3) Ministry Like Jesus

"A disciple, when he is fully trained, will be like his Teacher"

Photo: Patti Graetz

Note: This is Part 3 of the series which deals with the delayed return of Jesus, but it also stands alone. 

For continuity, or to see the big picture read also:

Part 1, "The (Delayed) Return of Jesus"  and 

Part 2, "The Mystery of The Ages."


Ministry Like Jesus

Introduction

Jesus had a unique style of ministry which very few people follow today. He successfully taught, first His twelve disciples to do ministry like He did, and they were very successful. (See Luke 9.)

Then He taught another seventy disciples to do ministry like He did, and they were even more successful. (See Luke 10.)

We know that His methods later worked very well for some because Acts 5:12 tells us: "Now by the hands of the apostles great signs and wonders were being performed among the people." 

But what happened to the seventy? And what happened after that?


Know Your Enemy


Note: the enemy are not fighting God, they are fighting God’s people and the whole of Creation. “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God.” Rom 8:19


2 Corinthians 2:11 “...to keep the adversary from getting the advantage over us; for we are not ignorant of his tricks." 


Unfortunately, many people are ignorant of some, even most of the tricks of the enemy. Some of those tricks are to get people to think that the devil is working by himself to cause all the evil, that the devil is everywhere, that we (humans) can rebuke the devil, and so on.


Genesis 2 & 3: See the pages on Equality and Love.


Job 1-2 See the pages on Mistakes.


Note in Job 1:6: “... and the adversary (literally: the satan) also came among them.” The word used for adversary is the Hebrew word “satan” which means “enemy” or “adversary,” one who is against you. It is pronounced "sah-tahnʹ" in Hebrew, with the emphasis on the second syllable. It is not the devil's name. Do not make him important or equal with God by using a capital letter “S.” It is a descriptive word, like pastor, bishop, president, doctor and so on. In every instance that the word appears in Job, and also in Zechariah 3, it is preceded by the Hebrew definite article 'ha' or 'has' (which is translated in English as "the") to emphasise that this is not a name but a description. 


In addition, the Hebrew word satan, which is used as a noun (the name of an object, thing or person) in the example above, can also be used as a verb (a word which describes an action). Zechariah 3:1 demonstrates this clearly:


"And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and the satan (adversary) standing at his right hand to satan (oppose) him."


This Hebrew/Aramaic word also appears as-is in the New Testament, which is written in Classical Greek and, unlike a name such as Peter, or Paul or John, continually (but not exclusively) appears with the Greek definite article, which is translated in English as 'the'. And so we read in Mark 1:13 "And He was in the wilderness forty days, undergoing trial by the satan (the adversary)." It is unfortunate that translators give the adversary more prominence than deserved by turning his description into a name. This, and many other passages should read, "...undergoing trial by the adversary," or whatever the context shows. In other words, that Hebrew word satan should be translated as 'adversary' or 'the adversary' almost all the time, rather than being treated as a name.


Note verse 7: The devil is geographically limited to one place at a time.

The Lord said to the adversary, “From where have you come?” The adversary answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.”


The following passages use prophetic imagery to describe the enemy leader.


In Isaiah 14 (below) the words "light-bringer and daystar" are often replaced with the word "Lucifer."


Isaiah 14:12-16 (AMP)

How have you fallen from heaven, O light-bringer and daystar, son of the morning! How you have been cut down to the ground, you who weakened and laid low the nations

[13] And you said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven; I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit upon the mount of assembly in the uttermost north.

[14] I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.

[15] Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol (Hades), to the innermost recesses of the pit (the region of the dead).

[16] Those who see you will gaze at you and consider you, saying, Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms?

[17] Who made the world like a wilderness and overthrew its cities, who would not permit his prisoners to return home

See also verses 18-21


Note also Isaiah 33:1 “Woe to you, destroyer, you who are not destroyed; you deal treacherously though they did not deal treacherously with you…”


See also Isaiah 24:21-23 about punishment of the enemy angels.


Ezekiel 28:12-18 (AMP)

[12] Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre and say to him, Thus says the Lord God: You are the full measure and pattern of exactness, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

[13] You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering...On the day that you were created they were prepared. [Ge 3:14,15; Isa 14:12-15; Mt 16:23.]

[14] You were the anointed cherub that covers with overshadowing [wings], and I set you so. You were upon the holy mountain of God; you walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire

[15] You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created until iniquity and guilt were found in you.

[16] Through the abundance of your commerce you were filled with lawlessness and violence, and you sinned; therefore I cast you out as a profane thing from the mountain of God and the guardian cherub drove you out from the midst of the stones of fire.

[17] Your heart was proud and lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I lay you before kings, that they might gaze at you.

[18] You have profaned your sanctuaries by the multitude of your iniquities and the enormity of your guilt, by the unrighteousness of your trade. (Do not read this next part = future) Therefore I have brought forth a fire from your midst; it has consumed you, and I have reduced you to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all who looked at you.


It's important to remember the character of the devil, as a liar and murderer. Note the lies in his claims to Jesus during the temptation in Matthew 5:8-9.


"Again the devil...showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them;

"And he said to Him, "These things all taken together I will give You, if You will bow down before me and worship me."


The devil did not and does not have all the kingdoms of the Earth to give to anyone. Just because something is written in the Bible does not automatically make it true - we always have to look at who is speaking and who they are talking to, and what the circumstances are. See also Psalm 24:1 in this context: "The Earth is the Lord's, and everything in it; the world and all who dwell in it."


A similar lie from the adversary is found in Genesis 3:5, where he claims that God is intimately connected with evil. He (God) has no darkness (evil) in Him at all. See 1 John 1:5


Luke 4 contains similar misinformation from the enemy. “And the adversary said to Him, “To you I will be giving all this authority and the glory of them, for it has been given up to me, and I am giving it to whomever I will.” Verse 6


As a known liar the adversary is making claims that cannot be backed up by any Biblical evidence. His promise, therefore, becomes highly suspect.


John 8:44 “...the devil...was a murderer from the beginning. There is no truth in him; when he speaks a falsehood he speaks what is natural to him...for he is the father of all that is false.”


John 10:10 “The thief comes to kill, steal and destroy.” All loss, destruction, sickness, pain, injury and death come from the evil one, never from God. Also included are things like destructive lightning, floods, fire, wind storms and earthquakes. See 1 Kings 19:11-12


This next passage is seldom taught on:


John 14:30, 31 “I will not talk with you much more for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has no part in me. But I do what the Father has commanded me. Get up, let us go away from here.” 


There are two important points from this passage:


If the kingdoms of the Earth belonged to the devil then slavery would have never been abolished in America, apartheid would not have been abolished in South Africa, and the so-called Eastern bloc countries would still be in the control of the Soviet Union, which somehow mysteriously disintegrated as well. Yet many Christians believe that because this lie and others are written in Scripture, they must be true.


Where we follow God's prescription for situations the devil and the enemy spirits in his control are stripped of their power, they have no defense against us. This is ably demonstrated in Luke 10, where Jesus sends out seventy followers in pairs to minister like He had been doing. They produced a greater result than just sending out the twelve, even though the twelve had probably been following Jesus for longer.  See a fuller exposition below, in the next section: Know Your Friends.


Ephesians 6:12 “For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood but against the despotisms, the powers, the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly realm.”


So much teaching in recent years has focused on "enemies" as being people who are trying to harm us through gossip, lies, deception and outright theft. Paul nails this error squarely when he says that our enemies are never humans but are always evil spirits stirring up trouble by using humans as the weapon. 


The correct method to deal with enemies is double-pronged: "When a man's ways please the Lord He makes even his enemies be at peace with him," is Proverbs 16:7. In other words, if we are not doing things correctly, we could end up with people who seem to want to work against us. However, from our understanding of Ephesians 6 we now know that they are being manipulated by the enemy.


The second prong in dealing with perceived enemies is to follow the words of Jesus in Luke 6:27-28: "Bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, pray for those who spitefully use you..."

 

1 Peter 5:8 “Be well-balanced; be alert at all times, for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.” But they simply cannot devour us. The most they can do is kill us, destroy our body, which is going to be replaced at some stage, anyway.


Jesus said, “Do not fear those who kill the body. Rather fear him (the adversary) who can destroy both body and soul in hell.” Matthew 10:28 


Revelation 12 “Then another was seen in heaven, a huge, fiery red dragon. His tail dragged down a third of the stars and flung them to the earth

“...Then war broke out in heaven, Michael and his angels going forth to battle with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, But they were defeated, and there was no room found for them in heaven any longer.

“And the huge dragon was cast down, that ages-old serpent who is called the adversary (Hebrew word = ‘satan’)...was forced out and down to the earth, and his angels were flung out along with him.” Revelation 12:3, 4, 7-9


And in the end (this has not yet happened):


“Then I heard a strong voice in Heaven saying, Now it has come, the salvation of our God, and the power of His Christ (Messiah); for the accuser of our brethren, who keeps bringing before our God charges against them day and night, has been cast out.” Revelation 12:10


This list is not necessarily complete, but the verses illustrate the point in different ways.


Know Your Friends


“I will put none of these diseases upon you which I put upon the Egyptians, for I am the Lord who heals you.” Exodus 15:26


“Praise the Lord... Who heals all your diseases…” Psalm 103:2,3


“Then He sends forth His word and heals them and rescues them from destruction.” Psalm 107:20


“Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows...and with His stripes we are healed.” Isaiah 53:4-5


“When evening came they brought to Him many who were under the power of demons, and He drove out the spirits with a word, and restored to health all who were sick.” Matthew 8:16 plus v17


“And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel (good news) of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.” Matthew 9:35


“Then Jesus called together the twelve and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases. And He sent them out to announce the kingdom of God and to bring healing.” Luke 9:1-2


Acts 10:38 “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with Spirit and strength; how He went about doing good and healing all those who were oppressed (tyrannised) by the devil.”


Three Types of People Influenced by Jesus


1a) Believers - through preaching or teaching


“And as He said these things many believed on Him.” John 8:30


1b) Believers - through signs and wonders


“This first of His signs Jesus performed in Cana of Galilee, and His disciples believed in Him.” John 2:11


But believers have little depth; they are like the seed thrown on the roadside or in the rocky ground where they never take root or develop. Believers can just as easily turn on the One in whom they believe.


“So Jesus said to those Jews who had believed in Him, If you hold fast to My teachings and live according to them you are truly My disciples. And you will know the truth and the truth will set you free….So they took up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus concealed Himself by mixing with the crowd and went out of the temple enclosure.”  John 8:9, 59


2) Followers - when believers take in the truth after they believe and start to take on the things Jesus spoke about and taught. Jesus had many followers.


Jesus' invitation: “And Jesus called the throng with His disciples and said to them, If anyone wants to come after Me let him deny himself, take up his cross (literally “stake”) and follow Me. For whoever would preserve his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake and the Gospel’s will save it.” Mark 8:34, 35


“And Peter started to say to Him, Behold, we have given up everything and followed You.”  Mark 10:28


The problem with followers is that they tend to become attached, but not involved. They are like the seed thrown on poor soil, among thorns, and when tough times come they wither and fall away. When things get tough they can stop following Jesus. 


See John 6:66. Even though John describes these people as 'disciples' their actions (leaving when the teaching became difficult) pictures them as just followers. In the next section we will see Jesus' description of a disciple.


3) Disciples - when followers start to do the same things Jesus did. 


Examples of Disciples at Work:


He taught the twelve, first, to do what He did and then sent them out, with great results. In Matthew 10


“And Jesus summoned to Him His twelve disciples and gave them power and authority over unclean spirits, to drive them out, and to cure all kinds of diseases and infirmities.” Verse 1


“Jesus sent out these twelve, charging them...And as you go, preach saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand!!” Verse 5a, 7


“Cure the sick; raise the dead; cleanse the lepers; drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.” Verse 8



Are you ministering like Jesus?


Are you using His methods?


Are you seeing the same sort of results?


“So have no fear of them (those who try to oppose you), for nothing is concealed that will not be revealed.” Verse 26. In other words, anything we need to know about doing ministry like Jesus did (and anything else) will be made available to us.


Luke gives a similar story to Matthew 10, in Luke 9, but with one extra detail - he reported the results.


“And departing they went about from village to village, preaching the Gospel and restoring the afflicted to health everywhere.” Verse 6


What is the Gospel? 


Gospel means “good news.”  What Gospel did Jesus bring? What good news do you bring?


John the Baptist stated this Good News (gospel) revelation like this:

i) "Repent (change your mind), for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand." Matthew 3:2

ii) "I indeed baptise you with water...but He who is coming after me will baptise you with Holy Spirit and with fire." Matthew 3:11


ii) The implication in John's words is that, while water baptism is important, an even greater baptism will be performed by Jesus. This prophetic declaration is the only one recorded in each Gospel and the book of Acts, where Jesus repeated John's words in Acts 1:5, and then, shortly after, poured out the Spirit on the gathered disciples in Acts 2:1-4.


i) There are two aspects to his instruction to repent (to change your mind about something). The Jews had been waiting a long time for Messiah - their wait was now over. In the presence of God people often confess their sins and desire to see personal change as well. This was a real revival happening.


What does "the kingdom of Heaven is at hand" mean?


After John was imprisoned for publicly criticising the governor of the province he sent his disciples to Jesus and asked, "Are you He who was to come, or should we keep on expecting a different one?" 


The implication is that John had heard of the miracles that Jesus was performing and was hoping that He would perform one for him and get him released from prison. Jesus' reply to John leaves no doubt about what the kingdom of Heaven is about.


"Go and report to John what you hear and see:

"The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them." Matthew 11:4-5.


Five signs, wonders and miracles, plus sharing the good news (Gospel). That's the way the kingdom of Heaven presents itself on Earth.


But there's more.


What is this Good News (Gospel)?


In John 3:3-7 Jesus explains that we enter the kingdom of God when we are born again. In verse 15 He uses another metaphor to say that everyone who believes in Him has eternal life. In verse 18 he says that whoever believes on Him is not judged, and does not come under condemnation.


Even more remarkably, in Luke 17:21 Jesus says that when we enter the kingdom of God, the kingdom of God enters us. Just like Jesus we carry this same kingdom of God with us and in us and can bring it to bear in the lives of others, just like Jesus. That's good news! 


In Matthew 5-7 Jesus speaks extensively about how to live in this kingdom of God, but references to life in the kingdom are spread throughout the four Gospels. He doesn't major on sin, nor does He say anywhere that we enter the kingdom by repentance (changing our mind), or by confession of sin, or by putting sin away from us. 


Instead, according to John's Gospel, Jesus emphasised faith, the act of believing Him and believing in Him. Instead of us working to get our actions right for us to be acceptable to God, Jesus said that His Father, our Father, would make our relationship right with Him by adopting us as His sons and daughters. While Isaiah 63 and 64 refer to God as Father to Israel, Jesus revealed God as Father to each one of us individually.


Here is a part of the Good News of the New Covenant in His blood, that Jesus shared extensively in John 14, but which a lot of people read in the wrong way. First, the prophecy from Ezekiel 11:19-20 about this very thing to come:


"And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new heart within them; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh;

"That they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances, and do them. And they shall be My people, and I will be their God."


Jesus put it this way, in John 14:23.


"If a man loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come and make our home with him."  In other words, if we love Jesus we will surrender to Him, which then makes us a suitable home or dwelling place for Father, Son and Holy Spirit. That's why I emphasised the word 'will' to show that loving Jesus results in changed behaviour; it is not that our changed behaviour brings the love of Jesus into our life.


This verse is written a little bit in the manner of an old covenant promise, where God does something because we have done something. The author later corrects this so that we don't get the wrong idea, in 1 John 4:19 where he says, simply: "We love Him, because He first loved us." It all starts with God.


Jesus extends His ministry to more than the immediate twelve disciples


In Luke 10 the writer (who was not one of the twelve disciples) shows that Jesus extended His ministry to even more people.


“Now after this the Lord chose seventy others and sent them out ahead of Him, two by two into every town and place where He was about to come...Wherever you go into a town...heal the sick in it and say to them, The kingdom of God has come close to you.” Verses 1, 8a, 9.  



With a multitude of people doing the same thing, the same works in God, the same works as Jesus, there was a dramatic result.


“The seventy returned with joy, saying, Even the demons are subject to us in Your name!”  v17

“And He said to them, I saw the satan falling like lightning from heaven.” v18.  Verse 18 is most definitely connected to verse 17!


Think of that for a minute or two, or a lifetime. The power of disciples going out in pairs to minister like Jesus did is so great that it demolishes the work of the enemy. In this case the enemy leader was obviously in heaven “accusing the brethren” (the believers, the saints) before God. 


When he saw that evil was being stopped at one particular place on Earth he flashed down in such fury and haste to deal with his lieutenants who were supposed to be stirring up strife, that it appeared like a flash of lightning.




The Single Purpose of Jesus’ Ministry



Jesus did this by showing us how we can defeat all manner of sickness, pain, misery, defeat and oppression, and by His death and resurrection.


The Two Directions of Jesus’ Ministry


2) Teaching


3) Miracles, Signs and Wonders


Three Aspects of Jesus’ Prayer Life


These first two examples were repeated on more than one occasion.


4) With the Father, always in private.


He would go by himself late at night into the mountains to pray, Luke 6:12; Matthew 14:23

He would go by Himself very early in the morning into the wilderness to pray.  Mark 1:35; Luke 5:16


Because people were always pressing around Him, demanding His time, He chose quiet, secluded places to connect with His Father. After the two mountain prayer experiences He came down in power. In the first He chose the disciples, and in the second He walked on water to meet the disciples.


How did Jesus pray?


Like Moses.


Jesus was confined in a human body subject to death before His resurrection. As such He was not able to personally meet with His Father in those secluded places that He chose for prayer. Instead, He had to rely on the same system that we do.


a) By definition, prayer is communicating with God, our Father. It is not reading something that someone else has written, nor is it reading aloud something that we have written. It is simply communication from the heart or the head to Someone that we love, Who loves us even more.


b) Prayer is meant to be two-way communication, just like Moses experienced in Exodus 33:11, which describes his time on Mt Sinai receiving the terms and commands of Israel's new covenant with God, which today is known as the Old Covenant.


"And the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, like a man speaks to his friend."


But there is a problem with thast verse. If we go a little further along we see that Moses asks to see God's glory, and God agrees to give him that request. God will pass by Moses but will hide Moses in a cleft of the rock, and cover him with His hand as He passes by, so that Moses only sees the back parts of God, for "no man can see My face and live." Exodus 33:20


So what happened back in verse 11?


Early copies of early books in the Old Testament were memorised, because writing had not yet been developed. When they were transferred to parchment they were copied by hand and copyists made mistakes. This verse makes perfect sense and does not take away from the truth of it when we rearrange one phrase, like this:


"And God spoke with Moses like a man speaks with his friend face to face." The content is still the same and now agrees with verse 20.


c) How do we speak with our friends face to face?


Do we shout at them, wave our hands around while striding back and forth? 


Do we use their name, or just call them 'friend' or 'brother'? (The word 'God' is a description, not a name. 'Christ' is also a description, and not a name. 'Jesus' is a name, and what word did He invite us to use when we talk to God?)


Do we tell them (our friends) how wonderful they are all the time and then ask them for things?


If our friends did all the talking and did not let us get a word in, how long would we stick around?


When we talk with our friends, just as when God talked with Moses, each person gets the chance to speak while the other listens. That's the sort of conversation God seeks with each one of us.

 


5) In public, with others around, always as an act of thankfulness for their benefit


“Jesus lifted up His eyes towards heaven and said, “Father, I thank you that you hear Me. I know that You always hear me, but I say this for the people gathered around that they will know that You have sent Me.” John 11:41-42


6) For others (commonly called 'intercession')


This example of intercession (praying on behalf of or for the benefit of someone else) is unique (that is, there is only one example). Jesus prayed for His disciples and us, on the night He was betrayed. See John 17.




Four Methods in Jesus’ Miracle/Healing Ministry


7) Hands - Luke 4:40 “Now at the setting of the sun (indicating the end of the Sabbath) all those who had sick with various diseases brought them to Him, and He laid His hands upon every one of them and cured them.”


Note: it is not necessary to lay hands on the sick for them to recover. I went for two years without ever doing this, after starting to minister, and people were healed of many things: from addiction, to HIV, from hemorrhoids to chronic pain. I occasionally touch someone for a particular purpose, but never lay hands on them in the Biblical sense.(The reason and explanation will be given later.)


8) Commands - either to the person or a spirit molesting them.


“When evening came they brought to Him many who were under the power of demons, and He drove out the spirits with a word, and restored to health all who were sick.” Matthew 8:16 


What word did He use? 


While it could be a figure of speech used here we have also found that pain and sickness will generally leave immediately when the person afflicted says, "Pain, Go," or "Sickness, Go."


“He then said to the paralysed man, Get up! Pick up your sleeping pad and go to your own house.” Matthew 9:6


9) Actions - could be by Jesus or from the person He ministered to


“But when the crowd had been ordered to go outside, He went in and took her by the hand and the girl arose.” Matthew 9:25


“Then He said to the man, Reach out your hand. And the man reached it out and it was restored, sound as the other one.” Matthew 12:13


“He took the seven loaves and the fish, and when He had given thanks He broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.” Matthew 15:36


10) Declarations


“Then to the centurion Jesus said, Go. It shall be done for you as you have believed. And the servant boy was healed at that very moment.” Matthew 8:13


“And when Jesus saw their faith He said to the paralysed man, Take courage, son, your sins are forgiven you.” Matthew 9:2



There Were Two Great Commissions


11) “Go nowhere among (the other nearby nations)...But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (your own people)...


"And as you go, preach saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand! (Or the hand or presence of God is touching you.)


“Cure the sick; raise the dead; cleanse the lepers (these days HIV); drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.” Matthew 10:6-8


This first commission given by Jesus (above) is to go to our own people. 

The second commission (below) is to go to people further afield, neighbouring states and other countries.


12) “Jesus said to them, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.


“Go then and make disciples of all nations, baptising them…

“Teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded (or instructed) you…” Matthew 28:18-20

In my experience winning souls is easy, and is much like making a human baby. Making a spiritual baby, also, frequently just takes one night, even a brief or chance encounter somewhere is usually enough. It's the next part, "Raise up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it," that takes commitment, time, effort and money. See Proverbs 22:6

I can see why Jesus asked us to do one (make disciples) and not the other (win souls).


Note Jesus’ definition of a disciple:

“...a disciple, when he is fully trained, will be like his Teacher.” Luke 6:40  Most people in outreach ministry today are concentrating on winning souls, which is something that Jesus never commanded or taught.


Ministry Like Jesus - Healing and Deliverance


In 2014 I saw something that changed the whole way that I ministered to people in need. Instead of praying for people I was simply saying what needed to be done. Things like, "No pain, Pain...Go." 

The results were amazing: people were set free from pain or sickness on the spot, got jobs within three days, were set free from alcohol and drug addictions within about 15 minutes or less, even set free from HIV - in other words, where they had symptoms and had previously tested positive, following ministry and a simple command like, "No HIV, HIV get out and don't come back," their pain and other symptoms left immediately and they tested negative a few weeks later. More to the point, every person who was ministered to in this way with sickness or pain was set free on the spot. 


This is not the work of man, but of God.

But there's more.

From mid-2018 we have had the afflicted person themselves speaking the command to sickness, pain or whatever to leave, with just the same, on-the-spot success rate. 

In certain cases of demonic intrusion the person ministering still gives the command for evil to go, and because the spirits know that we don't permit their manifestations, there is no vomiting, swaying, shaking, rolling around on the floor, screaming, or similar things which are designed to demean the afflicted and distract the observer. Children as young as six years old have successfully spoken to their affliction and experienced it instantly go. With younger children we normally have the parent speak over them, again with instant results.

As we pressed God for more difficult situations that we could tackle we found something so simple that was holding up healing or deliverance that I still marvel every time it happens. You can read more about this in Dealing With Problems.


...to be continued.


When we do things in God's preferred way the results are amazing.

This on-the-spot result happens continually in text, as well as in face-to-face ministry.  Note the timeline in the screenshots below.