Hello.
The first two days of our blogs on healing we looked at issues that bad theology has caused in the church. Today we will look at how the healing anointing has continued throughout the history of the church because there is a strong recorded unbroken line of a continuation of healing throughout history.
Hebrews 13.8: Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
We have to understand that God never changes. The healing power of God was present in the Old Testament and then into the New Testament and now today. God doesn’t change!
The supernatural power of God to heal the sick never left the church at the close of the Apostolic Age. The theologian Justin Martyr (100-165) wrote that Christians of his day moved in healing. Tertullian (160-240) and Origen (185-284) ,both noted systematic theologians of the era, recorded the continued flow of the supernatural.
Due to heavy handed bishops who institutionalised and structured the church in order to align it more politically at the expense of mission and the gifts of the Spirit from 325 A.D onwards the gifts of the Spirit became marginalised within the church. Areas such as personal holiness were relaxed and the conversion of Constantine in A.D 312 resulted in the church becoming a political power-base. The works of the Holy Spirit became even more marginalised as the mainstream church became more of political tool then the Bride of Christ.
The supernatural shifted from mainstream church into monasticism from 600-1517 AD. Augustine (354-430), Gregory the Great (540-604), Dominic (1170-1221), Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) all recorded the use of the gifts of the Spirit- prophetic, tongues, healing, casting out of demons, raising the dead and other signs, wonders and miracles.
After the Monastic movement the Supernatural shifted to the Cathri and Waldenses then into the Reformation under Martin Luther (1500’s) who recorded seeing healings. This continued through to the Moravians (1700’s). John Alexander Dowie (1847-1907) brought healing to the forefront of society the first time in nearly two thousand years.
The Azusa Street revival of 1906-1909, Los Angles USA observed the origins of the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements. One of the main factors that surrounded Azusa Street was healing. The 1950’s USA saw what became known as the ‘Healing Movement’ or later the ‘voice of healing.’ This was characterised by large tent meetings and were also first to be broadcast on radio and TV. These healing meetings saw the link between evangelism and healing joining together.
Healing never left human history. God is the same yesterday, today and forever. Nothing has changed and you can encounter that same power as well.
Tomorrow we will look at how healing reveals the character of God.
