Healed Physically and Spiritually

 

The single remedy that cures every case in this world emotionally, physically or spiritually, and which has never been known to fail, is the Lord Jesus Christ. Exodus 1:26 says, “I am the Lord that health thee”. Jesus continues to use His healing power as an effective entry point to helping us to understand His Good News Message of Salvation and freedom from sin power. Even whilst Jeremiah (22:18) was questioning his people saying, “Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is there no healing for the wound of my people?” Jesus has always been the Balm in Gilead and the Healer.  Before He ascended into heaven, He spoke to His followers that “they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover” (Mark 16:18). This anointing was so strong on the Apostles that “many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles . . . believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed, (Acts 5:12-16). God’s will is for us to walk in divine healing and health, physically and spiritually. The Ministry of Prophet TB Joshua of the SCOAN Lagos Nigeria represents the Apostolic Ministry of our day, tapping into the promises of God. Jesus is making Healing a component of SCOAN’s teaching and activities across the globe.

Who are the people getting healing from Jesus in the Bible? One of them was a woman having an issue of blood for twelve years, (Luke 8:43-48). The woman had spent all her living upon physicians but couldn’t be healed of any of them. She came behind Jesus and touched the border of His garment. Immediately her issue of blood stanched. At that level, she obtained what we want to described loosely here as physical healing. But Jesus questioned, “Who touched me?” All denied and Jesus said, “Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me”. Eventually, she came trembling and falling before Him, she declared unto Him before all the people for why she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately. Jesus said unto her, “Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace”. She was brought to the full knowledge of Who Jesus is. Knowing Jesus is the spiritual aspect of healing. If Jesus had allowed her to go back to the crowd she might have run away with the impression that Jesus is also a super physician in town, whereas He is our Saviour, our Healer and by His stripes, we are healed. It is a complete package of emotional, physical and spiritual healing that we get from Jesus and which must be maintained by following Jesus.

Jesus also heals a Man Born Blind as another example of the people receiving this divine grace. “As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth”, (John 9). This healing was done so that the “works of God might be displayed in Him” (verse 4). Also to reveal the person of Jesus, “While I am in the world, I am the light of the world”, (verse 5). The blind man's faith and obedience must be acknowledged. He had never known or heard of Jesus before, but somehow believed and obeyed Him. The Pharisees investigated the healing only to display their spiritual blindness.

Incidentally, many people coming to SCOAN for healing belong to one or other groups; such as, “I don’t go to church”, “This is my first time in SCOAN”, “I have been to all over the places for healing to no avail”, “My pastor discouraged my coming earlier”, “I have been watching Emmanuel.tv”, etc. The Lord Jesus and His followers ministered healing even to those with little or no understanding of the things of God. Hence healing and all other God’s divine interventions in our circumstances must be that “His mercy brings both miracles and salvation”. This mercy healing is available to everyone. On the other hand, religious leaders are confused thinking of getting to the Healing Ministry by some rigorous academic research, going to a College of Divinity for a PhD degree programme, etc.

We perceive that this generation, like every other before it, consists of different minds when it comes to Who Jesus is, His disciples and the teaching of healing. In particular, the contemporary society is filled at one end with men and women of simplistic minds thinking that all there is are the only things their eyes can see. On the other end are the spiritualists, the rituals, the demons, the cultists where many religious leaders probably belong.  Our Lord Jesus Christ heals because He is full of compassion towards mankind and He knows that healing belongs to God’s children. Jesus heals us from all our infirmities to fulfil God’s promises and to glorify His heavenly Father. Furthermore, Jesus heals to confirm His Word, demonstrate the power in His blood and to expose the devil’s defeat and the devil’s failure. Peter explained to Cornelius that “Jesus went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil”, (Acts 10:37-38). Jesus knows all our needs even the number of hairs on our heads, (Matthew 10: 29-30), even our infirmities, and weaknesses.

We recall the parable of Lazarus and the unnamed Rich man told by Jesus in (Luke 16:19-31). Lazarus was described as a beggar with sores, looking for what to eat and dogs coming around him to lick his sores, whereas the Rich man was in luxury every day. The time came when Lazarus died and the angels carried him to Abraham's bosom. The Rich man also died and was buried in Hades, where he was being tormented; he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side, (verse 24). Lazarus reclined at Abraham's bosom, a position for the guest of honour at a banquet. We read in the gospels that John had that position next to Jesus, (John 13:23). Those who trusted in God's Word were promised to be with Abraham in God's kingdom. This is spiritual healing and our hope.

Hence as we continue to watch and pray with Emmanuel.tv, with Prophet TB Joshua and his SCOAN team, with other Christians, or individually, for healing, for blessing, for a breakthrough, the sole aim should be to encounter Jesus Christ and His awesome power. It is a big privilege and God’s divine mercy to be healed either through prayers, medication, diet or exercise. It becomes spiritual when it leads to the source and the Healer. In this generation, we have been blessed to have a Prophet like TB Joshua who is not just doing miracles but can live by the Word that leads to salvation. TB Joshua’s Ministry is “Healing the Christian World” today, turning it from serving the god of Marmon, the god of raising supermen who can build so many branches and raise so many funds but the people are not edified and made to encounter Jesus. TB Joshua often says that reward is not necessarily the result of faithful prayer. Lazarus must have prayed but his result came to him when least expected in the bosom of Abraham. What Prophet TB Joshua and his Ministry have contributed to how the public should see Christ is in the “Returning to the Apostolic Age” rather than the “Transaction Christianity Approach”. The Transaction Christianity Approach is to claim that because you sow an amount of seed you reap so much because you pay your tithes you are blessed more because you fasted for seven days you are blessed more than when you fasted only three days, you pay so much and you are prayed for that much. TB Joshua and SCOAN have left such schools through the power of Jesus, and now seeing Christ as He is. Of course, we need to pay our tithes and labour for Christ every moment. Nevertheless let us know that by grace we have been saved, through faith and this is not from ourselves. It is the gift of God and not by works so that no one can boast, (Ephesians 2:8-9). Hence be healed physically and spiritually in Jesus’ mighty name. Emmanuel!

Prof. R. A. Ipinyomi, University of Ilorin, Nigeria

Uproar Over TB Joshua’s Prayer Mountain Visit

I was mildly surprised recently to read a barrage of vitriolic tweets aimed towards none other than the amiable Pastor of The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations (SCOAN), TB Joshua. I use the term ‘mildly’ because I know he’s a controversial character whose actions usually tend to provoke strong reactions from both scales of the religious spectrum. However, the subject for this particular session of ‘online dragging’ by sharp-tongued critics were difficult to muster. Pictures and video had surfaced of the prominent cleric during a four-day prayer session at an “undisclosed prayer mountain”, in which he offered supplications regarding the world crisis, leaders, doctors, pastors and the coronavirus pandemic.

What baffles me is how the vicious scrutiny these ‘records’ received were so utterly disproportionate to their contents and the constructive message they conveyed. The main grouse of the ‘keyboard warriors’ was the fact that a cameraman followed the cleric for his prayers and such records were subsequently presented to the public. But such an argument is an almost audacious display of ignorance. It’s pertinent to point out that TB Joshua is the founder of a massive media organisation called Emmanuel TV, which commands considerable worldwide viewership.

As an Emmanuel TV viewer myself, I can attest that one of Joshua’s regular programs is a session called ‘prayer for viewers’ in which he offers a variety of prayers for his listeners, the efficacy of which is seen in the multitudinous testimonies that follow. Why then should the fact that the cleric prayed publicly for his viewers – as is his customary practice – elicit such a strange backlash? It is entirely reasonable for a ‘man of people’ of TB Joshua’s stature to inform his viewers regarding his movements and offer reassuring prayers at such a time of uncertainty and fear.

Let me equally point out that ‘the man in the Synagogue’ has an almost giddy reputation for maintaining impeccable records of his life and ministry. The documentary of his life is itself an eye-opener. When the young cleric in several open-air huts surrounded by mostly children declared the beginning of his church in 1989 – a time when his name registered zero recognition – a camera was there to record The SCOAN’s birth. What prompted such a gallant conviction if not a vision of Divine origins?

The records faithfully written in the Bible serve as the basis and inspiration for the faith of millions of believers. The technological advancements of the 21st century have simply enabled an ‘upgrade’ in the manner in which records are kept – a secret TB Joshua has clearly unlocked and championed. Pushing religious inclinations aside, all lovers of technology would agree that the quality of Emmanuel TV’s broadcasting trumps every other local channel in Nigeria. Joshua has tapped into the extraordinary potential of media and social media to reach people with his message and mission. Instead of asking why the cleric would engage in such a broadcast, the question should rather be why wouldn’t he record the prayer for his 1.7million YouTube subscribers and four million Facebook followers?

Another set of moaners on this trending topic arbitrarily quoted the Scripture in Matthew 6 that calls on believers to pray in a secret place rather than the Pharisees who prayed “to be seen by others”. This argument also falls flat under minimal scrutiny. TB Joshua was at ‘the mountain for four days – at least 96 hours – and Emmanuel TV viewers will know he has visited such hallowed grounds for pilgrimage on numerous occasions without any attendant ‘noise’. So, why would anyone use a 15-minute clip to draw sweeping conclusions on the actions and motives of a man who sacrificed fleshly comforts in the wilderness for the purpose of prayer at a time of global crisis? Surely all citizens, regardless of their religious affiliations, desire the end to this pandemic and its associated repercussions and thus agree with the premise of his prayers?

Finally, I dare any diligent believer to watch TB Joshua’s sermons and deny that the man is not thoroughly grounded in God’s Word with remarkable spiritual maturity! The substance of TB Joshua’s teachings clearly flows from a heart deeply engaged with God. Simply put, TB Joshua is a man of prayer; what we saw in the viral photographs was the public overflow of private commitment – recorded and shown for the glory of God and shame of the devil.

Tawia Acheampong, Accra, Ghana

TB Joshua on Four-Days Visit to “PRAYER MOUNTAIN” Over COVID-19

Nigerian Pastor TB Joshua has spent four days at an undisclosed “prayer mountain” to “present the nations” to God in prayer.

The cleric was notably absent from the usual Sunday broadcast from Emmanuel TV’s studios on Sunday 26^th April 2020 but clips of him ‘crying unto God’ amidst a large expanse of rocks and trees were shown.

“In the name of Jesus, we present the nations, the world at large to You, Lord. Forgive them their iniquities. Forgive them their wrongs. Forgive them their sins,” Joshua prays with his face pressed against the rocks in supplication.

“Jesus, by the authority of the Scripture, help the world at large! Cure them of fear, Lord Jesus,” he continued. 

The cleric then made a bold statement of prayer concerning the end of coronavirus, the deadly pandemic that has practically brought the world to a standstill. 

“COVID-19, this is your end! Lord Jesus, You have done it before; do it again,” he declared, further praying for “sin’s power” and “every influence of COVID-19 all over the world” to “be broken”.

Joshua went further to pray for world leaders. “Give our leaders wisdom and understanding to guide their nations,” he appealed, insisting they needed Divine help in this “critical time”.

The prominent cleric then turned his attention towards fellow “ministers of the Gospel”, decrying the division that has infiltrated the “house of God” and asking God to bring “fresh anointing” for unity.

“Without anointing, no one can do Your work. Without anointing, our challenges will overwhelm us,” he bluntly stated, asking God to “refill” and “remould” ministers of God.

Joshua, who is well-known for the ‘miracles’ he regularly broadcasts on Emmanuel TV, also prayed for healing for those “on the sickbed”.

“Whatever sickness in your body, fluids, organs, whatever name they call it – COVID-19, whatever affliction – receive your healing, in the name of Jesus,” he declared.

Joshua then prayed for healthcare workers who have been in the heart of the battle against coronavirus, asking God to “use them to restore the health of sick ones”. 

“Let them sense the presence of God… Lord Jesus, guide the surgeons’ hands,” he prayed.

 

The cleric, who was barefoot throughout the clip and simply clad in a long garment, showed where he slept outdoors for the duration of his stay at the ‘prayer mountain’.

Ihechukwu Njoku is a freelance Nigerian journalist