 [Click here to go to Times Square Church Pulpit Seriesmultilingual site]

                           The Ultimate Healing!

  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Plain Text File + Home Page + Subscribe + Copyright
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------

By David Wilkerson
ca. 1979
__________

          Resurrection from the dead is the "ultimate healing." I
          tried to share that glorious truth with the grieving
          parents of a five-year-old boy who had died just hours
          before of leukemia. They had begged God for the healing
          of their dear child. The whole church prayed earnestly.
          Friends had prophesied: "He will not die; he will be
          healed." One week prior to the little boy's death, the
          heartbroken father picked the fevered child up in his
          arms and walked him around the room. "God, I'll not
          give him up. Your promises are true. My faith has never
          faltered. More than two or three have agreed in Your
          name that he should be healed. I confess it now, and I
          claim it." In spite of everything, the child died.

          I was there when that child was laid out in a tiny
          casket. I looked with horror on all those sad faces of
          Christian friends who had gathered to mourn in death.
          The parents were in a state of shock. Everybody was
          afraid to speak out what they were thinking. I know the
          church people were thinking it, and the pastor acted
          like he was thinking it. I know the parents were
          certainly thinking it. And just what was this
          unthinkable thought gripping their minds? Simply this
          -- "God did not answer prayer! Someone goofed! Someone
          stood in the way of God's healing power! Someone is
          responsible for this child's death. A grudge, a hidden
          motive, or a secret sin. Someone or something hindered
          the healing."

          It was there and then this glorious truth dawned on me,
          and I took the parents aside and briefly unburdened my
          heart. "Don't question God," I said. "Yours prayers
          have all been answered. God gave your son the ultimate
          healing. That little, fevered, diseased body has been
          abandoned, and Ricky is right now clothed in his
          perfect, painless body. Ricky has been healed! God did
          exceedingly above all you could ask or think of Him. He
          is alive and well -- all that has changed is his body
          and his location."

          Those parents turned on me with anger. They were bitter
          and confused, and they left the graveside to enter a
          bleak five-year period of doubts, questions, guilt, and
          self-examination. During that time, they would hardly
          speak to me. But God, in His mercy, always breaks
          through to sincere hearts. One day, while in prayer,
          the Holy Spirit came upon that grieving mother,
          reminding her of my message. She began praising the
          Lord, saying, "Ricky was healed. God did answer our
          prayers. Lord forgive our doubts. Ricky is right now
          alive and well and enjoying his healing."

          I treasure the moment we stood together, arms entwined,
          thanking the Lord for such comfort. Ricky's father
          confessed, "Dave, we were so angry with you. We thought
          you were heartless, suggesting our son, who had just
          died, had been healed. Now we understand. We were so
          selfish, we could not understand what was best for our
          son. We thought only of our own pain, our grief, our
          suffering. But now the Lord has shown us Ricky was not
          destroyed by death, but the Lord drew him to Himself."

                      -------------------------------

                       The Life Is Not in the Shell

                      -------------------------------

          These mortal bodies of ours are but mere shells, and
          the life is not in the shell. The shell is not for
          keeping, but a temporary confine that enshrouds an
          ever-growing, ever-maturing life force. The body is a
          shell that acts as a transient guardian of the life
          inside. The shell is synthetic in comparison to the
          eternal life it clothes.

          Every true Christian has been imbued with eternal life.
          It is planted as a seed in our mortal bodies that is
          constantly maturing. It is within us an ever-growing,
          ever-expanding process of development -- and it must
          eventually break out of the shell to become a new form
          of life. This glorious life of God in us exerts
          pressure on the shell, and, at the very moment
          resurrection life is mature, the shell breaks. The
          artificial bounds are broken, and, like a newborn baby
          chick, the soul is freed from its prison. Praise the
          Lord!

          Death is but a mere breaking of the fragile shell. At
          the very precise moment our Lord decides our shell has
          fulfilled its function, so must God's people abandon
          their old, corrupt bodies back to the dust from which
          they came. Who would think of picking up the fragmented
          pieces of shell and forcing the newborn chick back into
          its original state? And who would think of asking a
          departed loved one to give up his new, glorified body
          -- made in Christ's own image -- and return to the
          decaying shell from which they broke free?

                      -------------------------------

                              To Die Is Gain?

                      -------------------------------

          Paul said it! "To die is gain!" (Philippians 1:21).
          That kind of talk is absolutely foreign to our modern,
          spiritual vocabularies. We have become such life
          worshippers, we have very little desire to depart to be
          with the Lord.

          Paul said, "For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a
          desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far
          better..." Yet, for the sake of edifying the converts,
          he thought it best to 'stay in the shell.' Or, as he
          put it, "abide in the flesh."

          Was Paul morbid? Did he have an unhealthy fixation on
          death? Did Paul show a lack of respect for the life God
          had blessed Him with? Absolutely not! Paul lived life
          to the fullest. To him, life was a gift, and he had
          used it well to fight a good fight. He had overcome the
          fear of the "sting of death" and could now say, "It's
          better to die and be with the Lord than to stay in the
          flesh."

          Those who die in the Lord are the winners; we who
          remain are the losers. How tragic that God's people
          still look upon the departed as "losers -- poor,
          miserable souls, cheated out of a greater measure of
          life." Oh! But if our spiritual eyes and ears could be
          opened but for a few moments -- we would see our dear
          loved ones on God's side of the universe, walking in
          the pure, crystal river of eternal life -- trying to
          shout at us, "I won! I won! I'm free at last! Press on,
          dear earthlings; there is nothing to fear. Death does
          not sting. It is true -- it is better to depart and to
          be with the Lord."

          Did someone you love break out of the shell? Were you
          there when it happened? Or did the news reach you by
          phone or telegram? What kind of horrifying feelings
          rushed through your mind when you were told, "He is
          dead!" or "She is dead!"?

          Certainly it is natural to mourn and weep for those who
          die. Even the death of the righteous is painful for
          those left behind. But as followers of the Christ, who
          holds the keys of death in His hand, we dare not think
          of death as an accident perpetrated by the devil. Satan
          cannot destroy a single child of God. Satan, though
          permitted to touch Job's flesh and afflict his body,
          could not take his life. God's children always die
          right on His schedule -- not one second too soon or too
          late. If the steps of a righteous person are ordered by
          the Lord, He orders the final one, too.

          Death is not the ultimate healing -- resurrection is!
          Death is the passage, and sometimes that passage can be
          painful, even excruciating. I have seen many of God's
          chosen people die in tremendous pain. But Paul answers
          that well by proclaiming, "...I reckon that the
          sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be
          compared with the glory which shall be revealed in
          us..." (Romans 8:18). No matter how much pain and
          suffering reek havoc on these bodies -- it is not even
          worthy to be compared with the unspeakable glory that
          awaits those who endure the passage.

                      -------------------------------

                            God's Magnetic Pull

                      -------------------------------

          In my years of watching the godly die, I have note one
          common experience. I call it the Magnetic Pull. I'm
          convinced that death comes to the saint long before the
          last breath is taken. When the Lord turns the key, an
          irreversible magnetic pull of God's Spirit begins to
          draw the loved one to Himself. Somehow, God permits
          that person being drawn to know it is happening. He is
          given an inner knowledge he is going home. He has
          already seen a bit of the heavenly glory. While loved
          ones gather around him to plead for his resurrection,
          you can sense he doesn't want to stay imprisoned in his
          shell any longer. A crack has appeared; he has peered
          through and has glimpsed the New Jerusalem, with all
          its exciting eternal joys. He has seen a vision of the
          glories awaiting him. To turn back would be emptiness.

          Recently, I stood by the bedside of a saintly mother
          who was dying of cancer. Her hospital room was aglow
          with God's holy presence. Her husband and children were
          softly singing hymns, and, as weak as she was, she
          lifted her face heavenward and whispered, "I feel His
          pull. It's true -- He does draw us to Himself. It feels
          like a powerful magnet, and I'm going faster and
          faster, and I don't want anybody to stop me now."
          Within hours, she broke through her fleshly shell into
          God's inner circle. In that holy hour, no one dared
          interfere with this divine process of changing, when
          the terrestrial was being swallowed up by the
          celestial.

          It's so sad to hear Christians condemn God for 'taking
          their loved ones from them.' "Lord, it's just not
          fair," they argue. Though it is difficult to condemn
          what people say in times of deep grief, I believe such
          questioning can be selfish. We think only of our loss
          and not their gain. God only plucks out of this world
          those He can no longer love at a distance. Their mutual
          love demands they be in His presence. It is then love
          is perfected. To be with the Lord is to experience His
          love in its fulness.

          So you stand helplessly by as your loved one enters
          that passage called death. You know it's a dark, lonely
          path, and you can hold their hand only so far. The time
          comes when you have to let that loved one go and let
          Jesus take them by the hand. They are no longer yours
          -- they belong to Him. You feel so helpless, but there
          is not one thing you can do but rest in the knowledge
          that the Lord has taken over, and your loved one is in
          good hands. Then in a moment, they are out of sight.
          The battle is over. Only the broken shell remains. The
          delivered soul has taken flight into God's holy
          presence. The death of the righteous is a precious
          thing. David, the Psalmist, wrote, "Precious in the
          sight of the Lord is the death of his saints" (Psalm
          116:15). God looks upon the death of one of His
          children as a cherished moment. But we humans find
          little or nothing in this experience to cherish.

          A young mother told me a pitiful story of the trauma
          she endured after the death of her two children. The
          first child died at the age of 18 months. The second
          lived only about two months. She had thought God had
          given her the second child to make up for the loss of
          the first -- now both were dead. She and her Christian
          husband went through months of self-examination. Was
          there sin in their lives? Had they angered God by
          doubting His healing power? Were they in some way
          responsible for the deaths of their children? Then, one
          dark day, a 'good Christian friend' came to them with
          what she declared to be a message from the Lord. They
          were, she said, being chastised by the Lord for hidden
          grudges, dishonesty in their marriage. "Those children
          would still be alive," they were told, "if your hearts
          had been purged of sin and if your confession had been
          right."

          They were crushed to despair. But God, in His mercy,
          showed them how ridiculous such thoughts were. Such
          teaching is tragic nonsense. God doesn't play Russian
          roulette with lives.

          Shall we quit praying for the dying? Shall we give up
          on the terminally ill? Should we just lie down and die,
          if that leads to the ultimate healing? Never! More than
          ever in my life, I believe in divine healing. We should
          pray for everybody to be healed. And the only people
          who are not healed, according to our concept of
          healing, are those who are chosen for His ultimate
          healing. some are not given restored organs or limbs --
          instead, they are given the perfect healing --
          glorified, painless, eternal bodies. What is there that
          our minds can conceive as being a greater miracle than
          resurrection from the dead?

                      -------------------------------

                          We Are Too Earth Bound

                      -------------------------------

          Any message about death bothers us. We try to ignore
          even thinking about it. We suspect those who talk about
          it as being morbid. Occasionally we will talk about
          what heaven must be like, but most of the time the
          subject of death is taboo.

          How different the first Christians were. Paul spoke
          much about death. In fact, our resurrection from the
          dead is referred to in the New Testament as our Blessed
          Hope. But nowadays, death is considered an intruder
          that cuts us off from the good life we have been
          accustomed to. We have so cluttered our lives with
          material things, we are bogged down with life. We can
          no longer bear the thought of leaving our beautiful
          homes, our lovely things, our charming sweethearts. We
          seem to be thinking, "To die now would be too great a
          loss. I love the Lord -- but I need time to enjoy my
          real estate. I married a wife. I've yet to prove my
          oxen. I need more time."

          Have you noticed there is very little talk nowadays
          about heaven or about leaving this old world behind?
          Instead, we are bombarded with messages on how to use
          our faith to acquire more things. "The next revival,"
          said one well-known teacher, "will be a financial
          revival. God is going to pour out financial blessing on
          all believers."

          What a stunted concept of God's eternal purposes! No
          wonder so many Christians are frightened by the thought
          of death. The truth is we are far from understanding
          Christ's call to forsake the world and all its
          entanglements. He calls us to come and die. To die
          without building memorials to ourselves. To die without
          worrying how we should be remembered. Jesus left no
          autobiography -- no headquarters complex -- no
          university or Bible college. He left nothing to
          perpetuate His memory but the bread and the wine.

          What is the greatest revelation of faith, and how is it
          to be exercised? You will find it in Hebrews: "These
          all died in faith... confessing that they were
          strangers and pilgrims on the earth... But now they
          desire a better country, that is, an heavenly:
          wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God:
          for he hath prepared for them a city" (Hebrews
          11:13-16).

          Here is my honest prayer to God --

          Lord, help me cut loose from the bondage of things. Let
          me not squander my gift of life on my own selfish
          pleasures and goals. Help me to bring all my appetites
          under your control. Make me to remember I am a pilgrim,
          not a settler. I am not your fan, but your follower.
          Most of all, deliver me from the bondage of the fear of
          death. Make me to finally understand that to die in
          Christ is gain. Help me to look forward with precious
          anticipation to my moment of Ultimate Healing.

          Proof Scriptures:

               Revelation 1:18
               Hebrews 2:14-15
               2 Timothy 1:10

          ---
          Used with permission granted by World Challenge, P. O.
          Box 260, Lindale, Texas 75771, USA.

         Times Square Church Information | New Reader Information

  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Plain Text File + Home Page + Subscribe + Copyright
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------

COPYRIGHT/REPRODUCTION LIMITATIONS:
This data file is the sole property of World Challenge. It may not be
altered or edited in any way. It may be reproduced only in its entirety for
circulation as "freeware," without charge. All reproductions of this data
file must contain the copyright notice [i.e., "Copyright  2000 by World
Challenge"]. This data file may not be used without the permission World
Challenge for resale or the enhancement of any other product sold. This
includes all of its content with the exception of a few brief quotations.
Please give the following source credit: Copyright  2000 by World
Challenge, Lindale, Texas, USA.

This material is solely for personal use and is not to be posted publicly
on other web pages. The Lorain County Free-Net Chapel holds exclusive
rights from World Challenge, Inc. to publicly post these messages on its
web page. You are free to download, copy, print and distribute this
material, so long as you do not post it on a different Internet site. You
may, however, link this site to reference these messages.
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------

                       This web site is a service of
                          The Missing Link, Inc.
       Linking Troubled Youth and Adults with Life-Changing Programs
                       Web Site - http://misslink.org
               Chapel Site - http://misslink.org/chapel2.html
  Home of David Wilkerson's Times Square Church Pulpit Series Multilingual
                                  Web Site
                      http://www.tscpulpitseries.org

                                ------------

            Copyright  2000 - The Lorain County Free-Net Chapel
                        North Central Ohio, U.S.A.

                                TOP OF PAGE

           Our webmaster welcomes your comments and suggestions.
                This page was last updated February 7, 2000.

  Why Revival Tarries/ "Help!"/ What's Here/ Sponsor/ Statement of Faith/
                                Bible Study
         Around the Piano/ Bulletin Board/ Library/ Pulpit Series
