And he [Jesus] went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem.
(Luke 13:22)
If you need healing and there isn’t a manifestation of the Spirit, such as gifts of healings (1 Cor. 12:9), what are you going to do? Get the Word of God in you! Feed on the Word. Feed your faith, because you can receive healing by faith anytime.
Continuing in Luke 4, we read, “And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian” (v. 27).
Now all of the lepers in Israel could have been cleansed if they had believed in their covenant of healing (Ex. 34:10). Yet under the ministry of Elisha, not one single leper was healed in Israel except Naaman.
Naaman wasn’t even an Israelite, and he didn’t have a covenant of healing with Jehovah Rapha. But because Elisha was well known for getting people healed, Naaman went to him. Naaman was an outsider in Israel, but he got healed.
So what was Jesus talking about in Luke 4:27? He was talking about the manifestations of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will manifest Himself as He wills, not as man wills (1 Cor. 12:11).
And what Jesus was saying was, “I’m ministering just as a prophet would minister. I don’t tell the Holy Spirit what to do; the Holy Spirit tells Me what to do.” So if the Holy Spirit didn’t manifest Himself, what was Jesus going to do?
Well, if He was going to help the people, there was only one way to do it. Mark 6:6 says, “And he marveled because of their unbelief. AND HE WENT ROUND ABOUT THE VILLAGES, TEACHING.”
Jesus had to do something about the people’s unbelief to get them healed, because faith works anytime – and every time – whether there’s a special manifestation of the Holy Spirit or not. So Jesus went about their villages teaching, because faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God (Rom. 10:17).
Confession
I don’t have to wait for a manifestation of the Spirit to be healed. I can be healed by faith right now. Unbelief can hinder my faith, so I get rid of any unbelief by feeding on the Word of God and by hearing teaching from the Word of God concerning healing.
Excerpt permission granted by Faith Library Publications
Rev. Hagin served in Christian ministry for nearly 70 years and was known as the "father of the modern faith movement." His teachings and books are filled with vivid stories that show God's power and truth working in his life and the lives of others.
Rev. Hagin was born on Aug. 20, 1917, in McKinney, Texas, a son of the late Lillie Viola Drake Hagin and Jess Hagin.
Rev. Hagin was sickly as a child, suffering from a deformed heart and an incurable blood disease. He was not expected to live and became bedfast at age 15. In April 1933 during a dramatic conversion experience, he reported dying three times in 10 minutes, each time seeing the horrors of hell and then returning to life.
In August of 1934, Rev. Hagin was miraculously healed, raised off a deathbed by the power of God and the revelation of faith in God's Word. Two years later, he preached his first sermon as pastor of a small community church in Roland, Texas.
In 1937, Rev. Hagin was baptized in the Holy Spirit and began ministering in Pentecostal churches. During the next 12 years he pastored five churches in Texas: in the cities of Tom Bean, Farmersville (twice), Talco, Greggton, and Van. In 1949, he began an itinerant ministry as a Bible teacher and evangelist.
During the next 14 years, Jesus appeared to Rev. Hagin eight times in visions that changed the course of his ministry. In 1966, he moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he opened a ministry office. That same year, he taught for the first time on radio—on KSKY in Dallas. In 1967, he began a regular radio broadcast that continues today as Faith Seminar of the Air. Teaching by his son, Rev. Kenneth W. Hagin, is also heard on the program.
In 1968, Rev. Hagin published the first issues of The Word of Faith magazine, which now has a monthly circulation of more than 250,000. The publishing outreach he founded, Faith Library Publications, has circulated more than 65 million copies of books by Rev. Hagin, Rev. Hagin Jr., and several other authors worldwide. Faith Library Publications also has produced more than 9 million audio teaching tapes and CDs.
Other outreaches of Kenneth Hagin Ministries include RHEMA Praise, a weekly television broadcast hosted by Rev. and Mrs. Kenneth W. Hagin; RHEMA Correspondence Bible School; RHEMA Alumni Association; RHEMA Ministerial Association International; RHEMA Supportive Ministries Association; the RHEMA Prayer and Healing Center; and a prison ministry.
In 1974, Rev. Hagin founded RHEMA Bible Training Center USA and in 1976 moved the school and ministry offices to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, where they remain. To date, RHEMA Bible Training Center USA has 23,000 alumni, and RHEMA Bible Training Centers have opened in 13 other nations: Austria, Brazil, Colombia, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Romania, Samoa, Singapore, South Africa, and Thailand. Together, the 14 schools have more than 28,000 graduates worldwide.
RHEMA Bible Church, pastored by Rev. Hagin Jr., began holding services in October of 1985 on the RHEMA campus in Broken Arrow and has since grown to become a thriving congregation with more than 8,000 members.
Rev. Hagin's daughter and son-in-law, Pat Harrison and the late Doyle "Buddy" Harrison, founded Harrison House Publishers in 1975 and Faith Christian Fellowship International Church in 1977. Both organizations are based in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Until shortly before his death in September 2003, Rev. Hagin continued to travel and teach throughout the United States and into Canada conducting All Faiths' Crusades and other special meetings.