayed for and comforted their families.
“They were ready to meet God and were looking forward to meeting Jesus,” the pastor said.
“The impact of their faith and joy in facing the trauma of death is a testimony that will resound for many years. They are dead but their testimony lives on.’’
Kerobokan art teacher and minister Tina Bailey, who supported the families in Cilacap as the ¬executions took place, said “it was a very long night’’.
Melburnian Anne-Maree Pearce, who started the Mothers’ of Mercy campaign in Bali, kept vigil through the night with a group that included New Zealand evangelist preacher Owen Pomana and four former prisoners whom Chan had baptised.
In the spirit of Chan’s wishes, the group sang joyously. “Andrew asked people to sing and be joyful at the time of the shooting,’’ said Mr Pomana.
Former prisoner and evangelist preacher Matius Arif Mirdjaja, who was baptised by Chan, declared that Chan and Sukumaran were martyrs under Indonesian law. “Depravity and corruption of our judicial system is a Mount Everest in our country and must be opposed,’’ he said.

The question comes up time and again about God’s judgment of nations whenever there is a natural disaster : does God judge nations or people groups for their gross wickedness?

God appears to have done so in the Old Covenant times. My friend Carol gave a very good point when she said that was all about God protecting His chosen people—the nation called Israel.

But now it’s different. Those who are Christ’s from every nation have a New Covenant for the people of God whether Jew of Gentile and there is no correlation now with the nations identified in the Old Testament story.

Terrible things continue to happen in this world. And the number of terrible things we experience or read/hear about almost daily seem to be increasing. A few days ago Vanuatu has just been devastated by the worst kind of cyclone leaving tens of thousands homeless and crops ruined. Did they deserve it more than Brisbane and the Gold Coast? Of course not.

After Tornado Katrina hit New Orleans, USA, there were those who proclaimed this was God’s judgment on the wickedness in that locality. Yet Bourbon St –where bars, clubs, and brothels abound and where “the party never stops” was left untouched. Does the Almighty need a lesson in where to aim His wrath? Of course not.

No. If there is such a thing as God judging a people group the question can only be answered by a specific word from the Lord and not from the mouth of self-proclaimed prophets.

We do read of judgment in the Old Testament scriptures, but an announcement from God always preceded the awful events.

So we turn to Jesus for the answer—as we always must do! And he was asked about such a situation recorded in Luke 13: “those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

It must be stated at the outset, that there is no statement in the New Testament that speaking in tongues is the initial evidence of the Holy Spirit’s infilling.

This claim is similar to many other statements Christians frequently make, e.g., “the Trinity” is a term unknown to the New Testament writers and a doctrine that was not taught until at least a century after their passing and yet is spoken of as if that is settled truth. We receive it by faith.

This should remind us that we all should stick to the original deposit of the apostles as sound doctrine and not be too prescriptive in our efforts to explain truth. Let’s try to get things in context, in balance, rather than trying to defend our “position” whatever that may be. Still, listening to one another with respect and gentle discussion can be helpful.

Now in Acts, there are 5 accounts of people receiving the Holy Spirit and 3 out of the 5 mention speaking in tongues as a consequence. Of course this absence of speaking in tongues in 2 of the 5 cases does not prove anything, one way or the other. It just proves that Luke only mentions speaking in tongues 3 times.

Paul writing to the Corinthians alludes to the rule in Deuteronomy that facts are established “out of the mouths of 2 or 3 witnesses”. Now we have not just 2 but 3 instances of tongues following the coming of the Holy Spirit!

Yet Paul claimed to speak in tongues more than anybody and wished all the Corinthian believers did so also. We can also ask why did the apostles pray for the Samaritan believers to receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 8)—what did they expect to see? How did they know they had received the Holy Spirit? We are not told, though we might make a deduction.

And how did Peter know that the people assembled in the house of Cornelius (Acts 10) had received the Spirit? Peter was so certain they had received “just as we had at the beginning” that he could not deny them baptism.

These are good questions and we may be tempted to answer them with a doctrine, very tempted! But take care, that we are not preaching and teaching beyond what the apostles taught.

But there are other results following the “clothing” of the Holy Spirit upon the original believers. We read of great anointing, extraordinary boldness, confident testimony, signs and wonders performed, the Kingdom of God shown in power and not just talk, and so on. Some prophesied, others praised God and there was great awe, a holy fear of God, great generosity and hospitality, sharing of resources, and above all, love for one another.

Yes love! Paul in 1 Corinthians 13 firmly tells his hearers that speaking in tongues (and other miraculous signs) are useless if the user does not act in love! And Jesus said that knowing him is the priority rather than our works (Matthew 7). So there is a bit more to this question!

If people are “filled with the Holy Spirit” we ought to expect the fruit of the Spirit to be wonderfully manifested along with power and authority, boldness and signs. It is clear that the Lord Jesus acted with great compassion when he healed people and set them free. Without love, Paul said “I am nothing”. If the only sign of a claimed experience of the Holy Spirit is speaking in tongues, with an absence of other signs and the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, then we might be just a “resounding gong or a clanging cymbal”.

We are on more solid ground when we read 1 Corinthians 14. There Paul talks frankly about the great value of speaking in tongues, not only for himself but for all. Yet he is even more encouraging for believers to prophesy when they come together.

We must respect the views of one another as we debate things and let love be genuine. We must maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bonds of peace and remember that only in Jesus do we have “the way, the truth and the life”. Though others may be helpful, finally we sit only at his feet.

The NEW “EVANGELISM” : a message from A.W. Tozer

The new cross encourages a new and entirely different evangelistic approach. The evangelist does not demand abnegation of the old life before a new life can be received. He preaches not contrasts but similarities. He seeks to key into public interest by showing that Christianity makes no unpleasant demands; rather, it offers the same thing the world does, only on a higher level. Whatever the sin-mad world happens to be clamoring after at the moment is cleverly shown to be the very thing the gospel offers, only the religious product is better…

That evangelism which draws friendly parallels between the ways of God and the ways of men is false to the Bible and cruel to the souls of its hearers. The faith of Christ does not parallel the world, it intersects it. In coming to Christ we do not bring our old life up onto a higher plane; we leave it at the cross. The corn of wheat must fall into the ground and die.

We who preach the gospel must not think of ourselves as public relations agents sent to establish good will between Christ and the world. We must not imagine ourselves commissioned to make Christ acceptable to big business, the press, or the world of sports, or modern education. We are not diplomats but prophets, and our message is not a compromise but an ultimatum.

God offers life, but not an improved old life. The life He offers is life out of death. It stands always on the far side of the cross.

Whoever would possess it must pass under the rod. He must repudiate himself and concur in God’s just sentence against him.

What does this mean to the individual, the condemned man who would find life in Christ Jesus?… He must forsake his sins and then go on to forsake himself. Let him cover nothing, defend nothing, excuse nothing. Let him not seek to make terms with God, but let him bow his head before the stroke of God’s stern displeasure and acknowledge himself worthy to die… The cross that ended the earthly life of Jesus now puts an end to the sinner; and the power that raised Christ from the dead now raises him to a new life along with Christ.

To any who may object to this or count it merely a narrow and private view of truth, let me say God has set His hallmark of approval upon this message from Paul’s day to the present.

Whether stated in these exact words or not, this has been the content of all preaching that has brought life and power to the world through the centuries. The mystics, the reformers, the revivalists have put their emphasis here, and signs and wonders and mighty operations of the Holy Ghost gave witness to God’s approval.

Dare we, the heirs of such a legacy of power, tamper with the truth? Dare we with our stubby pencils erase the lines of the blueprint or alter the pattern shown us in the Mount? May God forbid. Let us preach the old cross and we will know the old power.

Our only security is Yeshua–Jesus, God’s anointed one. He is all about real salvation—from bondage, enslavement to the great dictator, the accuser, way beyond just ‘getting to heaven when you die’.

God says : Abandon all religion, all religious games and charades. All false gods/securities will fail.

Don’t count on the high ones who dispense religion.

Continue in humble, unknown, unpublicised, unsung, non-marketed, tiny groups—we are heard on high. We are precious in his sight. we are known. From little things big things grow.

We are his children.

We are still the people of God!

Do not be fazed at the extent of the subversion of the truth by Christendom. With formality, legalism, coldness, smugness, arrogance, the lord-it-over-them leaders, Big Worship, the hoo-ha, the microphone and PA dependant minders, the masses flocking to be entertained while the world is dying .

The unheard of ones, can celebrate His ways— the LORD used ruthless Cyrus to further the salvation of his people Israel and their mission to a sea of lost humanity. Now he uses ‘unchurched’ people in their hundreds of thousands to show loving-kindness and concern and rescue from the humblest blokes who drove thousands of klms to helped flooded people and to a ‘unbelieving’ PM who wept openly.

For He will share his glory with no one. He alone is LORD. The only One worth our allegiance, our devotion, our trust.

“Our God reigns!”

“A horrible and shocking thing
    has happened in the land:
³¹ The prophets prophesy lies,
    the priests rule by their own authority,
and my people love it this way.
    But what will you do in the end?   Jer 5

Do we not see this in our own day?

Come out from among them, says the LORD and be separate UNTO ME.