Tuesday by God’s grace was another good day of teaching and the biggest group we’ve had so far. From 9:30-10:00 each morning this week is a time of prayer, public reading of scripture, and singing (including shouting at times, and non-standard clapping beats that this white guy does his best to keep up with :) The teaching time is then from 10:00-1:00 with no break, but at least they let us sit down for the Q&A at the end :) Rather than being bored after the first couple hours, if anything they seemed more engaged and emphatic in their amens and affirmation and appreciation in the latter part of the message.
Faith-healing and unbiblical deliverance ministries and philosophies abound, so today’s subject in particular I was prayerful and careful and doing my best to make every statement helpful and biblical. With each line interpreted into both French and Swahili that gives me more time to give care and thought to my next sentence and observe audience’s body language or facial expressions to think of illustrations or explanations to help if I can tell needed. The teaching style is more extemporaneous and expressive and expanding on the fly as best I can with the Spirit’s help. To give a little feel for what it looks like, below are the exact notes I was using with my iPad along with some printed notes for one section noted below from GCBC sermon. I’ve added comments in brackets
Week 2 Day 2 Teaching Notes
Ask show of hands for how many not here yesterday? Last week?
Prayer and scripture - anyone else want to share testimony from last night or this morning as you pray the psalms?
[another 15 minutes of testimony on the power of praying the psalms, the homework assignment from yesterday]
Today I would like to talk about praying for healing
We will also talk about deliverance from sin by repentance
Topic: Healing, Deliverance, and Repentance
HEALING
We know God can heal but what about the gift of healing in NT times?
Some claim today to have healing power like Jesus and the apostles
What we see today is very different than what we see in the NT
But the NT does say “pray for one another than you may be healed”
God may heal us, but when He does not, it doesn’t mean He doesn’t love us
We need to be careful not to be deceived about healing or we’ll be discouraged
How does Soli Deo Gloria apply? Can God be glorified if we’re not healed?
Sola Scriptura - what does scripture teach about healing and healers?
Sola Gratia - how does God’s grace apply if we’re not healed?
Sola Fide - if you’re not healed, does it mean you don’t have enough faith?
Solo Christo - Is Christ our focus if not healed? Is Christ sufficient?
[above was probably the first 40 minutes or so]
SHARE PARTS OF NOTES FROM GCBC SERMON ON HEALING
[adapted 45 minute message I preached down to 20 minutes or so but double with interpretation]
DELIVERANCE BY REPENTANCE
Just like scripture and prayer go together, deliverance and repentance
Jesus said “the kingdom of heaven is at hand, repent and believe the gospel”
This is how we are delivered and transferred to His kingdom, by repentance and faith
- To be saved is to be delivered or set free from sin’s slavery
John 8:31-36
In v. 31-32 being free is by sola scriptura, knowing the truth of scripture
It’s not by a man of God or deliverance ministry
If you know the truth and believe it by faith, sola fide, it will set you free
In v. 34 it’s not deliverance from spirits we need, it’s deliverance from sin
We should not blame Satan, we should see it is our sin we’re responsible for
V. 36 says if Christ sets you free you are truly free - Solo Christo
- Every Christian has been delivered from darkness
Colossians 1:13-14
When we repent first repent and believe, we are already delivered from the domain of darkness into Christ’s kingdom
This DELIVERED is the same as REDEMPTION and FORGIVENESS
Sinners need to repent to be forgiven, that is how we’re delivered
DELIVER = SAVED, RESCUED, SET FREE
v. 14 is clear deliverance is forgiveness
Christians do not need to be delivered from the darkness, they already have been, but they need to live in the light of God’s kingdom (2:6)
When Christians sin it’s like a slave who is set free but who still chooses to do some of his old jobs
He doesn’t need to be set free again, he needs to know he already has been set free
He needs to see sin is no longer his master, he has been delivered from slavery
You can study this more later in Romans 6-8
We need to see Christ is the sovereign head over all powers of darkness (Col 2:10)
We need to see we are complete in Christ, and He is sovereign, not Satan (v. 10)
We need to see the cross has taken away the power of sin and darkness (2:14-15)
SIGN LANGUAGE = BONDS ARE BROKEN
- Every Christian practices deliverance by repentance
Col 3:5
These are not spirits to be delivered from but sins that must die
Notice this is still Solo Christo - v. 1-2
We must not look to Satan or blame Satan, we must look to Christ
We cannot do this in our own power, we must look to Christ’s power
In this sense, we can pray as Christ taught “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us...”
We have been delivered from darkness, but still need rescue from temptation
But we don’t need a deliverance ministry, our deliverer is Christ alone
Paul said in Romans 7 “who will deliver me...thanks be to Jesus”
Not thanks to the man of God, or the ministry, thanks to Jesus
Col 3:8-10
Discuss PUT OFF and PUT ON in v. 12-15
HOMEWORK FOR TOMORROW: Read and pray from Colossians 3
This is the foundation for the family in v. 18-21 but it starts here
[Below were in my notes but didn’t get to because of interaction, but covered much of below in Q&A time - wish we had more time for Ps 51]
PSALM 51:14 “Deliver me from guilt...” - see v. 1-4, 10
Normal NT words: saved and sanctified (not deliver)
1 Corinthians pattern of dealing with problems
Paul doesn’t pray for deliverance from SPIRIT of...disunity, immorality, etc.
What Paul does is preach repentance from SIN of disunity, immorality, etc.
Paul doesn’t say come to me as the man of God
Paul points them to Christ alone as the solution, not him
Paul doesn’t say stay after church for a deliverance service
In the NT there are no deliverance services
In the NT there was no spiritual gift of deliverance
Jesus DID give His apostles powers over demons
But the apostle Paul teaches them about Christ alone - solo Christo
Paul doesn’t want them to depend on him, he wants them to depend on Christ alone
REVIEW HOMEWORK - READ COLOSSIANS 3 AND PRAY TONIGHT OR IN AM
[QUESTIONS:
I used to be at a church where during the deliverance time we would fall on the ground and be “slain in the spirit” - was that wrong?
How should we interact with people who are caught up in these movements?
It seems like some of the practices of these people are like witch doctors or magicians? What do you say?
We have many bad theologies here, if someone I know is going to a faith-healer, what should I say or do?
How do I repent of a sin? Do I need to confess it just to God or to someone else
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