The Apostle Paul addressed the fake super apostles in his day. We have teachers today that teach a false Health, Wealth and Prosperity Gospel. They do this because it tickles ears and fills up seats. False teachers’ cherry pick and twist scripture to draw crowds and Paul tells us:
For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings. We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world—right up to this moment. 1 Corinthians 4:9-13
Paul told Timothy:
No longer drink only water but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments. 1 Timothy 5:23
Timothy living in a fallen world finds his water contaminated and Paul instructs him to drink alcohol for medicinal purposes. Paul, who has the gift of healing, instructs Timothy to use means rather than look for a miracle for his health issues.
It is God who has brought weakness, illness, and death to those in the Corinthian church as discipline for their failure to confess, repent and observe communion with proper respect for Christ's sacrifice.
That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world. 1 Corinthians 11:31-32
Sometimes illness is just a result of living on a cursed planet and sometimes partly due to living for Christ as was Paul’s case or for some due to bad habits and sometimes it is brought by God as discipline. What the scriptures clearly teach is God is sovereign over all illness and financial situations. No “name it claim it” teaching can undue God's sovereignty. If God decides to heal it will be done. If he does not heal, we know scripture teaches that God works all for the good of those who love him.
If your church is teaching the health, wealth and prosperity gospel and instructing you to “declare” this teaching, then flee, pray for discernment, read the entire Bible and look for a church that teaches sound
doctrine.
Comments