Caesar stood up in the Roman Senate and said,
If there be anything beyond death, I do not know.
If there be anything beyond the grave, I cannot
tell. Jesus went down into the grave, explored
its every chamber, and then on the third day
he came back from the grave with the keys of
death. and the world invisible swinging at his
girdle and he says to you and to me you cleave
to me and you need not be afraid of death and
what death can do to you the other day i saw
a man not a believer in christ bid his little
curly -haired girl of six years good -bye and
and as he kissed her little face and fingered
the curls about her ears for a moment he turned
away with seemingly utter desperation saying
good -bye little one for ever and then in a moment
there came the frail little mother she stroked
the forehead kissed the little girl's face again
and again and thanked God for the little girl,
even though she had had her for such a short
time. Life was richer and sweeter and better
every way because of that child. She kissed her
and said lovingly, Goodbye. Goodbye, honey. For
just a little while. Mother will see you soon.
very soon she could say it because of jesus and
so i go on not knowing i would not know if i
might i would rather walk with christ in the
dark than to walk alone in the light i would
rather walk with him by faith than to walk by
myself with sight i would not exchange my security
in christ jesus i would not exchange my hope
my faith in him in life beyond the grave, for
a title deed to the whole world. Now for a few
minutes, you and I are going to have a good heart
-to -heart talk about something that is in the
minds of literally hundreds and hundreds of people.
I sit here... day after day, and we discuss the
wonderful miracles, the healing of these sick
bodies, the power of God. You sit there and you
listen to the testimonies of these folk who have
been healed by God's power. It's thrilling. You
attend the services and you're thrilled as you
see scores of people coming to the stage. bearing
witness to their healing. Oh, that's thrilling.
I too am just as thrilled at the last miracle
of the healing of the sick body as the first
miracle I ever saw in my life. But my friends,
there are those who are not healed. Why are they
not healed? You may not have asked that question
audibly, but I dare say there isn't a single
one of us, I am included, who have not asked
that question. Why are they not healed? Why is
it that an... every miracle service, there are
those who leave the service in the same condition
that they were when they came. The only honest
answer I can give is, I do not know. And I am
afraid of those who claim that they do know.
For only... God knows. And who can fathom the
mind of God? Who can understand his reasoning?
Let's just face it. Only God knows the answer.
When somebody comes along and tells you that
they know why you were not healed, When somebody
comes along and tells you that they have all
the answers as to why people are not healed,
I tell you frankly, I become very skeptical of
that person. Only God knows. And I would not
dare tell you. Why you are not healed? I would
not dare tell you that I have the answers to
why people are not healed. For only God holds
the answer to the question as to why all are
not healed. Who can understand God's reasoning?
who can fathom the mind of god almighty but i
do think that there are some simple matters that
we can look into but the ultimate answer as to
who is healed and who is not healed lies with
god alone you know oftentimes there are those
who come praying for physical healing and they
get so caught up in the spiritual impact of the
miracle service that they forget about their
own need they soon direct their prayers toward
others and they begin rejoicing over the miracles
that take place. And oddly enough, it's often
at this precise moment that God chooses to heal.
When self is forgotten and God and others come
first, God can have his way with that life sometimes
i think folk get so self -centered god cannot
break through how often i have stood beside folk
and especially women i tried to help them And
they're so used to whining. They're so used to
crying. They're so immersed with self -pity that
even as a human being, I can't get through to
them. Even while I'm trying to talk with them,
their whining is so... loud, they're not hearing
a thing that I'm saying. And when they pray,
it's always, oh, God, help me. Help me. And what
they're really saying is, I feel so sorry for
myself. Why have you done this to me? Why does
this have to happen to me? Somebody says that's
my mother -in -law. Miss Cooman, you must admit
my mother -in -law. It's not only the mother
-in -laws that whine, I'll tell you that. And
this is true over and over and over again. There
are scores of people who absolutely cannot forget
themselves long enough to let God do something
for them. and i said a mouthful i said a mouthful
right there this very moment look yourself directly
in the face go on and sometimes that's the hardest
thing in the world for people to do You can see
the faults in your neighbors, and you can see
the faults in members of your family, and you
know all the faults in your relatives. Oh, sure,
you can just pick them to pieces. You can analyze
them. But it's the hardest thing in the world
for some people to analyze themselves and look
themselves directly in the face. Are you self
-centered? Are you so immersed in yourself that
actually you cannot get your mind off of yourself
long enough to look up and see Jesus? You cannot
forget yourself long enough to help somebody
else. Often have I seen people who have come
into the services for their own physical healing
and they've gotten so caught up in the spiritual
impact of the miracle services that literally
they forget their own need. It isn't long before
they begin praying for somebody next to them.
or somebody in a worse condition than they are.
They begin rejoicing over the miracles that are
taking place. They get so completely caught up
in the spirit of the service, they completely
forget themselves. They're taken out of their
own self -pity. And at that moment, They begin
to realize that something is happening to them.
Something is taking place in their bodies. Talk
to some of these people who have been so wonderfully
healed by the power of God. Talk to some of these
people whose testimonies that you hear. They'll
tell you the very same thing. Somebody said,
I hadn't thought of that. Stop your whimpering.
Stop your whining. Stop your bawling. Look up
and begin praising the Lord. Praise him for what
you have. Praise him for his goodness. Praise
is the key that unlocks the storehouse of glory.
I found something out a long, long, long time
ago. One of the greatest secrets to getting an
answer to prayer is praise. Not just one day
of the year for Thanksgiving, but wake up in
the morning praising him. You say, Miss Coonan,
isn't that practical? It's good old -fashioned
Missouri cornbread, I'll tell you. Yes, sir.
Yeah, there you are. Oh, sure. All right. Now
we come to something, and let's face it, you've
heard it. I hear it every day of my life until
I get so sick of hearing people say, Catherine
Kuhlman, why wasn't I healed? I had all the faith.
in the world. I wish that somehow I could take
those words out of everybody's vocabulary. All
the faith in the world. And when a person comes
to me and tells me they have all the faith in
the world, I never argue with them. i keep my
mouth shut and just look at them and say the
poor dear now why is it that there are those
who insist that they have all the faith in the
world and they leave the service in the same
condition as when they came and the great tragedy
is that discouragements ultimately come with
disappointments consider something we know from
god's word that faith the weight of a grain of
mustard seed will do more than a ton of will
or a mind of determination And the faith that
Jesus talked about can no more manifest itself
without result than the sun can shine without
light and heat. But in many instances, people
have mistaken their own ability to believe for
the faith which only God can give. Faith is not
a condition of the mind. I want to make something
clear to you. I want to nail it right down once
and for all. Are you listening? Faith is not
a condition of the mind. It is a divinely imparted
grace to the heart. And many, many, many times
when somebody comes and says they have all the
faith in the world, they are talking about a
condition of the mind, and they are not talking.
About the kind of faith that Jesus talked about.
That divinely imparted grace to the heart. God
cannot lie. You can stake your very life on his
word. And we know from God's word that faith,
the weight of a grain of mustard seed. will do
more than a ton of will or a mind of determination
God bless you