Healing in Jesus’ Name: An Issue of Obedience and Practice

Copyright © 2017 Charles C. Koo, MD, FACP, MDiv.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

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ISBN: 978-1-9736-0839-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-0840-0 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-0838-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017917625

WestBow Press rev. date: 11/17/2017

CONTENTS

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1. God Created Us In His Own Image

A. The Position Of Mankind In The Garden Of Eden

(Genesis 1–2)

B. The Position Of Mankind After The Fall

(Luke 4:6; Hebrews 2:7–9)

C. Our Bodies Are A Dwelling Place Of God

D. The Death Of Body And Spirit

E. How Did Death Come Into Our Lives?

F. Diseases Are Under The Authority Of Satan

G. Modern Medicine And Healing

H. Physical And Spiritual Healing In The Old Testament (Tables A–D)

Chapter 2. Healing And Restoration Ministry Of Jesus

A. Jesus The Son Of God And The Son Of Man

B. Why Did The Son Of God Have To Come Into The World?

C. Healing Ministry Of Jesus (Tables E–N)

D. Analysis Of 4Ws And 1H Principles Of Jesus’ Healing Ministry

E. The Effects Of Jesus’ Healing Ministry

F. Faith In Healing

Chapter 3. Ministry Of The Disciples And

Jesus’ Followers

A. Disciples’ Ministry With Jesus

B. Why Was Jesus So Eager To Give To His Followers The Authority To Heal?

C. The Disciples’ Ministry After Jesus’ Ascension

Chapter 4. Authority

A. The Authority Of Jesus

B. The Authority Of Satan

C. The Authority Of The Children Of God

Chapter 5. Role Of The Holy Spirit In Healing

A. How Do We Receive The Holy Spirit?

Chapter 6. The Issue Of Obedience And Putting Jesus’ Command Into Practice

Chapter 7. Jesus’ Works In My Life

A. How And Where Do I Start?

B. Healings That Occurred In Jesus’ Name

Chapter 8. We Are Living In A War Zone

A. We Are At War

B. Losing The Spiritual Warfare Within Me

Chapter 9. Would You Like To Be A Conduit Of Jesus’ Grace?

A. Know The Limits Of Your Role In

Jesus’ Ministry

B. Listen To Their Complaints

C. Go With The Word Of God

D. Believe That Jesus Is Going To Be There

With You

E. Only In Jesus’ Name Do We Pray

F. Short, Commanding Prayer In Jesus’ Name

G. Laying Hands On The Sick As Jesus Demonstrated

H. Pray Using Anointing Oil As The Disciples Did

Chapter 10. Things To Consider Before Starting A Prayer Ministry For The Sick

A. One Needs To Abandon Preconceived Ideas And Traditions

B. Praying For The Sick Is An Expression Of Love For God And Love For One’s Neighbor

C. Compassion Drives Our Action

D. Doing Healing Ministry With Prayer And Prayer Support

E. One Needs Patience And Endurance

F. Get Prayed For Or Anointed By Those Who Do Active

Healing Ministry

G. What Do We Do When Healing In Jesus’ Name Happens?

H. Why Do Some Healings Not Happen?

I. Freely You Have Received, And Freely Give!

J. Have Expectations For What Jesus Will Do

K. It Is Desirable To Do Healing Ministry Through The Church

L. My Opinion About Gifts Of Healing

M. True And False Disciples

Conclusion

About The Author

PREFACE

Many Christian churches on earth long to be like the Acts 2 church, filled with the Holy Spirit and experiencing Jesus’ miracles daily. Jesus’ ministry was like the busy emergency room of a general hospital. Jesus did ministry that was essential for humanity. One of the methods of checking the health of a church is whether the church is obeying Jesus’ commands and doing the ministry Jesus asked us to do. The church where the oppressed, the people under attack by the enemy, and those suffering from diseases are set free by Jesus’ name is a healthy church. However, most churches are not doing what Jesus commanded to all believers. One reason may be the rapid progress in modern medicine, so that some believe diseases and possession are not spiritual warfare but solely belong in the domain of medical professionals.

There are overflowing spoken words through media and many pastors. However, they mass-produce powerless Christians. Most churches are bound by many programs and confined to their own castles. They keep busy doing something other than what Jesus spent most of his ministry doing in healing the sick and casting out demons.

If we are indeed Jesus’ followers, we need go back to Jesus’ words, because Jesus is the Word and the Word is God. God created the universe by the Word. In the Word, there is the power of God. As Jesus’ followers, it is critical to evaluate and meditate on how Jesus did his ministry and put his command into practice in our daily lives.

The disciples observed Jesus’ ministry. Jesus gave them authority to heal, and when they obeyed his command and put it into practice, Jesus worked through them, healed the sick, and set free the possessed through them.

The healing ministry is led by the Holy Spirit. It is an expression of God’s love to humanity by using only Jesus’ authority. It is a necessary tool to achieve the two greatest commandments. Jesus gave us a new love command and gave us a tool to achieve it. For three years, Jesus demonstrated to his disciples how to do it responsibly.

The purpose of this book is to strongly encourage all believers to use Jesus’ authority and command to heal the sick and the possessed. When we obey his command, and put it into practice, Jesus’ promise of healing the sick will happen today. Jesus works through those who obey his command and follow his methods.

Whether or not healing occurs is an issue of obedience and faith, not an issue of needing a gift. It is foolish to expect miracles to happen without obeying his command. In this book, I would like share Jesus’ works in my life for the past twenty-three years among my neighbors, at work, at the church as Jesus’ follower, and as a medical doctor. No one on earth can heal incurable diseases or cast out demons without using Jesus’ authority. Jesus commanded all believers to heal in his name. All authority for healing is from Jesus. When one starts to obey his command, and put it into practice, one can start experiencing Jesus’ healing. Healing ministry is not confined to Pentecostals or Charismatics, but to all believers. Healing ministry is a spiritual warfare in which any believer who accepted Jesus as Lord must engage. We are in a spiritual war zone, and our commander-in-chief, Jesus, is asking us to participate.

Jesus uses us when we start to obey his command and repent of our disobedience according to the habits and tradition of the Church. According to the Word, our duty is to obey his command and do as he demonstrate on clinical trials. It is up to the Lord whether or not healing occurs. If you are willing to start obeying Jesus’ command, this book may be helpful to start a prayer ministry for the sick. If you are still adherent to traditions and disobedience, I pray that you get out of the swamp set up by the enemy as soon as possible and start to participate and please Jesus. I pray that his church grows and gives glory to Jesus. I give thanks to Jesus, who gave us authority to heal and guided me to write this book even though I’d only written medical articles before. I also give thanks to the Holy Spirit, who moved my heart to pray to the sick.

I tried to use as many relevant scripture verses as possible because these are God’s words. My entire career was as a medical doctor specializing in pathology, hematopathology, and immunopathology. By the grace of God, I graduated Fuller Theological Seminary and experienced healing ministry for the last twenty-three years.

The Korean version of this book was published in 2009 as You Can Do Healing in Jesus’ Name. Since then, more cases of Jesus’ healing occurred, so updated information and more defined theology have been added.

I would like to give thanks to my lovely wife, Joanne, and my daughters Sophia Koo, MD, and Eunice Koo, JD, who edited this book. I would like to thank all my prayer partners for ministry and the sick, who allowed me to pray in Jesus’ name. Special thanks to the publisher and also to Mr. H. K. Lee, the president of Qumran Publishing Company, for permission to use some of the content I published in 2009.

INTRODUCTION

The ideal church should be similar or very close to Jesus’ ministry because we Christians believe Jesus is the Son of God and the Savior. Jesus is the incarnation of God. The God-Man Jesus showed us how to do ministry for three years. Although there are worship services and many programs, most churches do not practice what Jesus commanded us to do. Believe in him as the Lord and follow his commands and examples of his ministry; this is the essence of Christianity. Doing what Jesus asks us to do requires our obedience. Doing so is an act of worship. As believers of the Trinity, our faith needs to be Christ-centered. Crucified Jesus on the cross is the utmost expression of God’s love for humanity and the power of God. Crucified Jesus is the ultimate symbol of obedience.

In the Synoptic Gospels, about 25 percent of the contents of the writings are attributed to the healing and restoration ministry of Jesus. Jesus spent three years of public ministry. One can reasonably be sure that Jesus spent most of his time doing the healing and restoration ministry, because wherever Jesus went, many people followed him for healing until Jesus was arrested.

Jesus commanded believers to go into the world and make disciples of all nations in his name, baptizing them in the name of the Trinity and teaching them to obey everything he commanded (Matt. 18:19–20; Mark 16:15–16). Healing the sick in his name is his last command before his ascension in Mark (Mark 16:18). He gave authority to heal the sick not only to his disciples but to all believers (Mark 16:15–16; John 14:12). Although the Holy Spirit anointed the Church (Acts 2:1–13), except for the apostles’ ministry, healing in Jesus’ name is distinctly absent or virtually nonexistent. We are neglecting Jesus’ command. We are disobeying Jesus. We are not following his ministry model. The entire Bible is summarized in two love commands: love God, and love your neighbor. We need to ask why we have neglected this important tool of spreading the gospel. Modern medicine helps and sometimes cures some people, but death comes to all of humanity due to disobedience (Gen. 2:16–17, 3:6). After God declared the human age limit to be 120 years (Gen. 6:2), no human beings have lived longer than that. We all die, including every physician.

The essence of the gospel is that the Son of God came as one of us, sympathized with our suffering, and died on the cross to cleanse our sins and restore our broken relationship with God. One has to raise the question of why the Church is so different than Jesus’ ministry, although we claim we are followers of Jesus Christ. The Church should be like a hospital where the sick and possessed come and are healed by Jesus’ name.

CHAPTER 1

GOD CREATED US IN HIS OWN IMAGE

Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

—Genesis 2:7¹

If you go to national parks with high mountains in the darkness, you may see numerous stars—much more than you can see on the plains. If you look at the images of the universe coming through the Hubble Space Telescope, you can see many more stars, immense galaxies, and the Milky Way that God created, which are beyond recognition with our naked eyes.

With our naked eyes, we see the body as head, eyes, nose, eyebrows, ears, trunk, and extremities. But if one looks at the body through a microscope, there is a small universe full of mysteries and wonders. David praised God: I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well (Ps. 139:14).

The basic living unit is a cell. Our body is composed of about forty trillion cells.² A cell is composed of the nucleus and cytoplasm. If one can stretch out the DNA of one nucleus, its length is about two meters.³ If one stretches out the single-stranded DNA of all cells in our bodies, it reaches fifty billion miles! According to NASA, the maximum distance of the solar system (from the sun to Neptune) is about 4.5 billion kilometers.⁴ Therefore, our bodies are indeed small but immense universes.

In one cell, there is another small universe. Each cell contains a nucleus in which human genomes exist. There are about nineteen to twenty thousand protein-coding genes in a human that transmit genetic material to the next generation.⁵ There has been remarkable medical progress in the last few decades,