There are a few believers who claim to have been given the gift of healing and other manifestations of the Holy Spirit, but the vast majorities within Christendom believe that such ability was temporary, ending with the death of the Apostles and the complete canon of Scripture; but is this really the case?
*Mark 16: 20* (Primary text)
And they went out and preached everywhere, the LORD working with [through] them and “confirming” the word through the accompanying [miraculous] signs. Also, in the online KJV Dictionary the word 'confirming' means giving additional evidence or proof; establishing.
NOTE: This is the reassurance of authenticating the truthfulness (veracity) of the Word and the power in serving the only True and Living God.
1 Corinthians 2: 4
And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of [a]human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power (Heb. g’burah),
Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant There are [d]diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit; for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by [f]the same Spirit,
1 Corinthians 14: 12
Even so you, since you are [a]zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for the [b]edification of the church that you seek to excel.
Philippians 2: 25-27
25 Yet I supposed it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, and companion in labour, and fellow-soldier, but your messenger, and he that ministered to my wants. 26 For he longed after you all, and was full of heaviness, because that ye had heard that he had been sick. 27 For indeed he was sick nigh unto death: but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.
1 Timothy 5: 23
23 Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities.
2 Timothy 4: 20
20 Erastus abode at Corinth: but Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick.
James 5: 14-15a
14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: 15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up;
NOTE: Do these 3 passages mean that the supernatural healing gift of the Holy Spirit has ceased?
COMMENTARY: If only the Christian Church today really understood the awesome responsibility and authority that she has, namely, to proclaim and re-introduce to an unbelieving world that the Kingdom of God is more than just a religious experience but rather it is the divine government and power of the Creator impacting and changing society in all areas. There are far too many individuals in hospitals, mental institutions, or living with cancer, diabetes, immune disorders, heart attacks, birth defects, addicted to alcohol and drugs, pornography, sickness, diseases, blindness, paralysis or lameness, suicidal tendencies or clinical depression, etc., and all the average believer does [including the author] is attend worship services for the traditional Bible study and hearing a sermon preached, singing hymns, praying, and tithing. On a few limited occasions when a visitor seeks a miraculous healing and it doesn’t happen, the petitioner’s lack of ‘faith’ is often used as the reason for this failure.
Among various denominations within Christianity are echoes of the popular refrain about receiving the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost but what is the evidence of this experience? It is more than just “repentance” [teshuvah] and living under the Lordship of Jesus [Yahshua], even if a believer’s body is the temple of the Holy Spirit (Cp. 1 Corinthians 6: 19-20). To be sure, there are members of Pentecostal and Holiness congregations who speak in tongues and even priests in the Catholic Church practice the centuries-old rite of performing exorcisms, but outside of these and a few scant other such practices, the Christian Church as a whole is woefully lacking in manifesting to a significant extent the miraculous healing gift of the Holy Spirit.
