A Lecture on Divine Healing

Divine healing, what is it? It is healing by the spirit of God, exercised through the spirit of man. Jesus, the Master Healer, not only healed Himself, but empowered His 12 disciples to perform the same ministry. Later He empowered "seventy others also." making in all 82 men who practiced the ministry of healing during His earth life.

After the resurrection of Jesus, just before His ascension, a great new commission was given to His disciples. He sent them to preach to all men everywhere, commanding them to "preach the gospel to every creature," and declaring concerning those believers who were to become disciples through their ministry that, "These signs shall follow them that believe: In My name shall they (the believer) cast out demons; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."

A common fallacy in connection with the subject of healing is taught by the churches at large; namely: First, the days of miracles are past; second, no one healed but the 12 apostles. These statements exist because of the lack of knowledge on the general subject of healing, as set forth in the Scriptures.

In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul sets forth in order the various gifts of the Spirit prevalent in the church; First, the word of wisdom; second, the word of knowledge; third, faith; fourth, the gifts of healing; fifth, the working of miracles; sixth, prophecy; seventh, discerning of spirits; eighth, divers kinds of tongues; ninth, interpretation of tongues.

He commends the church in that, "Ye come behind in no gift," All these various gifts of the Spirit were exercised among them.

James, in instructing Christians concerning their faith in God, said, "Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him." Regarding this prayer, he said, "The prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up, and if he committed sins, they shall be forgiven him." He further declares, "The prayer of a righteous man availeth much in its working."

The writings of the church fathers for 400 years after Christ emphasized the power of healing as known in the churches at that period. Certain sects of Christians from the days of Jesus until the present have practiced the ministry of healing, namely: The Armenians, the Waldenses of Germany, and the Huguenots. In later years, the followers of Dorothy Truedell of Switzerland, the Buchlerites of South Africa, and, in our own day, the Christian and Missionary Alliance, with headquarters in New York, the Church of God, and the followers of John Alexander Dowie, who maintain a city in the state of Illinois in which no doctor has ever practiced medicine and where no one employs a physician or takes medicine. They trust God wholly and solely for the healing of their body. And the national vital statistics show that their death rate is beneath the average city of the same population in the rest of the country.

Since the establishment of the Spokane Divine Healing Institute in January, 1915, Spokane has become the healthiest city in the United States, according to the national record.

We are frequently asked, "What is Divine Healing?" "Is it Christian Science?" "Is it psychological?" or "Is it spiritual?" We reply: Divine Healing is a portion of the Spirit of God transmitted through the spirit of man. The Spirit of God was imparted by Jesus through laying His hands upon the sick. Again and again in the Word we read, "He laid His hands on them and healed them." Indeed, the Spirit of God so radiated through and from His personality that His clothing became impregnated by it.

The woman ????? touched the hem of His garment felt in her body that "she was whole of that ?????" Jesus discerned that ???? hath gone out of ????? Having faith to touch His garment she received the power of the Spirit into her person. So mighty was the power of the Spirit in the Apostle Paul tha twe read in Acts 19 that "From his ????? were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs ????? aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them."