God's Healing Series #2

Fred R. Coulter

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This morning what I want to do is review a little bit concerning the things of casting out demons and add a little bit to the episode yesterday. Remember the first time they went and spent five hours and laid hands on this woman and prayed for her. They got into a shouting match with the demons and they were not able to successfully cast them out the first time. However, the demons were under command and authority to leave. What was missing and what is important whenever you're dealing with anyone who has demons is this: You must get through to the person and find out whether that person—not the demon speaking, but that individual—wants the demons out. When they want them out, they will leave. You don't have to spend a lot of time with it.

In the first instance, the woman did not want them out. When she was finally confronted with the fact that she could no longer attend church, that her baptism was not valid, and that she had to desire from the innermost part of her being to get rid of these demons, that's when they left—even though she had counseling and even though it took place before they came back. Even though the demons left at that time, I believe it was because of what the elders did the first time in expelling them and commanding them to go; but the woman had to make the decision that she wanted them out herself. When she came to that decision, they had to go. Always keep that in mind when you're dealing with demons.

Another thing to add on to that, we don't have to back down to anybody. We have lived under abuse of power. We have to be meek, we have to be humble, we have to be yielded to God—which we do; but we don't have to back down to any enemy. Let's put it that way. We give no quarter to any enemy at all—period!Part of the thing that we need to do as elders is that we need to have the faith and the conviction! That's what's important! That cannot come by saying, 'Oh, we've got a demon to cast out. We better fast and pray and get up with God.' No! That comes

• day-by-day
• day in and day out
• week in and week out
• month in and month out
• year in and year out

It's always a battle that we are in, one way or the other.

In Matthew 28, we can claim this whenever we're dealing in confrontations. With people, we can be long-suffering, but whenever there are contentious confrontations you do not have to back down at all.

• you can be nice
• you can be kind if you need to
• you can be bold
• you can be authoritative in the cases that you need to

Some people will not listen to a reasonable answer. So, you have to lay it straight out. No apologies. Don't say, 'Well, I'm sorry I've got to tell you this.' No! You're not sorry! Christ commands you to do it!

Here's what Jesus said, Matthew 28:18: "And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.'" That's how we defeat the prince of the power of the air—all authority! The most important thing for any elder—or anybody also involved with you in casting out demons—is their continuous relationship with God. That's more important than anything else. Another thing that you also need to remember: Never take someone with you in a case of casting out demons who is a very timid, fearful, shy person. They will be overwhelmed and they will give strength to the demon. You can't do that. You don't have to take any lip. You don't have to take any guff. Christ will cast them out, and He will continue to do so! We need to really keep that in mind and understand that.

One of the brethren made the comment that on his website people are e-mailing in about demon problems that they have in their homes with their young children. Let me tell you this: The public schools teach demonism to kids beginning in grade school, that you can talk to your 'helper.' That's why I think it's very important that anyone who has small kids and you really love them, you better figure out what you can do budget-wise so you can home school your kids. There's a lot of good stuff that you can get on home schooling and you will keep them away from that influence. You will keep them away from the demonic music and everything that goes with it. The absolute worse thing you can do for little kids is to let them watch cartoons and Harry Potter.

Back to the thing concerning demons with little kids, and the other one was haunted houses or demons in houses. One experience I had with casting demons out of a house was with a 12,000- mile phone call to Australia. This woman was living in a house where they had demons. I said, 'Okay. What you do is you take this phone, you go from room to room, you lay hands on every wall—one wall in every room—and I will pray in the name of Christ that they be expelled from the house,' and they were. There are cases of haunted houses. There are cases of haunted places, too; such as globes and things outdoors.

Why they go out and sit in the desert and sit some place in the woods until they have whatever they're going to have—a vision, or a thought, or whatever—is because there are places where demons congregate. One thing—very important: A demon cannot deal with authority in love—remember that! They cannot handle that. That's why it's so very important that in teaching the brethren, we really teach them the love of God. The love of God has the greatest power of all, because that is the greatest characteristic of God—when it says that God is love. They can't stick around where there is love. That goes against their grain of hatred, envy, strife, jealousy, and false doctrine. When you have love, then you have Truth—the Truth of God.

What you have whenever they take down these churches is that they come in and they start twisting the doctrine ever so slightly and that begins to give the opening. They know the principle: a little leaven leavens the whole lump. They know that if you start down the road of false doctrine, sooner or later the friends behind them will come; not right at once, but all you have to do is witness the history of what we have been through.

Audience member: There was this fellow we knew in the Worldwide Church of God who was a minister and elder for several years. He left the Worldwide Church of God when they had the split-up. He went off on his own. He went to another group and learned many things. He was arrested by the police for having sex with a teenage boy in the woods. He was a minister for more than 20 years in the Worldwide Church of God. He learned how to speak in tongues during the time he was leaving the Worldwide Church of God. There were several other people who did the same thing who had some problems.

Ministerial staff: Demons cannot stand the presence of the Holy Spirit, so the stronger you are and the closer you are to God. It's a situation of oil and water, they  don't mix. They can't stay around. They hate Christ. They hate God. They will not stay around the stronger you are spiritually.

Secondly, I've noticed that the Harry Potter movies are shown over and over again, at 2, 3, 4 o'clock in the morning. They're not really directed at all just to kids. At that time of the night you should be asleep. Your mind is almost in a dream mode and you're very susceptible to this influence. Many, many adults of all ages who have trouble sleeping—that's their work schedule—are being exposed to this over and over again

I might mention concerning TV, if you watch a lot of murder mysteries, something like Matlock, you really don't see the violence; you're more into unraveling how the crime occurred. Something like that, I would say, is not bad. But when you get into:

• where there is violence
• where there is blood
• where there is the slow motion tearing apart the head and opening the body
• where there is bondage
• where there is demonism

—where there are all these things, and if you fill your mind with that, you are going to weaken the Holy Spirit in you! I'm not saying you're going to become demon possessed, but you are going to weaken the Holy Spirit in you! That is not something that we need to be putting our minds to; just remember that. If you're watching a lot of that—even some of these police reports that they have and so forth—it gets too much, it's too demonic, and we can't let our minds dwell on it. We can take it as a point of fact that such and such happened, but let's not get all involved in the demonism of it.

Comparing that you have 10,000 times 10,000 angels and thousands and thousands that are still righteous and Satan took a third of the angels with him (Rev. 5)—we'll just say 200-million are left—that gives you about 100-million demons. But God is merciful and a lot of them are still in the abyss yet to be let out (Rev. 9).

The worst of them are still there, but as a society progressively goes down, down into demonism—which Harry Potter and all these movies are doing worldwide—then demons have more power and more activity because people relate to it. Part of the thing that's very important is that we do not be afraid.

Here's what we need to teach the brethren and here's what we need to teach the young people. This is so profound and so important. I might mention that we are getting more young people and young families starting to attend now. There's a reason why all these old gray heads are here. Maybe we can help them. A lot of them really don't know what to do. A lot of them really don't know anything about proper childrearing.
But one thing all of us can do and teach our children to do is, Proverbs 4:23: "Above all guard the door of your mind with diligence, for out of it are the issues of life." We're dealing with eternal life. God made man to receive His Spirit! That's the whole purpose that He made man! We need to guard the door of our mind!

Today we have a lot of people that haven't been guarding the door of their mind and they are called Laodiceans. What did Christ say, 'I'm going to spew you out of My mouth' and then He said, 'Behold, I am at the door and knock.' That doesn't mean the imminent return, necessarily. That means He's standing with those that He has spewed out of His mouth and knocking on the door of their mind that they better wake up and let Christ in. He said that if you 'open the door, I will come in to you and sup with you and you with Me.' We also need to teach that to the brethren.

Verse 24: "Put away from you a deceitful mouth... [that's vanity; Satan uses vanity] ...and devious lips put far from you... [those are things that the demons would follow in and inspire on] ...Let your eyes look right on... [keep your eye on Christ] ...and let your eyelids look straight before you. Ponder the path of your feet, and all your ways will be established.... [obviously, established in God's way] ...Do not turn to the right hand nor to the left; remove your foot from evil" (vs 24-27).

That's how you guard the door of your mind. You need to take this thing step-by-step. Therefore, many of the things that are just out there—you can go through the check stand—and who is Satan after first? All the Eve's coming through the checkout stand at the supermarket—right?How many semi-nude images of men do you see on the front covers of magazines? None! They're all women! Why? Because women compare themselves with other women! This is how they get into jealousy. This is how they get into taking the step into compromising any standard of sexual morality. Out in California they have these sex clubs and guess who are the ones who are the leaders in it? The women! There are also a lot of things that come in these magazines that don't necessarily have to do with sex, but have to do with destroying marriages, in many cases. Once in a while you may find an article on how to improve your marriage. But Satan is up to the same old thing he has always done, because if he can get Eve then he can get Adam. Let's keep that in mind. This is important. We need to guard the door of our minds, not let any of these things in!

That's why it is imperative that when we teach, when we preach, we know the Word of God—that we have proven the Word of God! Not like some minister was reported to have said to the people he teaches: 'You don't need a concordance. You don't need a dictionary. You don't need any of these things. I will do that for you. Just listen to me.' You know what's going to happen to him and the people. It won't happen all a once. That's the same approach as a seducing spirit. Another thing: The command is by Paul, 'Preach the Word!' (2-Tim. 4). That's what to preach. That is the witness of the Apostles that goes to the end of the earth. So, we preach the Word. We let Christ in us, Who is The Word:

• we believe it
• we love it
• we know it
• we have conviction

That's what needs to be if there is going to be any grace with the things that we do. We're not going to go out on a growth pattern and say, 'Okay, let's go. How many more can we get?' No! That's totally the wrong approach. We stick with the Word of God. We stick with the Truth of God and we preach to the remnant. When we preach to the remnant it's a witness to everybody else, because many are called but few are chosen! The few that are chosen are the remnant—are they not? The remnant are those who want the Truth, who want the righteousness, who want to do what is right.

• Who is giving them the inspiration to do so? God is!
• Who leads them to repentance? God does!
• Who works with them to open their minds to begin with? God does!

We are merely a tool in the work that God is doing!

Here's what's important, Isaiah 1:9: "Except the LORD of hosts had left us a very small remnant, we would have been as Sodom; we would have become like Gomorrah."

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Spiritual Aspect Of Healing:

I want to cover some things concerning healing, the spiritual aspects of healing. An important place to begin is Luke 18, because a lot of people feel safe and trust in commandment-keeping. Commandment-keeping is required, but our trust should be in God and in Christ. Therefore, because

• you attend church
• you keep the Sabbath
• you keep the Holy Days
• you tithe
• you don't eat unclean foods

—and everything like this—there are still some aspects of healing that go beyond the physical. We've already talked about demons. I'm not talking about demonism in this case. I'm talking about the personal heart and the personal attitude.

Luke 18:10[transcriber's correction]: "Two men went up into the temple to pray..." We can say today, two baptized members pray to God and their prayer goes up to God in heaven. We can use the same analogy here.

Verse 9: "And to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others, He also spoke this parable" Notice what we have here first of all; not only a comparison, but we also have an attitude of despising. You can put any kind of attitude in there you want—unforgiving, anger, hatred—all 'the works of the flesh' (Gal. 5:19[transcriber's correction])

It is possible for people to keep the letter of the law, attend church, keep the Sabbath, not eat unclean foods, etc., and still not be right with God because of whatever it may be. They are trusting in their righteousness, or they are not, depending upon Christ's righteousness, which would be a better way of saying it. A lot of people carry a lot of things with them because they don't trust in Christ, yet, they profess that they do.

I'm going to say right up front that 85% of all my anointing is with women. Not to say that women are at fault or worse than men, but the Bible says that they are the weaker vessels. Women are more prone, emotionally, to some of the things we're going to talk about than men, but men are not exempt. We just have to understand that and lay the table out where it is, clearly, so we understand that when we're dealing with people, sickness, anointing, and things like that, we don't just come to the physical aspect of it; we must also deal with the attitude. The attitude becomes the important thing.

Verse 11: "The Pharisee stood and prayed with himself in this manner... [People pray; people study—don't they? Yes, indeed!] ...'God, I thank you that I am not like other men—extortioners...'" Comparing himself with others, or especially the unforgiving spirit.

I think that's very prevalent in the Church, the unforgiving spirit. The unforgiving spirit is based in hatred. If you have hate in your heart, don't for one minute think you're serving God even though you attend church. You're not serving God, because God is love! God is not hate! A lot of the sicknesses that people bear are because of that same kind of attitude.

He rattles off everything he does: Not an adulterer or even as this publican, this dirty, scum of a tax collector. 'You know, I'm so righteous, I fast twice in the week, hooray for me.' It also comes to a comparative attitude. What we're doing is not only an inner attitude but also a comparative attitude: 'Oh, I know I'm a sinner but I'm not as bad as so-and-so'—lot of people do that. You know the rest of the story. The tax collector repented and he was right with God because of repentance (vs 12-14).

• What did he have to repent of? Everything!
• What do we have to repent of? Everything!

With some people it goes clear back to when they're little kids. They hold resentment, they hold grudges against fathers or mothers—the unforgiving attitude accompanies that.

• you have resentment
• you have anger
• you have hostility

You have all of these things accompanying an unforgiving attitude. That is one of the greatest blocks to helping and to healing. I'm going to modify the letter I send out for anointing. I'm going to put in there the things that need to be repented of spiritually.

Let's look at the unforgiving attitude first of all. Christ spends a lot of time with the unforgiving attitude. It's so important! Let's get this straight once and for all, by the example of Jesus Christ: You must for your part  forgive the other person even if they have not come to you and said, 'Forgive me'! You, in your heart before God, must forgive that other person; just as Jesus did when He was on the cross. He said, 'Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.' Did they ask for forgiveness before He forgave them? No! Now then, you say, 'Well, that's outrageous!' No, it isn't; because if Christ is in you, what would Christ do? You have to do it yourself, first! Sometimes things are so estranged that obviously you can't get together with them. Let's see how Jesus covers this a little later.

He says here in Matthew 5:21: "You have heard that it was said to those in ancient times, 'You shall not commit murder; but whoever commits murder shall be subject to judgment' but I say to you, everyone who is angry with his brother without cause shall be subject to judgment...'" (vs 21-22). That is Gehenna fire.

You can have a cause of anger, but what are you to do with the anger? You're to sin not, and you're not to let the sun go down on your wrath. In other words, by the time you go to bed at night, you better get this thing resolved between you and God. You might not be able to get it resolved immediately with the person. For example: If you've had something that your father and mother did to you when you were young and they are dead, obviously you can't reconcile with them; but you can reconcile with God.

• Why should you carry guilt?
• Why should you carry hatred?
• Why should you carry envy?
• Why should you carry jealousy?

All of the things I named there are spiritual sins which destroy your health and keep you from being healed.

Verse 22: "...Now you have heard it said, 'Whoever shall say to his brother, "Raca," shall be subject to the judgment of the council.' But I say to you, whoever shall say, 'You fool,' shall be subject to the fire of Gehenna." Why is this? Because Jesus is teaching the love of God—isn't He? That's what He's teaching. That follows right after all of the beatitudes. All the beatitudes show the attitudes that we need to have. The opposite of these attitudes is what we ought not have.

Verse 23: "For this reason, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar..." (vs 23-24). God doesn't even want to hear your prayer because your prayer is going to be exactly like the Pharisee—right? How far did it go? With himself? Didn't go to God! Oh, he used God's name. Yes, he was at the temple. But of what benefit was it, because he despised others!

"...and go your way; first be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift" (v 24).

If you tend to hold grudges, have resentment, and remember things that people have done that have not been right, how do you know that they haven't repented of that? How much does that attitude of resentment toward the individual, whomever it may be, cut you off from God? They know absolutely for sure that it affects your body and it affects your immune system. They are finding that more and more people with these kinds of diseases do not have physical ailments, they have spiritual maladies that bring upon the physical ailments. Granted there are things that happen with food, that's true.

How is it that you have someone like Art Linkletter at 90 years and 6 months old on Larry King? Larry King, with his lizard eyes, looked through his glasses at Art Linkletter and said, 'How old are you?' Linkletter said, 'I'm 90 and 6 months.' Larry King said, 'Well, how do you do it?'

It's a Biblical truth: Linkletter said, 'Everyone lives between their ears.' That's why God is concerned with your heart. Linkletter said, 'I do not dwell on anything negative.' All the things that we just mentioned are all negative and those are spiritual sins. Linkletter said another thing, 'I exercise every day.'

We're not into exercise here but that's a good example. I'll just say this: Exercise at any age helps you. Even if you're 90-years-old, and the only thing you can do is sit in the chair and lift 2-lb. dumbbells. By the way, if you are house-bound and you need exercise, get one of those little bicycle peddlers that you put on the floor right in front of your chair. Just sit there in your chair and use it. They have found that it benefits people. I thought, 'Look at this! Here's a man in the world, and he's better off than a lot of people 50 years younger in the Church!' What does he do? He's applying the principles that we also covered earlier: Guard the door of your mind! That means: Control your attitude!

A lot of people, especially women, are subject to this because they are much more emotional, they have more feelings, and they feel that their feelings are sacred when they are not. Their feelings are no more sacred than anything else. Anybody's feelings can be sin.

Verse 43 is another important thing that you need to understand.

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This is the hardest one to do but God said that you must do it. If you believe that what Jesus said is the Word of God and you transgress what He says, are you not sinners? Though you are not breaking a commandment law, as defined in the Ten Commandments, is this not what we're going to read here just as much? or A greater commandment—as any commandment that we could read in the law?

Verse 43: "You have heard that is was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies...'" (vs 43-44). That's how you do it. Especially someone who's offended you. Especially if you have a cantankerous neighbor.

All of you in the Appalachia area know the resentment of the Hatfields and McCoys. They've carried this on from generation to generation. Look at today. Where is Islam going with its hatred but to the Battle of Armageddon to be absolutely wiped off the face of the earth! Love your enemy. We're also told 'if he's hungry, feed him, if he's naked, clothe him.' Then you'll be 'heaping coals of fire upon his head,' because God said, 'vengeance is Mine.' How do you love your enemy? You ask God for a right attitude; that you hold

• no resentment
• no grudge
• no anger
• no bitterness

toward your neighbor or your enemy. None whatsoever!

I can tell you this: If you read the history of the biography of William Tyndale, that's exactly what he did to the very end. He was not concerned that he was going to be burned at the stake. He asked God to open the eyes of the king of England, which God did. Likewise, if we hate our enemies we're to hate evil and distinguish between the person and the action; if we hurt our neighbors—because we're to love our neighbors as ourselves—then you know what happens. When you don't love God and you don't love your neighbor, then you don't love yourself and you hate yourself. Then you go around with a guilt attitude, feelings of remorse and pity; —all of this stuff. When you do, you are sinning against God! Those are the things that need to be repented of, not only just the physical things.

People in the world who eat all the unclean foods and do all these things, how is it that they are in better health than we are? Probably it's because a lot of them don't carry around the mental baggage and attitude that we have had. How many of us have been through so many circumstances with Worldwide Church of God that we can never get over it? We can't even view it as history without resentment, hatred and things stirring up in us! As I said some time ago—all those years in the Worldwide Church of God—be healed! Also, all of those who have had a bad childhood, bad marriages—be healed! Repent! Repent of those things; that's what God wants!

Verse:44: "...bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you... [so that you're not wrapped up in the hatred that they're wrapped up in] ...and pray for those who despitefully use you and persecute you, so that you yourselves may be the children of your Father Who is in heaven" (vs 44-45). It's saying that if you don't do this you're not the children of God. If you have:

• hate in your heart
• jealousy in your heart
• resentment
• anger
• bitterness

who are you serving? Whose child are you? You're not the child of God!

He wants you to understand something. God has all power. God can destroy the wicked anytime He wants to—which He did with the Flood of Noah—completely. But He wants you to understand something: since He is love, He also does the same thing, He is slow to anger. He will take vengeance when it is time for Him to do so, but He says, 'I don't delight in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn.' If we carry these things in our heart, we follow in the same way, we need to turn.

Verse 45: "...for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." He's saying very clearly, that if you want to be the child of God, you cannot have these things in your heart, mind and attitude. There's no room for them.

Verse 46: "For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not the tax collectors practice the same thing? And if you salute your brethren only, what have you done that is extraordinary? Do not the tax collectors practice the same thing? Therefore, you shall be perfect, even as your Father Who is in heaven is perfect" (vs 46-48). Of course, that's an attitude.

Let's talk a little bit more about the unforgiving spirit. Matthew 18 has to do with it. There are many other verses that we can read but we don't want to get this all bogged down. Matthew 18:10: "Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones..."

• Does that just apply to those who are in the Church?
• What if you despise people and every time you see them you have hatred for them?
• Does that not affect you?
• Does that not affect your attitude?
• Does that not affect your health?

Yes, it does!

• Why do you want to carry all this baggage around with you?

When we [ministry] go to anoint those who have sickness and it is repeated and repeated, then we just need to really level with them and say: 'You need to go to God and pour out your heart to God. You need to search your life, your heart and your mind. You know what is in there.' We're not psychologists we're not mind readers or anything like that. They have to get these things out.

It shows the process on how we handle things in the Church. You go to the person, and so forth—two or three—then you go to the Church. What you agree on you're bound. Whatever you agree on regarding any situation, whatsoever you agree on earth, it's bound.

Verse 21: "Then Peter came to Him and said, 'Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Until seven times?' Jesus said to him, 'I do not say to you until seven times, but until seventy times seven'" (vs 21-22). This is your interpersonal relationship.

This is not how you handle people who preach false doctrine. That's in a whole different category. The way you love them is to separate yourself from them. Let them go their way. Hold no resentment. Hold no bitterness. This especially applies to husband and wife relations. Husbands and wives are very keen on seeing the faults of each other—aren't they? After all, you sleep with each other all the time. You know them—don't you? Sometimes you can even predict them—can't you? Yes! Therefore, you are less inclined to forgive. Is that not true? Especially if they do it over and over again—is that not true? Is that not the source of a lot of husband and wife problems within the Church? Yes! It is an unforgiving spirit!

Maybe you said, 'Well, I forgive,' but you still remember and grind it in. You may with the mouth say, 'I forgive;' but with the heart you say, 'I hate.' You can't have that. We're not only talking about spiritual growth, but we're also talking about those things that affect the state of your health, too.

Then you know the story here. The one who owed 10,000 talents was forgiven. He didn't remember that. The long and the short of it is this: If you expect Christ to forgive you, and if the person coming to be anointed wants to be well, then they better get rid of an unforgiving spirit. How can we kneel down and lay hands on that person, anoint that person and pray for healing, when that person is not being honest before God. You know the story: When he went out and got his fellow servant with 100- pence and threw him in jail, the servants came and told the lord what happened.

If you don't forgive, what kind of person are you before God? Verse 32: "Then his lord called him and said to him, 'You wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt, because you implored me.'"

• How can you go to God every day and ask God to forgive your sins, and you're unwilling to forgive someone else's sin?
•  How can you go to God and ask Him to straighten up your attitude when you get up with hate in your heart toward the person that offended you?
• Never work!

Verse 33: "Were you not also obligated to have compassion on your fellow servant, even as I had compassion on you?' And in anger, his lord delivered him up to the tormentors, until he should pay all that he owed to him."

Here is the whole key and the spiritual sin concerning anointing and forgiving, v 34: "Likewise shall My heavenly Father also do to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother's offenses from the heart" (vs 34-35)—'seventy times seven,' a day.

Some may say that they'll forgive but never forget. If you forgive and don't forget, then God is going to remember your sins. Notice what He says! What is God going to do? The moral of the story is this: He put him into jail until he could pay all.

• Who bears the sin when you don't repent?

You do!

• Are you Christ?
• Can you bear the sin?
• What does it do to you?

It destroys:

• your life
• your mind
• your heart
• your body

Being called, God wants us to learn and to understand that. Once you come to that point, we'll see what's so profoundly important in Eph. 4.

We are talking about people who are converted, who are in the Church, and who have their problems and difficulties. Remember this: All of your feelings that you keep inside, that you hold in, that are pent up, and all the guilt going clear back—however far in your life; whoever did what to you—that person cannot ease your mind! You are bringing these things before God and you are causing yourself the problems that you are in; because you have not repented of these things to God!

• You are trusting in your commandment-keeping.
• You're trusting in your Sabbath-keeping. You're trusting in all of these things and not Christ!
• You're making the same, exact mistake that the Jews did!

We need to understand that. That's what the Pharisees said, 'I kept all these things.'

God is interested in the heart! Out of the heart come the issues of life—correct? Yes! If we are going to have the mind of Christ are we not going to have to come to the point of developing the same kind of love and understanding? You can also add into that, fear.

Love:

We'll talk about love for just a little bit. Concerning the 'great commandment' Matthew 22:37: "And Jesus said to him, 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.'" If you love Christ that way and if you love God the Father that way, what room is there for things that we have covered: hatred bitterness, strife, envy, resentment, guilt? If you go around with a guilty conscience, you have not repented. To have your conscience prick you is to lead you to repentance. When you put it on Christ, He takes it all!

Too many people immediately get up from praying and say, 'Wow! I've got to keep this guilt feeling.' You're doing no more than the pagans that yell and flagellate their bodies with whips—to bleed, to suffer—to show God how much they're willing to suffer for Him; but you're doing it mentally!

• Those things impact you!
• Those things impact relations!
• Those things cut you off from God!
• Those are sin!

If we're going to "...love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment and the second one is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself'" (vs 37-39). What happens if you don't love your neighbor is that you also end up hating yourself. If you have an attitude of hate toward someone, sooner or later you're going to end up hating yourself. Then in your actions—in your heart and in your mind—you are going to deny

• that God has made you to receive His Holy Spirit
• that God has called you
• to grow
• to change
• to over come
• to be like Him

Profound! This is very important! Verse 40: "On these two commandments hang all the Law..."—unless you're on the foundation of the love of God, and the love of God is the most important thing that there is! Yes, it is keeping God's commandments. You don't need to get into that elementary, beginning situation.

Let's see what is so profound and what is so important and why this is necessary in our relationship with God. I think this: If the brethren begin practicing some of these things and repenting of the sins that they have all bottled up inside of them

• that are making them sick
• that are tearing them down
• that are ruling their emotions
• that are destroying relationships

You're going to have 80% less anointing! When we anoint then, it will be for sickness. It won't be for spiritual sin! What we're talking about here, in all these things, is spiritual sin.

1-John 4:10: "In this act is the love—not that we loved God; rather, that He loved us..." When did He love us? While we were still yet sinners! So much so that Christ died for us. The One Who created us came and was destroyed in the body by His own creation. You can't have any greater love than that.

...and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (v 10)—the continual anointing! Why carry these things around? Why carry bitterness, hatred, resentment, and guilt and all of the these things of the flesh, also inspired of Satan the devil.' Christ is the 'propitiation.'

Verse 11: "Beloved, if God so loved us, we also are duty-bound to love one another." That's another thing concerning the brethren. As I've mentioned time and time again, we're all a work in progress. God has called us. We have things we need to overcome. Do not be judging; be forbearing! Do not be condemning; be loving! That's what needs to be with the brethren. We've all been through the meat grinder so much, it's so natural for people within the Church of God to have those kinds of feelings. We're not realizing it, but we're serving Satan and not God when we have those feelings welling up in us and we continually feed on them, and we continually live on them.

Listen! If you as husband or wife are holding anything against your husband or your wife that goes back however far—and sometimes it goes back years.... Husbands and wives do not confront the fact that they are unforgiving to each other. That's why they can't have the marriages they ought to. That's why they don't have the love that they ought to. Then they blame God, and say, 'Well, maybe we weren't meant for each other.' I'll tell you what, if two people hate each other long enough, God is never going to be there! That has nothing to do with whether you were ever meant for each other or not. You've destroyed whatever is there. You were probably meant for each other; but you've so blinded yourself in your own carnality, guilt, and problems that you are not willing to repent, and come to God to get all of these things resolved.

When we're counseling brethren, and when we're talking to them about anointing, we need to make them be aware of this. We need to in sermons We're not going to sit down and say to them, 'Before I anoint you will you please confess your sins to me.' NO! That's the Catholic approach. What we do is we teach them the Word of God and show them what they have to do. It's their responsibility.

Verse 13: "By this standard we know that we are dwelling in Him, and He is dwelling in us, because of His own Spirit, which He has given to us and we have seen for ourselves and bear witness that the Father sent the Son as the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him, and he in God and we have known and have believed the love that God has toward us. God is love..." (vs 13-16). That's the solution to all these things!

• let your heart be changed
• let your attitude be changed
• let there be love
• let it be there

If you find it very hard to do, then you better get on a program of:

• praying every day
• repenting every day

you better ask God

• to cleanse your mind
• to cleanse your heart
• to cleanse your emotions
• to get rid of all of those things

That is what is destroying:

• your mind
• your body
• your health
• your relationship with God
• your relationship with each other

Verse 17: "By this spiritual indwelling, the love of God is perfected within us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment because even as He is, so also are we in this world... [Are we as Christ was?]... There is no fear in the love of God; rather, perfect love casts out fear..." (vs 17-18). There is no jealousy in love. Perfect love casts out jealousy! There is no bitterness and resentment in love. Perfect love casts out bitterness and resentment! Put any word you want in there. There is no guilt in love because there is forgiveness.

"... because fear has torment..." (vs 18) That's why a lot of the sicknesses are there. Let me tell you, we're going to be dealing with this. God is going to send us people that are going to need to be healed of these things. If we don't know how to teach them how to do it, and show them the right way, how are they ever going to be healed? What are we going to do. Allow the world into the Church with all their problems and difficulties? They will come into the Church like when Worldwide was in its last days, and some people said, 'How can this be the Church of God?'

"...and the one who fears has not been made perfect in the love of God"(v 18).

• the one who has resentment
• the one who has continual anger
• the one who has bitterness
• the one who has hatred

—is not made perfect in love because you need to repent of those!These are the sins that we are talking about:

• not whether you keep the Sabbath, or no—because you do
• not whether you tithe or not—because you do
• not whether you eat unclean meat or not—because you don't

—but the sins of the heart and the mind that must be cleansed by the love of God and the Spirit of God. You have your action and you have the things that you need to do. You are required by God to do that. Do you think God is going to give you eternal life:

• if you hold hatred in your heart?
• if you hold resentment and bitterness in your heart?
• if you constantly judge and criticize your husband, your wife, and other people all the time?

I tell you, no! We need to get that message to the brethren, because like I said before, those who have been in Worldwide need to be healed; but they don't understand what they need to be healed of. What I'm talking about right here is what they need to be healed of.

Here's what they need to do, 1-John 1:7: "However, if we walk in the light... [not just commandment-keeping] ...as He is in the light, then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His own Son, cleanses us from all sin."

• Yes, we've just gone through the Days of Unleavened Bread.
• Yes, we've labeled sin for what it is.
• Yes, we've stood in the pulpit and condemned it.
• Yes, we've put leaven out of our homes, and so forth.

But these things I'm talking about—how many people drag those spiritual sins through the Days of Unleavened Bread, never got rid of them, and carried them—this leaven—on in their lives? With some people it goes on for years and years, and years

Do you believe that Christ can cleanse you from bitterness, anger, hatred, resentment, and all of these sins that destroy the mind, that destroy the relationship with God, that destroy the body? I talked to a man just the other day whose wife died of cancer. He said she had anger to her deathbed. All the anointing and everything in the world to help her could not help her, because she wasn't willing to release the anger. I hope she did it on the last day; whatever she could do.

Verse 8: "If we say that we do not have sin... [if we say that we don't have these things to overcome.] ...we are deceiving ourselves, and the Truth is not in us." What is the Holy Spirit of God called? The Spirit of Truth! What is Jesus called? I am the Way, the Truth and the Life! It's saying that if we hold these things in us, Christ is not in us. He may be there a little bit, because He's merciful, kind, and doesn't want to see you destroyed; but He does expect that there be repentance in recognition of these things!

Verse 9: "If we confess our own sins... [This is where it starts! You have to go to God and say, 'God, before You, in my heart of hearts, I have hatred, bitterness, resentment, and anger. Forgive me! Show me how to overcome! Lead me with Your Spirit!'] ...He is faithful and righteous, to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Process of Cleansing:

Then there's the program of cleansing that goes on after that. These things have been harbored for years in the back of the mind. Now you have the process of cleansing, which is the 'washing of the water by the Word.'

• Do you pray and study to be cleansed and healed of these things?

or

• Do you hold resentment and anger, and don't go pray and study to be healed of these things?

We're talking about major, big things!

Don't think that the people in the Church of God that we were affiliated with are the only ones in the world that have these problems. You are going to be confronted with Baptists, Lutherans and Catholics that have the same things; especially in those churches where they preach fear, hellfire, and brimstone. Their consciences have just been absolutely crushed. The load of guilt has been laid upon them, and in their repentance they have got to be released of that.

They have to do this. There is nothing we can do for them. This is something where each individual, before God, has to get on his or her knees and cry out to God. You have to confess and repent of them [sins]. Then what does God say? He 'removes them from us as far as the east is from the west.' I've often wondered: How is it that He says 'He will heal all of our sicknesses, all of our diseases, and remove all of our sins as far as the east is from the west'—yet  people still stay sick. It is because they have not had these spiritual sins forgiven! I say that we as elders in the Church have been derelict in really keeping this the way that it should be. So we better confess our sins!

Let's see the cleansing process:

• there has to be repentance
• there has to be reconciliation

getting right with God

• there has to be renewing

The renewing is the cleansing program so that you can get this out of your heart and your mind!

You may have to pray and say, 'Oh, God! I have had such a hard time forgetting. Please give me the spirit of not only forgiveness but also forgetfulness:

• that I don't remember
• that I don't hold a grudge
• that I don't have resentment

If someone has done something to you years ago, and you still have it bottled up inside, you are truly the victim; not the one who perpetrated upon you, because they don't even know how you feel. Here's what you do:

Ephesians 4:22: "That concerning your former conduct, you put off... [that's mentally inside—spiritually inside] ...the old man... [the old self] ...which is corrupt according to deceitful lusts." Those who carry all of those things we talked about have been deceiving themselves that they are right with God, and they are not.

Verse 23: "And that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind." Remember Jesus said that He came to heal the brokenhearted. That means to be healed in the spirit of your mind. Be renewed; it's a constant process. You have to do this day-by-day. What is the daily prayer? 'Our Father Who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your Kingdom come, Your Will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.' You do this daily!

• That's how you're renewed!
• That's how you are cleansed!

Not only do you ask God to forgive you for your sins, but you also ask God to give you a forgiving spirit for anyone who has sinned against you. If you're still carrying baggage—10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 years ago—do you not believe Christ, that He can carry it for you? That He can remove it from you?

Verse 24: "And that you put on the new man, which according to God is created in righteousness... [It's the Spirit of God, the love of God, and not just the commandments of God. It's that right standing with God, that closeness with God, and that relationship with God in righteousness.] ...and Holiness of the Truth."

This is Paul's prayer, Ephesians 3:14: "For this cause I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of Whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He may grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power by His Spirit in the inner man" (vs 14-16). With this cleansing process that is going on—the changing of these things, the repentance of these things—you ask God for His Spirit; that you're strengthened in the inner man—in your inner heart of hearts—because that's what God is dealing with.

Verse 17: "That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith: and that being rooted and grounded in love..." (vs 17-18)—instead of the hatred, bitterness, anger, and resentment and all of the emotional baggage, that whatever it is that is carried in any one particular life.

• Go to God!
• Lay it before Him!
• Confess these things!

Why should you be burdened down any longer with them? Why should you try and do the work of Christ, which you cannot do? Let Christ dwell in you, by faith; be rooted and grounded in love!

Let's come back to Ephesians 4:25, it shows the whole process. "Therefore, let each one put away lies and speak the truth with his neighbor because we are members of one another. When you become angry, do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger" (vs 25-26). Never, never, never go to bed with an unforgiving, resentful, hateful, bitter, guilt-ridden attitude. I guarantee you're not going to sleep. I guarantee that sleeplessness is going to destroy your health.

Verse 27: "Neither give place to the devil." When you don't repent of these thing and you keep these things, you're not doing the work of God. God cannot do His work in you. You, in the name of God, are deceiving yourself that you're serving God; but you're really giving place to Satan.

Verse 30: "And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God by which you have been sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and indignation, and wrath, and clamor, and evil speaking..." (vs 30-31)—which is not only the outward words that you may say to someone but also the evil speaking in your mind that you retain; all of these spiritual sins in your mind that you relish and you enjoy. Then you blame God because you're not healed. You blame God because He won't bless you. No!

Verse 31: "Let all...[that has to come through Christ] ...bitterness, and indignation, and wrath, and clamor, and evil speaking be removed from you, together with all malice; and be kind and tenderhearted toward one another, forgiving one another, even as God has also in Christ forgiven you" (vs 31-32).

Here's what you need to focus on. Here's how it is done, Philippians 4:6: "Do not be anxious about anything... [Of course, a lot of these things start out with worry—don't they?] ...but by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God in everything." What is the greatest request? Oh God, give me Your Spirit and let me have the mind of Christ!

Verse 7: "And the peace of God..." All the things I have talked about, you have no peace of mind—do you? As long as you retain those things, you'll never have any peace of mind—will you? No!

"...which surpasses all understanding... [you can't figure it out, God can] ...shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.... [then He shows some more of the cleansing process] ...Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are just..." (vs 7-8). Notice that every one of these are the opposite of anger, bitterness, hatred, resentment, guilt.

If you want to overcome those things that you have been practicing for years, you have got to do this: "...whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report..." (vs 8).

• Look to the good!
• Have forbearance!
• Have the love of God!

"...if there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things. Whatever thing you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, you do also; and the God of peace shall be with you" (vs 6-9). We can put there: The things that we have seen that Christ does, let those be in us.

This is a vital key to understanding about healing! These are more important to have forgiven than just the physical sin of something you would do to cause you to get sick.  If we can help the brethren that way, that's the most important thing that we can do.

I wanted to add this to the things we talked about with the problems with demons and the problems with healing. I think this is one of the biggest things that are not only in the Church, but also in people's lives everywhere. Let's see what we can do to focus in on this and teach this to the brethren, to help them in their lives, and help them to see. We need to get down to the real point: Ask God to give you the spirit of love and conviction to help them. That's what needs to be.

All Scriptures are from The Holy Bible In Its Original Order, A Faithful Version by Fred R. Coulter

Scriptural References:

• Matthew 28:18
• Proverbs 4:23-27
• Isaiah 1:9
• Luke 18:10, 9, 11
• Matthew 5:21-24, 43-48
• Matthew 18:10, 21-22, 32-35
• Matthew 22:37-40
• 1-John 4:10-11, 13-18
• 1-John 1:7-9
• Ephesians 4:22-24
• Ephesians 3:14-18
• Ephesians 4:25-27, 30-32
• Philippians 4:6-9

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Revelation 5; 9
• 2-Timothy 4
• Galatians 5:19
• Luke 8:11-14