Common Objections To Divine Healing

Common Objections To Divine Healing

by Rev. P. C. Nelson

"Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people

draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do

honour me, bus have removed their heart far from me, and

their fear toward me is taught by the precepts of men:

therefore, behold I will proceed to do a marvellous work

among this people, even a marvellous work and a

wonder... And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of

the book and the eyes of the blind shall see out of

obscurity, and out of darkness."

My text, taken from Isaiah, 29th chapter, 13 to 18 in part, is very applicable to our

times:

Time For The Lord To Work

We are living in just such a time as the prophet describes. Thousands make a profession

who have no possession. Much churchianity - little Christianity. Beautiful forms of

religion, but denying the power of God. Laxity in morals, selfishness, greed, and

hypocrisy in the high-seats in the synagogues. We preachers have failed to stem the tide

of worldliness which has swept into the churches and threatens to sink them.

We cannot do it by the ordinary means employed. The people who most need the

message of warning from the faithful pastor seldom hear it, and if they do, and he

speaks out against their pet sins and their secret faults with directness, he is soon seen

packing his goods to take a journey. In just such a time, the Lord asks us to step back

and let Him take the work in hand, and by marvellous miracles of power demonstrate

His presence and awaken the people out of their lethargy, indifference, and unbelief. For

this reason He asked me to scrap all of my old sermons and methods and the learning

acquired by many years of patient study, including twelve years in several of our best

schools and seminaries, let Him give me it new message of power and life, and "confirm

the Word with signs following.”

So many say, “If this is the work of God, why do not all ministers recognize it, and

cooperate in it?" I do not wish to cast any aspersions on my Brethren, but I suspect it is

for the same reasons that the religious leaders of the Jews, with rare exceptions, failed to

recognize the work of God in the time our Lord was on earth, and He said of some,

"Neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead."

Christ, The Only Divine Healer

Divine Healing is the work of God, just as much as the creation of the world and the

saving work of Christ our Lord. Healing not wrought by Divine power is not Divine

Healing. How strange that anyone should dare in our times to raise objections against the work of Jesus Christ in opening the eyes of the blind, the cars of the deaf, and

making paralytics walk!

Papers over the country dub me as a Divine Healer, or worse yet - THE Divine Healer. I

am no healer, and am as human as anybody. I never claimed I could heal anybody,

never thought I could. There is one Divine Healer, His Name is Jesus Christ! He commanded

His followers to heal the sick, but it was in HIS name and by His power. As a

man of wealth might say to his secretary, "Write this man a check and pay him.” The

secretary "pays" him, but out of the funds of his employer. In the same way I heal the

sick - by the command of Jesus Christ and by His power.

A Warning to Opposers

Those who oppose this work are not opposing P. C Nelson, but the Lord Jesus Christ;

who is saving scores of souls daily and is healing all manner of sickness and disease

among the people, exactly as He did in ancient times. It is His way of reviving His work

and building up His cause and it cannot be done in the churches with the backing of the

religious leaders, thank God, it can be done without them. 1 would rather have my right

arm severed from my body than to oppose what Christ Himself is doing, lest haply 1

"should be found fighting against God." (Acts 5.39).

Let us now take up some of the objections commonly heard against Divine Healing.

Has The Devil Been Converted?

Some have said it is the work of the devil. If that is so, the devil has been soundly converted

and is now working to build up the cause of Christ, for hundreds have been

wonderfully converted in these meetings. Some have made restitutions, some have been

delivered from vices and bad habits, some have paid up bad debts, some have quit the

dances, the card tables and the show houses, and some have given up old grudges, and

many who cursed and swore have learned to pray and to praise the Lord. One brother

answered the objection by saying that if it was the work of the devil, the devil failed to

get the praise, for all that are healed give the glory to God. 1 never knew that the devil

could be converted, but if this is his work, he is more effective in building up the cause

of Christ than many pastors in this city together. I would not venture such a statement if

I had not constantly disclaimed any credit for the work myself. It is not the devil's work,

not man's work - it is the work of God. If it is the devil's work, how is it that the devil

and all his dupes are fighting it so hard? Jesus said, when they made the some objection

in ancient times, "A house divided against itself cannot stand!"

Not Hypnotism, Mesmerism, or Magnetism

Many say it is hypnotism or mesmerism or magnetism. I have never been hypnotized

and have never hypnotized anyone, and could not do it if my life depended on it. If this

is hypnotism, I certainly ought to he decorated with all the orders and medals the kings

and potentates of earth can give, for not one of the professional hypnotists can make the

deaf hear, the blind see, or the lame walk, and none of these miracles which you have

seen in this tabernacle can be done by them.

Hypnotism can make fools out of those who become its victims, but it cannot restore to

reason or to health, as you have seen the Lord doing in these meetings. It is over a year

since the Lord healed me, after a painful, serious automobile accident in Detroit. If this

is hypnotism, I too was "hypnotized" and thereby enabled to rise and walk, and I have

been on my feet ever since. This "hypnotism" has good lasting qualities. I have known

some who were "hypnotized" many years ago, and escaped death; some from cancer,

some from tuberculosis, and some from other deadly diseases, and they are still

"hypnotized."

Not Spiritualism but Spirituality

Some say it is spiritualism. No, it is not spiritualism; it is spirituality. It is so spiritual

that the carnal "Christian" cannot understand it. But it has nothing in common with

spiritualism or spiritism, which is everywhere condemned in the Bible as a work of

demoniac delusion. The increasing interest in spiritism is one of the signs that Christ

will soon appear and that we are now living "in the latter times," for Paul says in First

Timothy 4:1, "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall

depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, speaking

lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron." With God, the Father,

and Christ, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, our Comforter, abiding in us, as Jesus taught in

the fourteenth chapter of John's Gospel, and with the light of God's Holy Word on our

Pathway, we need no witch or medium to bring us into communication with the dead.

Spiritualism denies the soul-saving doctrines of the Word of God, denies the inspiration

of the Scriptures. This abominable delusion of the Devil has never made anybody better,

but has wrecked many a good life. People who have been healed in our meetings have

lost their healings when they have gone to spiritualistic seances. Some of the most

pitiable people I have ever met were dupes of spiritism and were demon-possessed or

account of dabbling in these things so fearfully denounced in the Word of God.

Not Christian Science, But Christian Sense

Some call this Christian Science. That shows a deplorable ignorance. It is not Christian

Science, but, as a local physician said to one of his patients who was healed in these

meetings: “It is not Christian Science, but Christian sense!" We do not deny the reality

of matter or of pain. We do not say we do not suffer when we do. We do not deny the

personality of God, or the death of Christ, or His resurrection, or His coming again. We

do not set aside the ordinances of the Gospel, and we lay hands on the sick and anoint

them with oil, exactly as He commanded. We put all our faith for salvation from sin and

healing from disease in the atonement made by Jesus Christ on the cross (Matt. 8:17),

and in the power of the convicting, regenerating, healing Spirit of God.

Why All Are Not Healed

Some ask why all who come to us for prayer are not healed. I answer, because the

Lord's requirements have not been fully met. Many come forward for salvation in

revival meetings and some in the regular church services, who are not saved. If you pray

for the salvation of a soul and fail to get him saved, you have made a more serious

failure than I have if I pray for a thousand to be healed and they die without healing, for

the salvation of the soul is infinitely more important than the healing of the sick.

However, the quickest and surest way, and in many cases, the only way, to get people

saved is by the use of the key of Divine Healing, which the Lord put into the hands of

the church. The church lost it, and now that it has been found, refuses to take it back.

Healing May Be Gradual

Some ask why all who are helped are not perfectly and instantly and permanently

healed. I answer that the Lord frequently begins a healing work to encourage the person

to go deeper into His love and grace, and to acquire a greater faith, and get a spiritual

blessing, and then complete healing from all bodily afflictions. Partial or gradual

healing may prove a greater blessing than instantaneous, complete healing. The Lord

wants you to learn to walk with Him. If He healed you instantly and completely, you

might forsake Him, run away from Him. Many do not have faith to take complete

instantaneous healing. Many remark to me, "This trouble was long in coming on, and I

have had it for many years. I cannot expect it to leave me at once."

Spiritual Preparation Necessary

All who come up in the healing line should be in the services several days to hear the

Word of God, see people healed before their eyes, and bear the joyful testimonies of

those who have been healed. They should have time for private confession of hidden

sins and for the reading of God's sweet promises. When you have a promise to stand on,

and real faith, you are not disturbed by symptoms - you are staking all on the Word of

God, and ask for no other evidence. So many have been soaked in unbelief so long it

takes a long time to get it all out of their systems. Ministers who should be "examples of

faith" as well as piety, sometimes are so full of prejudice and unbelief that they took

with pity, if not with contempt, on people who believe that God will fulfil His gracious

promise with reference to prayer. You must have faith enough to take healing from the

Lord, and enough to stand in the midst of a cold, unbelieving, cynical world. And what

is worse, too often the churches that bear the holy name of Christ discount, discredit,

disclaim, and disown the Work of the Lord Jesus Christ. If the apostles should arise

from the dead and want to preach here and heal the sick, exactly as they used to do,

there is more than one church in this city that would not welcome them.

A Final Word

In conclusion, let me say that Divine Healing is being revived in our times, not by the

churches as such, but by the Lord Himself through humble servants who are not afraid

of the sneers of their fellows, and are not seeking popularity, or pleasure or ease, and are

not afraid to stand alone with the Lord, who Himself was despised and rejected by the

very people He died to save. It is spreading over the whole earth. God is using this

ministry to awaken a cold, worldly church, and prepare a people for His soon coming. It

is the master-key to the human heart. It is the method of Christ and of the apostles and

of all the early preachers of the Christian church. It is the key which the Lord is using

today to unlock the hearts of men, and to bring in the greatest revival ever known in this

world. Those who oppose it are not opposing a doctrine or a person like myself. They

are fighting against God, and standing in their own light. In all humility and love we

would warn them who oppose this work of God, in the words of Paul in the synagogue

at Antioch of Pisidia:

"Beware, therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken in the prophets; Behold,

ye despisers, and wonder, and perish, for I work a work in your days, a work which ye

shall in no wise believe, if one declare it unto you!” (Acts 13:40,41, cf. Hebrews 1:5).