Faith Healing and Death
by: Deji Yesufu
I am compelled to again write on this subject as I continue to behold increasing number of victims of this false teaching that calls itself Christian. Maybe my passion is borne out of the fact that I also was almost a victim of it once in my life.
Today I will look at Faith Healing from the point of view of death itself. Those who espouse this teaching, as I once did, take their stands from scripture. Those of us who refute it take our stands from scriptures too. Therefore, I’ll take my discussion from the matter of life eventuality, death, this time.
To do this, I’ll tell two stories:
The first is the story of how a friend’s grand father died. He had been in and out of hospital on an ailment. But on this final occasion, grandpa stated that he had had enough of hospital visits. He called his children, most of whom where out of the country, settle matters with each of them. Left careful instructions for their inheritance. He bought a burial vault sufficient for himself and his wife (whenever she was ready to join him). And he left money for “owambe” burial party. When the time came to die, he stopped eating, turned his face to the wall and slept eternally.
The second one has to do with the manner Dr. D. M. Lloyd Jones died. Lloyd Jones had been a leading British minister in the city of London. He remains one of the longest serving minister of the Westminster Chapel. When he was going to die, he instructed his doctors and family to cease all treatment. “Do not keep me from glory…” He said. He died in 1981. Having lived eighty fruitful years on earth.
I said that to say this: Faith Healing is denying a lot of people a good, well prepared and wholesome death. When patients who are terminal are made to believe that there is a faith they must exercise to get a last minute miracle, they deny these patients something vital in their final hours.
Since the loss of my Deacon friend last year December, I have witnessed this phenomenon over and over again this year and it is very distressing to me. Thereby occasioning this post.
The biblical account makes it abundantly clear that healing and everyone of God’s blessings is premised on the will of God, and not on people’s faith. Scriptures records account of Elisha who was so powerful but yet died of an illness. Jesus Christ himself faced the matter of the will of God at Gethsemane and submitted to its negative side ultimately. And the New Testament records how leading Apostles like Peter and Paul spoke of their demise long before they happen. Those were no positive faith confessions. Thus, where do we find these false modern teaching of Faith Healing?
These teachings were popularized by a man called Phinehas Quimby in the 19th Century. After him, the founder of the Cult: Christian Science, Mary Eddy Baker, took those teaching to its logical ends. In the 20th century, E. W. Kenyon popularized it. And Kenneth Hagin, who is the progenitor of most Faith Healing ministries today, made it into an institution. These teachings are not biblical and unfortunately I do not have the liberty of space to prove this. My concern here is Faith Healing and Death.
What then shall we do?
Well, unlike my comments on the #Olowogbogboro thing, this is not open to debate. Everyone of us will come face with the reality of this matter at the end of our lives. If God is merciful to a man, he will give him sufficient time to prepare for his eternity. And one of such preparation is sickness.
My advice to many facing terminal diseases is this: do all that is in your reach to get medical care. While you do this, commit your ways to God. If it pleases God, you will find health again. If not, you will die. And my safe estimate records that no less than 80% of such persons will die eventually.
Therefore the wise thing is to put one’s home in order. Write a will. Talk to your children. Prepare your spouse. Find peace with God. And die graciously. These are the things I will do if I find myself in such a situation. And most of us will, someday.
If our Christianity has been worth anything while we live, it should be able help us to die well, Dr. David Martyn Lloyd Jones used to say.
(For those intent on having Bible quotations for what I wrote here, I will supply it on demand. These are just my sincere musing and not an attempt at biblical exegesis on the subject).
This article was first published on Facebook this day in 2017.
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