The Holy Spirit's Three Gifts Of Power
Volume III of the Spiritual House Series
by Rev. and Mrs. J.R. Goodwin
ISBN 0-89274-012-4
Copyright Faith-In-Depth, Inc., 1974
PRINTED IN U.S.A.
All Rights Reserved
CONTENTS
I The Gift of Faith
II The Gifts of Healings
III The Working of Miracles
Chapter One
THE GIFT OF FAITH
This third volume in the "Spiritual House Series," in which we are studying the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit, will deal with the three gifts of power: the gift of faith, the gifts of healings and the workings of miracles.
GENERAL FAITH
A church without faith cannot accomplish anything for God. An individual without faith cannot get anywhere with God. It is required of everyone to have faith. "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him" (Heb. 11:6).
A person who does not believe in God cannot be saved. He might require you to prove to him that there is a God. However, you cannot prove this to a person who will not accept that God exists. As long as that person does not believe there is a God, praying for him would be in vain, talking to him would be in vain.
If you can get him to acknowledge that there must be something behind all this marvelous and glorious design in creation, then you can possibly help him. We do not find a design anywhere in the world without a designer. We do not find anywhere a designer without knowledge. And knowledge is of God. Therefore, if a person can come to this confession — "Yes, I believe there is a personal God" — then he can be led from there into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. First he must have enough faith to come to God This is what is referred to as "general faith." Man can only come to God by faith. He cannot come by logic. He cannot come by intellectual reasoning. He must come by faith.
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During Christ s ministry here on earth we see many examples of this general type of faith. Numerous people had faith in Him to believe He was the Son of God and could perform miracles through the power of God. On several occasions He asked them, "Do you believe that I am able to do these things?" and they would reply, "Yea, Lord." Then He would tell them, "Be it unto you according to your faith."
Once a Syrophoenician woman pressed through the crowd to get to Jesus. She was not a Jew, but a lowly Gentile woman, and the Lord's disciples tried to brush her aside. But she was persistent. She had an urgent need. And she also had great faith.
"And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and cast it to dogs" (Matt. 15:22-26).
It is hard to imagine any more discouraging situation. First of all, when she cried out to Jesus for help, He seemingly ignored her. "He answered her not a word." The disciples became irritated with her continued pleas for help, especially in light of the fact that their Master showed no interest in this Gentile. Even when she persisted in her worship of Him and acknowledged Him tas Lord, she was rebuffed and insulted, being referred to as a "dog."
"And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour" (verses 27-28).
What tremendous humility! What enormous faith! Regardless of the obstacles placed before her, her faith never wavered. And she was rewarded for this great faith. She received deliverance for her daughter.
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In Mark's gospel we see another example where Jesus honored a woman's outstanding faith. "And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, and had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes? And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague" (Mark 5:25-34).
Here again Jesus told the woman that it was her faith that brought about the miracle she was seeking.
We read in the Bible where there was "little faith," "much faith," and "great faith." Faith has many levels and degrees. We can increase our faith.
How do we go about increasing our faith? The Bible says, "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Rom. 10:17). Our faith will grow as we listen to God's Word being preached.
The Bible also teaches us what faith says. ". . . The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved" (Rom. 10:8-9).
When a person comes to God. wanting to be saved, if he believes in his heart that God is and that God raised Jesus Christ from the dead, and confesses Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, that person becomes a new creature in Christ Jesus.
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Some people think they can increase their faith through the operation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit or through praying in tongues. However, there is no scriptural basis for this. The Bible teaches that we build up ourselves on our most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost. "But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost" (Jude 20).
So we see that faith does not come by exercising ourselves in the Holy Spirit. Of course, sometimes this helps us to see what is happening and God is doing this in us to remind us that His Word teaches this and we should put our confidence in Him because His Word said it. If you and I will believe what His Word says, then we can have what His Word promises.
Jesus said, "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you" (John 15:7). He didn't say, "If you abide in me and my Spirit abides in you . . ." He said, ". . . if my words abide in you ..."
The Word of God is powerful, it is glorious and wonderful. Mighty works are done through it. "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Heb. 4:12).
The Apostle Paul said, "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear" (Heb. 11:3). Paul was saying here that by the power of the Word of God the worlds were created from nothing. And he said this is understood only by faith. So, we increase our faith as we study the Word of God.
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THE GIFT OF FAITH
The gift of faith is something altogether different from this general faith. It is faith on a much higher level, and it is not brought about by just reading the Word of God. Neither is it brought about by our trying to exercise more and more faith to receive it. This is a faith which is given by the Holy Spirit, and operates through an individual, as the Spirit wills. This is a faith so unique, so daring, so tremendous that no person can reach it by any other avenue than the Holy Spirit's operating it through him.
We read about this gift of faith in I Corinthians 12. "But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom ... To another faith by the same Spirit . . ." (verses 7-9).
This gift of faith is something dropped into a believer's spirit by the Holy Spirit. It always works. It never fails. We have seen it in action to bring healing, to sustain life, and to work God's will in many ways. I could tell of numerous experiences we have had with this mighty faith, but first let us look at some Bible examples.
The prophet Elijah was a man of great faith. When God told him something, he believed it. Someone might say, "If God had said it to me as He said it to Elijah, I would believe it, too." However, the Lord is saying it to you and to me in a much plainer, much better and more glorious way than He ever did to Elijah. Jesus said, ". . . Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he" (Matt. 11:11). Did you ever stop to think that this is your position and place in the kingdom of heaven? That we are greater? Did you know that the experience we have today puts us on the same level with God? That we are brought back spiritually into the Garden of Eden with God? We can walk with Him, we can commune with Him. And He will commune with us through the Holy Spirit.
He communed with the prophets of old, but He did not dwell in them as He dwells in us. Our body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, and when we were filled with the Spirit and received the evidence that He had arrived, He took up His abode in our body.
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We are warned to keep our body pure for Him. 'Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are" (I Cor. 3:16-17).
Our body is the temple of the Holy Ghost. He dwells there. And this covenant is so much better than any covenant ever made with man since Adam fell. We have not yet attained the fullness of the covenant God made with Adam (the covenant of innocence), but we do have it in the Spirit, in spiritual experiences. However, one day the body will be raised and during the millennial reign we will exercise to the fullest exactly what Adam had in the Garden of Eden.
God worked this supernatural faith through Elijah. On one occasion He told Elijah to go to the brook Cherith where God would sustain him (I Kings 17:3). He was to drink water from the brook and eat food brought by ravens. Elijah believed God and went. He waited there by the brook until food came. And it came. It came on time, it wasn't late.
One day Elijah found that the brook had dried up. However, his supernatural faith had not dried up. He did not complain about it. He didn't say, "What'll I do? Surely, I'll die of thirst." He didn't question the Lord as to why He had allowed the brook to dry up. He had supernatural faith that the sustenance of life would be his.
The Lord spoke to him again and said, "Arise, get thee to Zarephath . . . and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee" (verse 9). Obeying God, Elijah arrived at Zarephath and saw the widow God had sent him to gathering sticks for a fire. He asked her to bring him a drink of water. Without hesitation she went to get it. As she did so Elijah called to her to bring him a morsel of bread also. At this request, however, she stopped, for she had only enough food for one last meal for herself and her son.
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She said,"As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die" (verse 12).
Elijah said to her, "Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth" (verses 13-14).
Elijah's faith was so commanding it moved the woman. She did as he asked, and the Bible records that "the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail" for the duration of the famine.
Some would have criticized the prophet for hanging around the widow's house, depending on her to sustain him in a time of famine. However, Elijah wasn't depending on her to sustain him. He was depending on God to sustain not only himself, but also the widow and her son.
This humble little woman was rewarded for her faith and obedience. Not only did she and her son have plenty to eat during the famine, but she also received a wonderful miracle as a result. When tragedy struck her house and her beloved son died, she knew exactly where to take him. She picked him up in her arms and carried him straight to the prophet. Through the power of God this man of great faith restored life in the boy and delivered him back to his mother. Elijah had a faith that worked!
In the next chapter we read of another of Elijah's great exploits of faith. After a prolonged drouth, God spoke to Elijah and told him to go to King Ahab and tell him God was sending rain upon the earth. A man of lesser faith would have run the other direction, for Ahab was exceedingly angry with Elijah and even threatened his life. Nevertheless, Elijah obeyed God and went.
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When Ahab blamed Elijah for the drouth, Elijah pointed the finger of blame at Ahab. Elijah boldly told the wicked king the drouth was a judgment for his having "forsaken the commandments of the Lord" (I Kings 18:18). To prove to Ahab and to the people that the prophets of Baal were false, and that Baal was powerless, Elijah suggested a contest. He told Ahab to send 850 of his prophets to Mount Carmel, and then he made the stirring statement, "How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him" (verse 21).
After the false prophets' attempt was unheeded to call down fire from heaven on their sacrifice to Baal, Elijah ridiculed them saying, "Cry aloud . . . either he is talking, or he is on a journey, or per adventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked" (verse 27). Still there was no answer from Baal.
Then came Elijah's turn. He built an altar to the Lord, placed the wood for the fire on it, and placed the sacrificial bullock on the wood. Then he did a most unusual thing. He commanded that four barrels of water be poured over the sacrifice. Four times he had them thoroughly saturate the sacrifice with water so there could be no doubt in anyone's mind the power of God was being manifested on Mount Carmel that day.
Then Elijah prayed. He called upon heaven saying, "Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again" (verses 36-37).
The next verse tells us that God moved in answer to Elijah's prayer. "Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench."
Imagine a fire so great it even consumed the water surrounding the sacrifice!
What was the effect of this powerful display of faith upon the witnesses? "And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The Lord, he is the God; the Lord, he is the God" (verse 39).
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Elijah then told Ahab to be prepared for the rain God would send. He told him to return to Jezreel for he heard "a sound of abundance of rain." As the wind arose and great clouds darkened the sky, Ahab hurriedly rode back to Jezreel.
This mighty faith which Elijah displayed on Mount Carmel was not something which he possessed in himself. It was a supernatural gift of God. It was a manifestation of this "gift of faith." How do we know that? In the very next chapter we see Elijah demonstrating the very opposite of faith — fear.
One day Elijah was on top of Mount Carmel. The next day we find him sitting under a juniper tree.
When Queen Jezebel learned Elijah had not only mocked and humiliated her prophets of Baal, but had also had them all slain, she was enraged and vowed vengeance by sundown of the next day. Poor Elijah reacted just as you and I would have. He ran!
Finding shelter under a juniper tree, Elijah, overcome with discouragement, begged God to let him die. We know he didn't really mean that. If he had, he could just have stayed where he was and Jezebel would have taken care of the matter for him! No, he was just showing his human side. The supernatural gift of faith was not operating in his life this day, and discouragement got the best of him.
The gift of faith is not one we can operate at the push of a button. It does not work at our bidding. It is "as the Spirit wills."
The following testimony shows the "gift of faith" working to preserve life. There was no other gift functioning along with it.
A very fine man lived in the community where we were pastoring a church. I could not say that he bore the fruit of a Christian, but he did attend church, and was a real friend to us, and to all the congregation.
While working in his yard he had an acute attack of kidney trouble, and fell. When he was taken into the house, he asked that the doctor be called and if he could not help him quickly, that we be called, saying, "I have more confidence in Brother and Sister Goodwin's prayers than I do in all the doctors in the country." The next day his son called and asked if we could come to the hospital and pray for his father. He said the doctor had told them it was just a matter of hours for their father to be there.
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When we arrived at the hospital two doctors and a nurse were with him. When the doctors left the room, I mentioned to the nurse that we had come at the request of his son to pray for him. One of the man's daughters went with my wife and me into the room. "Daddy," she said, "Brother and Sister Goodwin are here."
Though he could barely understand he put out his hand to touch me and expressed in the best way he could that he was glad we came. We said a few words to him about the goodness of Jesus, and then we prayed for him. After prayer I talked with the nurse a little about his condition. In the course of our conversation I said, "He will not die, but will come home."
She looked at me with a puzzled expression which implied, "You dummy! How could you think such a thing?"
I assured her I was not saying this of my own judgment, but the Lord had put faith into my heart, or spirit, that he would not die but he would come home.
This faith came to me on this wise: when we heard of his sudden illness, and how he was rushed to the hospital, faith came into my heart that he would not die. This faith is given by the Holy Spirit at His will (I Cor. 12:11). Men and women are only vessels through which the Spirit performs.
I had no doubt about his coming home. You might ask, "Did you know he would be healed?" I did not have any evidence of a healing. The gifts of healings were not functioning at all in me.
I visited him the next evening. As far as signs were concerned, it looked as if he might die any minute, but faith was still as positive as ever that he would not die.
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The next evening (Tuesday) I met his son-in-law. He said to me, "I guess my wife's father will die tonight; two of the boys have gone to stay with him."
I said, "No, he will not die."
He replied, "If he does not die, we will know that you had something from God."
I assured him it was truly from God. In about three weeks he was dismissed from the hospital and was back in the general activities of life. God is truly wonderful!
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Chapter Two
THE GIFTS OF HEALINGS
Bible scholars tell us that in the original text this gift is written in the plural form — "gifts of healings." It refers to many and diversified healings, and is perhaps the most widely understood and accepted of the nine gifts of the Spirit. This gift is manifested in most full gospel churches where people believe in the miracles of God and believe that the works of Jesus Christ are to continue in the world today as they did in the early church.
Sickness is one of the sorest tests mankind faces. When Satan was addressing God concerning Job's integrity in the face of great losses, Satan said, ". . . All that a man hath will he give for his life" (Job 2:4). Satan then went on to suggest that if God would only allow him to touch Job's body, then Job would curse God.
So we see in sickness a true test of one's Christian testimony. Everyone feels that the Lord has the power to deliver them, and since they are serving the Lord, they expect their deliverance. They feel it is something which they deserve, it is their right.
But this deliverance is not brought about by a force which we might call faith, by forcing God to do certain things. It comes by just receiving what God has already promised, that which He has assured us is ours. In reality, the gifts of healings are a supernatural power given by God to remove diseases and infirmities.
In the Old Testament we read a report by the prophet Isaiah concerning the One who would make the great reconciliation to the human family. This One was to come and live as a human being, a man upon the earth, yet with the power of God because He was anointed with the Holy Spirit. He would remove infirmities; He would heal the people of their sicknesses. "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 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" (Isa. 53:4-5). 12
Then in the New Testament Matthew spoke of the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy in Jesus' ministry. "That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses" (Matt. 8:17). Jesus bore our sicknesses in His own body.
Divine healing is one of the most scriptural teachings in the New Testament. If there is a time for it to cease to operate, it will be when we leave this earth and have a glorified body. Then we will need no healing.
There are many aspects of healing. The one referred to in the twelfth chapter of I Corinthians, one of the nine gifts of the Spirit, is one of the most outstanding of these operations. When this gift of healing operates, healing is assured. There is no mistake about it. There is no failure in it. When the Lord sends gifts of healings to us, we are healed.
There are many other ways in which we receive healing. One is that we are healed by the Word of God. "He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions" (Psalm 107:20). This is healing by the Word.
Jesus said, ". . . What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them" (Mark 11:24).
Another way we receive healing is in praying one for another. Laying hands on the sick and praying for them is a Biblical order of healing. James, in writing to the church said, "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 . . ." (James 5:14-15). This is a charge to the church to pray for the sick, to go out anointing with oil and healing.
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The twelve apostles were given power to go out, anointing with oil and healing. They were also given power to raise the dead. As far as I know, this was the only group mentioned in the scriptures who were given power to raise the dead. The seventy were not given this power. In the Great Commission we see a charge to the church, but there is nothing in it about raising the dead. "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that be-lieveth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover" (Mark 16:15-18).
This does not mean that the dead have not been raised since then. Of course, we know that the Apostle Paul raised a person from the dead. Peter raised a person from the dead. There is much in church history that absolutely verifies the fact that people have been raised from the dead. There are testimonies today of people who were raised from the dead. But we do not say that the church is charged in the Great Commission to raise the dead. It is a wonderful thing, however, if God does bring someone back from the dead.
In Acts 19:11-12 we read of another way in which healing was wrought in Bible days. "And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them." So we find healing in the Bible in many different ways.
The type of healing we want to focus on here is the one mentioned in I Corinthians 12:7-9: "But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom ... to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit." This gift is just as miraculous and comes just as pure and sure as the other nine gifts of the Spirit.
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Just as we saw in the previous lesson on the gift of faith how that when it is working there is no mistake, no failure — so it is with the gifts of healings. When this gift is in operation, healing is received. In great revival campaigns across the country we see lines of people being prayed for to receive healing. We see many who are healed. But we also see those who do not receive healing. When this gift is in operation, however, healing comes. When it isn't in operation, it isn't there. It either is or it isn't. One thing about it, you and I cannot stir it up. When the Holy Spirit anoints us, He gives it; it is there and it works.
Let us look at one example in Christ's ministry here on earth. There are many, of course, but this one is a clear example of what we are talking about. On this occasion Jesus administered healing when the person didn't even ask Him for it.
In Jerusalem there was a pool called Bethesda which had five porches surrounding it. At certain times an angel would trouble the water of this pool, and the first person who stepped into the water after the angel troubled it would be healed of whatever disease he had. Needy people from near and far thronged about the pool hoping to be the one delivered. Each porch was full of "impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water" (John 5:3).
One man who had had an infirmity for 38 years and had seemingly been at the pool a long time was singled out by the Lord. Only one man among the multitude. We do not know why the Lord chose just this one helpless man out of so many. The Bible does not tell us. It does not even say that the man had extraordinary faith. We do know that he had faith. If he had not had faith, he would not have been at the pool. He was there because he was expecting healing from God.
There was no appeal on the man's part to receive healing. We only know that Jesus knew He had healing in His spirit to give to someone.
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Jesus walked up to this man, looked at him and asked, "Wilt thou be made whole?" The man began to tell him the reasons he had not already been made whole. The Lord didn't try to clear the man's mind of all these reasons. He just said, "Rise, take up thy bed, and walk." The man obeyed and was healed.
This gift of healing not only operated in the life of Jesus Christ when He was on earth, but it also operated through the lives of His disciples. When Simon Peter was ministering to the saints at Lydda, "he found a certain man named Aeneas, which had kept his bed eight years, and was sick of the palsy" (Acts 9:33). Aeneas had been an invalid for eight years. Yet when Peter walked into his room, he brought healing to this one who had been bedfast for so long. "And Peter said unto him, Aeneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole: arise, and make thy bed. And he arose immediately" (verse 34). This was the gift of healing in operation.
And what was the result of this dramatic healing? "And all that dwelt at Lydda and Saron saw him, and turned to the Lord" (verse 35). There can be no more convincing proof of Christ's power today than the witness of His healing power at work.
Just as the gift of healing was manifested through Christ's disciples, so is it manifested today through those whom the Spirit uses for this purpose. Man does not decide that certain gifts will operate through him, but it is as the Spirit wills. "But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will" (ICor. 12:11).
A few years ago I heard of a man in the hospital who had cancer. The doctors had run several tests on him and every one had shown malignancy. Samples taken from a gland proved malignant. Fluid from his spine showed malignancy.
A deep compassion for him came into my soul, which was the ministry of healing. I felt compelled to get to him. When I arrived at the hospital, he had several people visiting him, principally his relatives. Some were Christians and some were not. When I opened the door he said, "I told you he would come."
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I said, "Yes, I have come and Jesus is going to heal you."
"I know it," he answered.
After speaking briefly with the others in the room, I walked over to the man's bed and said to him, "Jesus is going to heal you now."
"Yes," he said.
Then we caught hands and thanked God for his healing. After we praised God together for a few minutes, I talked with him about the various tests the doctors were making on him. He told me they were going to make further examinations the next day.
Every test made after that showed absolutely no malignancy. Furthermore, he had to return to the doctor periodically for tests and examinations for another year. All tests proved negative. At the end of the year, the doctor told him, "At this time last year we didn't expect to have you here now." Several years have now passed and this man is alive and well, and has never had another symptom of cancer.
"Surely, this would work in a person for himself," some might say. It could if the Holy Spirit chooses to work that way. We walk in faith, apart from this supernatural faith. (The reason we call it supernatural is that it is on the highest level Biblically.) With this natural faith we can ask for our own healing. We can thank God for our healing and can claim it on the Word of God, declaring, "He sent his word and healed me."
If after a time it seems that you are not able to bring about the effects of your faith and receive divine healing, then get some help. "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 . . ." (James 5:14-15).
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Who are the "elders of the church"? The elders are those who are called by Jesus Christ into the work of the ministry — the apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, teacher or bishop over the church.
We read in Acts 20:28 Paul's charge to the elders at Ephesus. "Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood." The overseer is placed in the church by the operation of the Holy Spirit, and it behooves us to be careful of the manner in which we treat that person. That person, too, must take care that he walks uprightly in order to be a God-ordained leader.
As I was on my way to pray for a member of our congregation who was in the hospital, I felt faith building in my spirit and I knew I was going to minister deliverance to him. I walked into his room in the hospital and asked, "Brother, what seems to be wrong?" He told me that he didn't know exactly what was wrong, but that he had had a setback in his condition and didn't know when he would get to go home from the hospital. I said to him, "You won't have any more trouble. You are well. The Lord has delivered you."
Not long after that the doctor came by, checked him, and let him go home. And he never did have any more trouble.
When God moves through an individual for someone's healing, he is healed. No doubt he could refuse to accept it, but most people are so thrilled they arise and take it.
This is the gift of healing that comes without our pleading, praying or begging God for it. It works through the Holy Spirit as He chooses a vessel to work through, and it benefits those to whom it is directed.
We were pastoring in a small city in northeast Texas when a baby, whose family was well known to us, was sent home after examination in several leading clinics and hospitals in Dallas. The doctors were unanimous in their diagnoses — the baby had an incurable disease.
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One day, while Sister Goodwin was walking downtown, a compassion began to work within her spirit for this baby. Recognizing instantly that the gifts of healings were working in her for this child, she immediately gave herself to prayer. And while in prayer, the gift of faith also began working within her for the child — a sharp awareness was present that the baby would not die.
Knowing the mother held a job downtown where she was, Sister Goodwin stopped in the store and began to talk to her about the baby's condition.
"Do you believe God can heal your baby?" Sister Goodwin asked the mother.
"Yes, I do. I know God can heal my baby."
Before leaving, the mother was admonished to be in continual prayer and thanksgiving to God in her heart, even while waiting on customers. If the opportunity came for her to get away and pray, she was encouraged to do that also.
After getting in touch with me, my wife and I drove to the baby's home where the grandmother was keeping her. Though not a member of our church, the grandmother was an outstanding church worker, and a fine woman. But it soon became evident, as we talked with her about prayer for the child, that she possessed no active faith as far as divine healing was concerned. Despite repeated attempts to show the promises of God in His Word, she continued talking unbelief.
"Let's pray!" Sister Goodwin then spoke up, because the gifts of healings were really working in her spirit.
Back in the car driving toward town I remarked, "If anything was done for that baby, it wasn't done on my faith." Neither the gifts of healings nor the gift of faith were working at all in me.
But my wife just simply stated, "The baby is healed."
Due to the marvelous working of these two gifts through Sister Goodwin for that child, and the miraculous healing which took place, we understand as of this writing the child grew up, had a family, and recently became a grandmother. Praise the Lord!
My admonition to you who read this book is to rise up and state your faith in Jesus Christ that all things are possible with God.
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Chapter Three
THE WORKING OF MIRACLES
The gift of working of miracles is the third among the three gifts of power, and is included in the passage of scripture regarding the nine gifts of the Spirit. "And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom ... to another the working of miracles . . ." (I Cor. 12:6-10).
There is an abundance of evidence of the working of miracles throughout the Bible. Instances of this gift in operation are as numerous in the Old Testament as are instances of the gifts of healings. The prophets of old wrought mighty miracles through the power of God. They raised the dead. They healed the sick. They wrought miracles of change in the elements. A case in point is the drama at Marah where the bitter waters in the wilderness were turned sweet at the command of Moses (Exod. 15:23-25).
A succession of miracles brought about the deliverance of the children of Israel from Egyptian bondage. Finally, as the Israelites fled, the Egyptian army hotly pursuing them, they were blocked by the Red Sea. They couldn't turn back because the enemy was close behind. They could only go forward. But how? Only through a miracle of God. Suddenly the waters of the Red Sea congealed into upright walls of water on either side, making a path for the Israelites to walk across dryshod.
"Just a freak of nature," someone might say. But of the skeptic we would ask, how is it possible that this "freak of nature" lasted long enough for the three million Israelites to get safely across, but when the Egyptian army attempted to use the same passageway through the Red Sea, the great walls of water came crashing down upon them, drowning every one?
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We read of a similar incident in the life of Joshua. As he and the people came to the Jordan River at the time of harvest when it overflowed its banks, he told the priests to take up the ark of the covenant. "And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the Lord . . . shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon an heap" (Josh. 3:13).
As the priests waded into the water, the people following close behind, "the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap . . . and the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground ..." (Josh. 3:16-17).
Israel itself is a miracle. No one can deny that it is miraculous how this people have survived untold persecution throughout the centuries to return and rebuild their land.
There are those who are forever striving to find logical explanations for these miraculous happenings rather than to accept them as miracles of God. However, these miracles are wrought through supernatural power given by God, producing signs and wonders.
Jesus Christ taught about signs and wonders in the earth. And He told how there would be an increase in these signs and wonders in the last days just before His return to earth.
The first miracle that Jesus wrought was at Cana in Galilee where He was attending a wedding feast (John 2). When there was no more wine, Mary, His mother, came to Him asking Him what to do. He told the servants to fill six waterpots with water, and they did. Then He told them to carry the waterpots to the governor of the feast. Tasting the wine, he exclaimed, "Why, the best has been saved for the last!" No wonder. It was wine made by the Creator.
Surely He who created the earth, with all its trees and plants, fruits and vegetables, He who created these things so that they take water and food out of the ground, receive sunshine from above, and create a perfect fruit for the making of wine, could easily turn water into wine.
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What would be the difference in His merely speaking the word and water instantly changing into wine, or His creating the plants from which wine is made? Those who make a study of plant life marvel at how the substance comes out of the ground and goes all the way to the farthest tiny twig at the top of the tree, and yet they find no force sending it there. Many of these things are still a mystery. No one knows exactly how it all happens. Oh, we can have a name for the various processes, but who created the process? I'm so glad that I believe it was God. It makes me so happy to know that I am serving the God of Creation.
The gift of working of miracles did not pass from the scene after Christ was no longer on the earth. We see numerous examples of this gift in operation in the lives of His disciples. In Acts 3 we read of the lame man who received a miracle through the ministry of Peter and John. This lame man was laid daily at the Gate Beautiful "to ask alms of them that entered into the temple" (verse 2). He had been brought to this gate for many years, and there is every reason to believe that Jesus must have passed him many times as He went to the temple. Why didn't Jesus heal him then? There is nothing in the scriptures to answer this question. We only know that Peter and John did come along and bring deliverance, perhaps at a time which would bring more glory to God.
We know the familiar story of how, when asked for alms, Peter replied, "Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk" (Acts 3:6). Then Peter took the man by the hand, lifted him up, "and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength" (verse 7).
The man began to walk and leap, praising God, who had done such a miraculous thing for him. A crowd gathered around to watch in amazement as this man rejoiced in God's miracle. Peter took advantage of the opportunity to preach to the onlookers about Jesus Christ and tell them that it was He who had made the lame man to walk again.
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Not only are there miracles of healing, but there are also miracles in all areas of our everyday lives. In our home in Pasadena, Texas, we have a large patio. It occurred to me once while reading Exodus 8:21-22 that we could claim for our home this promise which God gave to the children of Israel. God had told Pharoah, through Moses, "If thou wilt not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thy houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are. And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth."
I walked out on the patio, read this scripture and said, "Lord, this is where your people live, and I claim for our dwelling the promise which you gave to your people long ago." I read the scripture more than once as I walked across the patio, praising God. And since that time I have praised the Lord many times for His faithfulness in keeping the swarms of insects away from us. This is in the southern coast country near Houston, and mosquitoes are everywhere around us. Next door or across the street you might be quickly bitten by these pests. But as you walk back on the patio, there is not one sign of a mosquito. This is a real miracle of God.
Another example of God's miraculous intervention in the course of ordinary events took place in Tyler, Texas, in January, 1968. My wife and I were with Brother and Sister Vaughan, of Lovington, New Mexico, when Sister Vaughan noticed that fluid was leaking from under our car. Raising the hood of the car I saw a stream of water coming out of the radiator. It was dropping down rapidly from several leaks. Suddenly the Holy Spirit brought to my remembrance the verse in Malachi 3:11: "And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes . . ."
I said, "Lord, if we have to have this radiator pulled from the car, repaired and reinstalled, it will certainly devour our substance, and you said in your Word that you will not let the enemy devour our substance. It will also take considerable time and delay us." All at once the radiator stopped leaking, and we were able to reach our destination without any further trouble.
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Some months later as I drove into the driveway one evening and got out of the car, I again noticed water pouring from under the car. Instantly the devil jumped on my shoulder and whispered in my ear, "Now what do you have to say about your miracle testimony?"
I said, "Devil, the miracle is still true. I don't know what has happened now, but I do know this car has run for several months without any trouble and that is enough to prove it was a miracle."
As I looked under the hood of the car, I saw that a water hose had sprung a leak. All I would have to do would be to have another water hose installed.
This is not to say I believe one could go out and buy an old jalopy and get God to repair it for him. I don't think that is reasonable. That would be just as unreasonable as Jesus considered Satan when he suggested that if Jesus were really the Son of God, He could cast Himself off a high pinnacle. Satan further reasoned, "For it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone" (Matt. 4:6). Christ answered him, "It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God."
The devil is always going to try to destroy our faith by attempting to get us to overextend ourselves. We must follow Christ's example in dealing with the devil. Jesus answered each of Satan's temptations with the words, "It is written ..." We must stay close to the Word of God.
I didn't expect the Lord to correct all the mechanical faults in my car. Someone might say, "But if you had exercised enough faith, maybe the Lord would have done all your repair work." Well, God isn't in the garage business. Just because He wrought this miracle on our car that we might make our destination without undue delay, does not mean He has gone into the car repair business. The fact that He wrought a miracle in ridding our home of mosquitoes does not mean I am going to try to get Him to clear the country of mosquitoes. I will go only as far as I believe God is speaking to me and that I am in agreement with His Word.
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When my wife and I first entered the ministry to pastor a small church out on the plains of Texas, more than once we did not have enough food for the next meal. Always we would just tell the Lord about it. We didn't tell anyone else. We never did buy even so much as a loaf of bread on credit. Yet God always supplied our need.
One evening we came in and had nothing from which to prepare a meal. My wife said, "I'm going to make some pancakes for our children."
"How are you going to make them?" I asked. "We're out of flour."
"I'm going to dip the flour out of that flour barrel," she said, pointing to the bin in the cabinet. However, the bin was empty. "You come here and praise the Lord while I dip out the flour," she said.
As I stood beside her, praising the Lord, she said, "Now, Lord, I know you can give us flour to feed our three children." Then she hit that old flour bin, took a spoon, and started dipping. She dipped out a full bowl of flour, made hot cakes, and we had a good meal with hot cakes left over. The next day groceries were brought in to us in abundance.
This was a miracle of supply just as Elijah experienced when he told the widow at Zarephath that her cruse of oil would never be dry nor the meal barrel empty. God is still a miracle worker. Nothing is too hard for Him.
When the Lord has called you into any phase of the ministry, He will provide for all your needs. He has promised to take care of us. Jesus said, "And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life" (Matt. 19:29).
Aren't you glad that the working of miracles is in His gospel just as much as healings, salvation, and the baptism in the Holy Spirit? It is all there, and one is just as wonderful as the other. Let us continue on, knowing that these things in the twelfth chapter of I Corinthians come from God through the Holy Spirit. He chooses the vessels and He works through them that which He desires to work.
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End of Volume III The Holy Spirit's Three Gifts of Power
Copyright 2007 Dr. Charles Goodwin all rights reserved.