JESUS: GREAT PHYSICIAN
By Pastor Max Solbrekken, D.D.
“When the even was come, they brought unto Him (Jesus) many that were possessed with devils: and He cast out the spirits with His Word, and healed all that were sick: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.” (Matt. 8:16,17)
“After these things the Lord appointed other
seventy also, and sent them two and two before His face into every city and
place, whither He Himself would come. And HEAL the sick that are therein,
and say unto them, The Kingdom of God is come unto you. And the Seventy returned
again with joy, saying, Lord, even, the devils are subject unto us in Thy Name.
And He said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning FALL from Heaven.
Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all
the power of the ENEMY: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” (Luke
10: 10,9,17-19)
THESE SIGNS SHALL FOLLOW THEM THAT BELIEVE!
“And He said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel unto every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these SIGNS shall follow them that believe; In My name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them. They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” (Mark 16:15-18)
“And a woman having an issue of blood, which had spent ALL her living upon physicians, but had NOT been healed of any, came behind Him and touched the hem of His garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched.
“And Jesus said, Who touched Me? And when all denied, Peter and they that were with Him, said, Master, the multitudes throng Thee and press Thee, and sayest Thou, Who touched Me?
“And Jesus said, somebody hath touched Me: for I perceive that VIRTUE is gone out of Me. And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before Him, she declared unto Him before all the people for what cause she had touched Him, and how she was healed immediately. “And He said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: Thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.” (Luke 8:43-48)
The Amplified Bible translates this passage this way, “Somebody has made a demand upon My Ability.” And that is exactly what the woman did. She made a demand upon Christ’s ability to make her well! This marvelous account of the ministry of Jesus Christ reveals many truths about God’s great love, power and how we may tap into His Healing Stream for our needs as well.
Our Lord was always busy doing wonderful and miraculous things. When He wasn’t teaching or preaching, He was healing the sick and suffering, casting out demons or performing other signs and wonders.
“And His fame went throughout all Syria: And they brought unto Him all sick people that were taken with diverse diseases and torments, and those that were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy; and He healed them.” (Matt.4: 23, 24)
When Jesus saw the people as sheep having no shepherd, He ministered His love, mercy, and grace to them through the Word of God and the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. He declared: “My Father worketh and I work…Verily, verily, I say unto you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father do: for what things soever He doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. For the Father loveth the Son, and showeth Him all things that Himself doeth: and He will show Him greater works than these that ye may marvel.” (John 5: 17, 19, 20)
“Then said Jesus unto them: When ye have lifted up the Son of Man, then shall ye know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father hath taught Me, I speak these things. And He that sent Me is with Me: for the Father hath not left Me alone; for I do always those things that please Him.” (John 8: 28, 29)
THE HOLY SPIRIT DID THE MIRACLES!
The Bible states: “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: Who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with Him.” (Acts 10: 38)
Jesus relied totally on the Holy Spirit which was given Him at the time of His baptism. (Mark 1:9 -11). He said: “But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God then the Kingdom of God is come unto you. Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil His goods, except he first bind the strong man and then he will spoil his house.” (Matt. 12: 28)
When our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ returned to the Gadarenes where He had earlier liberated an insane man from many demons, the people eagerly welcomed Him back:
“Now the man out of whom the devils were departed besought him that he might be with Him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, Return to thine own house and show how great things God hath done unto thee and he went he way and published throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done for him. And it came to pass, that, when Jesus was returned, the people gladly received Him: for they were all waiting for Him.” (Luke 8: 38-40)
This is the key to Revival and to the advancement of the church. It is the key to an awakening and changing the spiritual complexion of an entire community. Jesus knew the value of a great miracle to influence relatives and friends, so He sent the man who had been insane and living among the tombs back home to witness to his healing by Christ.
POLIO VICTIM HEALED IN MANILA!
In our 1966 Gospel Crusade in Manila, seven-year-old Sal Gadula's stunted leg grew out between 12 to 15 inches in a moment. Many people were moved upon by our Lord and 100 members of his extended family gave the hearts and lives to Christ!
Sal's life had been dominated by the terrible disease called polio. His right leg was hard like wood and 12 to 15 inches shorter than his other one. His mother Josephine Gadula carried him to the Crusade. Her husband had deserted them. She did not even have crutches for Sal but had heard about the miracles that Jesus Christ was doing at the Crusade and decided to attend.
She said, “Please heal my son.” I said, “I cannot heal your son.” She said, “You have healed my neighbours.” I answered, “If they were healed, Jesus did it.” Josephine said, “Then, ask Jesus to heal my son Sal. I answered, “I do not have the faith and you don't know anything about this. Fast and pray for three days, read the Gospel of John. Then, I will pray for Sal.”
Three days later they returned. Josephine confessed that they were upset: “I thought it was because we were Catholics, but I realized that my neighbours were Catholics. The Holy Spirit told me that what I was asked to do was not difficult; just fast for three days and read John's Gospel.” After reading St. John's Gospel they both realized that they needed to be born again. And even if Sal did not get healed, they still wanted to be saved.
I knelt with them at the altar and they asked Jesus to come into their hearts. Then I placed Sal on a large communion table and with hundreds watching, I laid my hands on his head and prayed. Suddenly, his dead leg began to jump up and out and both legs became the same length. I lifted him up and he stood for the very first time.
As I stepped away from the table his mother wanted to steady him. I said, “Don't touch him. God has healed him”. I put him on the floor, slapped him on his seat and said, “Run.” He walked, fell, and ran. And he is still walking today.
The truth is that both Sal's mother and I touched Jesus with our faith. She wouldn't give up, and by placing him on the Communion Table for everyone to observe the miracle taking place, I was inadvertently touching Jesus with my faith.
Thirteen years later, I was preaching in an Assembly of God Church in Brooklyn, New York and 13 members of their family were there, together with his grandparents. Sal was playing his guitar and singing for Jesus.
His outstanding miracle was so shocking that his relatives abandoned the Roman Catholic Church, and his uncle Conrad Gadula became a preacher of the Gospel of Christ in the United States. Praise His holy name!
Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue, fell at Jesus’ feet and besought Him to come to his home to minister life to his dying daughter: “For he had one only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she lay a dying. But as he went the people thronged Him. While He yet spake, there cometh one from the ruler of the synagogue's house, saying to him, Thy daughter is dead; trouble not the Master. But when Jesus heard it, He answered him, saying, Fear not, believe only, and she shall be made whole.
“And when He came into the house, He suffered no man to go in save Peter, and James, and John, and the father, and the mother of the maiden. And all wept, and bewailed her: but He said, Weep not: she is not dead, but she sleepeth. And they laughed Him to scorn, knowing that she was dead. And He put them all out, and took her by her hand, and called, saying, Maid, arise. And her spirit came again, and she arose straightway: and He commanded to give her meat.” (Luke 8: 42-48)Not only did Jesus have compassion on the people who had earlier driven Him away from their coasts, but He responded immediately to the urgent request of the Ruler of the synagogue. While on His way to Jairus’ home, a desperately sick woman reached out by faith by touching His garment receiving an instant miracle!
Jesus immediately turned around asking, “Who touched Me?” When those near Him remonstrated, He said: “Somebody touched Me, for I perceive that virtue has gone out of Me!” (Amp). When the woman who had been healed admitted that she touched Him and received a miracle, He said: “Daughter, be of good comfort, thy faith hath made thee whole. Go in peace.
JESUS IS ALWAYS DOING MIRACLES!
The Miracles of Christ are given to needy people who truly believe in Him. He knows when someone has touched Him by faith. He compliments us for our faith in Him. Jesus was true God from Eternity and true Man by the virgin birth, and He ministered in the power of the Holy Spirit to all who came to Him with their needs. He healed all whom He touched and all those who touched Him in faith.
The truth is that the woman who reached out in faith by touching the Master made a demand upon His ability. She knew that she was unable to help herself and that all the physicians had failed her. She also knew that Jesus Christ had the power to heal her and unlike the physicians, He didn’t charge for the healing!
By sheer determination and heart-felt faith in the ‘Man from Galilee’, who had cast out a myriad of demons from the “Maniac of Gadara’, this woman who had hemorrhaged for twelve years, pressed through the crowd, and took her Miracle from God. She touched the hem of His garment - the Ribbon of Blue – which devout Jews had sewed into their robes, that spoke of the Righteousness of God.
THE SNAKE'S HEAD WAS CRUSHED!
Many people have heard me preach a message titled, ‘The Snake is Dead’. In it, I share God’s Word about the Prophecy that Almighty God delivered to Satan after Adam and Eve’s tragic fall. God told the Devil: “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her SEED. It shall bruise (Crush) your head and thou shalt bruise His heel.” (Gen.3:15)
In this prophecy Almighty God laid out His great plan of salvation: He would send the Deliverer to crush Satan’s head thus destroying him conclusively. The Deliverer would be born of a virgin and thereby sinless, and through His vicarious death would meet the demands of God’s Justice thus satisfying His anger against the sin of High Treason committed by our first parents.
The Deliverer would be His own incarnated Son whose heel would be bruised through death but healed in His resurrection from the dead! God the Father has arranged everything for our benefit. By praying in faith and binding the demons of infirmity and disease in Jesus’ name, the gift of faith touches the hem of His garment!
MY MOTHER WAS INSTANTLY HEALED!
My Mother, Anne Nikoline Hestikind was accompanied by her brother on the train to the Bethesda Healing Home, situated on the shore of the North Sea near Oslo, Norway. She was instantly healed of a serious 6-year-long illness while waiting her turn to go into the water. As she stood thinking about the ice-cold water of the North Sea, a warm feeling came all over her and she walked into the water and out again perfectly well. She took the train home, walked 28 kilometers to her home. She got married, bore six children and was never sick a day in her life of that disease.
What was that warm feeling that came over her? It was the blessed Holy Spirit.
He is the Healer Whom Jesus sent to the church on the Day of Pentecost so many
years ago! It was the Holy Spirit of God that enveloped her and made her
perfectly well.
A wonderful miracle happened in the beginning of our 1968 Revival at Filadelfia Assembly in Oslo. During my message, a woman lifted her hand to get my attention. I stopped preaching and asked what she wanted. Excitedly, she said: “I have suffered terrible pains affecting the mobility of my leg for ten years. Just now, I felt a large warm hand on my thigh and all the pains are gone. I can move my leg without pain. Praise God”.
I asked her to walk down the
aisle. She did with great joy. All pains were gone! All the people rejoiced as
the Revival leaped forward with God answering prayer and blessing for the next
three weeks!
MELBA PHILIPS HEALED BY CHRIST!
In the 1980’s I was conducting a Divine Healing Service in Vancouver, BC together with Dr. D.H. Phillips. He shared the testimony of his miraculous recovery after a tragic automobile accident. His wife Melba came to be with us in that meeting. Unknown to me, Melba had suffered many years with raynaud's syndrome.
Her feet and legs were ice cold and when at home in California in the summer she wore sheepskin shoes around the house. Her husband Durwin stated that if his wife’s feet touched his leg while in bed, he would wake up from the freezing cold in her feet. Two of her uncles had suffered from the same disease and had to have amputations.
That evening I preached on, ‘EMMANUEL: GOD WITH US!” I declared that Jesus is called Emmanuel and that He is with us and through the blessed Holy Spirit He is in us. I declared that because He is with us and in us, we have His peace, love, joy, assurance of sin’s forgiven and power over Satan!
The Bible declares: “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.” (1 John 4.4)
The devil must bow before Christ our Lord when we speak in His holy name! He that is in us is greater than the devil who is in the world. Sin must bow, fear must bow, sickness must bow and the world, flesh and the Devil must bow before Him.
I quoted St. Paul: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found the death of the cross.
“Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him and given Him a name which is above every name: That at the name of JESUS every knee should bow of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil.2: 9-11)
While I was preaching about Jesus Christ, Who was God in the flesh and had been wounded, bruised, chastised and scourged for our total deliverance, the Holy Spirit reached out and touched Melba. Suddenly, a warm feeling came over her and she reached down to touch her ankles. They were warm as toast.
Jesus Christ had touched her as she listened to the inspired Word of God. She had made a demand upon His Ability and He delivered her from a very serious disease! To God be the glory, honour and praise forever and ever!
A MIRACLE IN LYTTLTON, NB!
Here is an e-mail we received from Terry Somers on September 3, 2019.
Hello
Pastor Max! It is 25 years today since I received my Miracle! Thank you, Jesus!
Sept 3rd 1994. There is a significance of the 3rd day for me! It was confirmed
as a Miracle on Oct 3rd 1994 by Dr. Edward Abraham! All power and glory to God!
The Lord granted us a notable creative miracle during our September 1994 Gospel Crusade at the Pentecostal Church in Lyttleton, New Brunswick. Pastor A.W. Rowe, a very dear friend and one of Newfoundland’s great preachers had come out of retirement to shepherd that flock.
Living in the area was Terry Somers a young man who had been seriously injured during an accident while working in a mine. While trying to repair a large water pipe, the pressure returned and knocked Terry off the platform onto the railway tracks below. He was taken to the hospital and underwent several surgeries, leaving him with constant unbearable nerve pains!
For the next seventeen years Terry suffered enormous nerve pain, taking three times the amount of pain killing pills, to no avail. He saw doctors in Halifax, St. Johns, and Toronto and no one could help him. He was ordered not to drive the logging truck as he would sometimes lose all feeling in his legs. He was placed on permanent total disability by Workmen’s Compensation.
Once he parked his rig on the side of the road and when he stepped onto the ground he had no legs, but fortunately was able use his arms to pull himself out of harm’s way. Terry had never been able to hold his children when they were young or lift anything over ten pounds. And he prayed nightly that he could die.
Then, one day he heard the good news that people were being healed by the Lord at the Pentecostal Church. Mervin Mutch, a leading Deacon in that Church visited Terry and told him about our coming crusade. He brought with him a tape of Betty Baxter’s miraculous healing.
Due to the intensity of the pain, Terry had to remain in the foyer of the Church because he could not sit still during the service and before coming to the meeting Terry doubled up on all his pills but was still in enormous pain. After my message Pastor A.W. Rowe brought Terry Somers to the platform expecting a miracle!
Terry was instantly healed by God’s supernatural power as I prayed in the matchless name of Jesus of Nazareth. After prayer, he stated that the pain was gone and leaped in the air, shouting hallelujahs.
He picked up a ten- year- old girl standing nearby, lifted me up and finally lifted 245 pound A.W. Rowe and danced all over the platform with him in his arms. Terry has not had a pain or taken pill for anything since Jesus healed him!
New Brunswick’s leading orthopedic surgeon wrote a letter to Workmen’s Compensation Board requesting that Terry be released from his total disability pension because he was perfectly well. In his letter he twice stated that Terry believed that he was divinely healed, as he also did. His Examination proved that the discs that had been damaged or removed by surgery were supernaturally replaced.
The well-known, Dr. Edward Araham told Terry that if any medical doctor
examining the x-ray he had taken, and had not seen the scars on Terry’s back or
the hundreds of x-rays and doctor’s reports taken earlier, that Doctor would
say that Terry was a liar and had never been in an accident or had any surgery
because his spine was like a 20 year old man and everything injured or removed
had been replaced.
I was fully convinced that Terry would be healed that evening in Lyttleton. And
when Terry and I together touched the hem of His garment, Jesus Christ heard us
and performed that glorious miracle for His glory and honour! We made a demand
upon His ability and the Sign and Wonder of God happened!
HOW MUCH ABILITY DOES JESUS HAVE?
Jesus said: “All power is given unto Me in Heaven and in earth. Go ye
therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and
of the Son and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things
whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the
end of the world. Amen.” (Matt.28:18);
“Then said Jesus unto them again, Peace be unto you, as My Father hath sent
Me so send I you. And when He had said this, He breathed upon them, and saith
unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost.” (John 20, 21)
“But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My Name, He will teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14: 26, 27)
“Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My Words shall not pass away.” (Matt.24:35). "Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth." (Mark 9: 23); “...With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.” (Mark 10: 27)
Jesus said, "As thou hast believed so be it unto thee," (Matt.8: 13); "Thy faith hath made thee whole. Go in peace and be whole of thy plague" (Mark 5: 34); "Great is thy faith: Be it unto thee as thou wilt." (Matt.15: 28)
"And Jesus answering Have faith in
God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain,
Be thou removed and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his
heart, but shall believe that those things shall, which he saith shall come to
pass: he shall have whatsoever he saith.” (Mark 11:22-24)
THE AWESOME POWER OF JESUS' BLOOD!
There is purging, cleansing and divine healing through the precious Blood of Jesus Christ. The Bible declares our freedom from the power of Darkness through the devastating power of the life-giving blood of the Lamb:
“To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He has made us accepted in
the Beloved. In whom we have Redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of
sins, according to the riches of His grace. But now in Christ Jesus ye who
sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For He is our
peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition
between us.” (Eph.1:6,7; 2:13,14)
“But if we walk in the Light, as He is in the Light, we have fellowship one
with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ God’s Son cleanseth us from all sin.” (1 John 1: 7)
“In whom we have redemption through His Blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace; Wherein He
hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence.” (Eph. 1: 7,8)
1. THREE LOAVES
“And He said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and shall say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves: For a friend of mine in his journey I come unto me, and I have nothing to set before him? And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.
“And I say unto you, Ask and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him? (Luke 11: 5-13)
2.
CANANITE WOMAN
“And behold a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto Him,
saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, Thou Son of David: my daughter is grievously
vexed with a devil. But He answered her not a word. And His disciples came and
besought Him saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. But He answered
and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
“Then came she and worshipped Him, saying, Lord, help me. But He answered and
said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs. And
she said, Truth, Lord; yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their
master’s table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy
faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from
that very hour.” (Matt. 15: 22-28)
3. BLIND BARTIMAEUS
“And they came to Jericho: and as He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. And many charged him that he should hold his peace; but he cried the more a great deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, be of good comfort, rise, He calleth thee.
“And he casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus. And Jesus answered
and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man
said unto Him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. And Jesus said unto
him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received
his sight and followed Jesus in the way.” (Mark 10:46-52)
4. AND ALL THINGS
“And Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have
faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree,
but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast
into the sea; it shall be done. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in
prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” (Matt 21: 21, 22)
Dr. Ole Hallesby,
Norway’s famous theologian and founder of the Evangelical Lutheran Seminary,
wrote: “Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto
you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done
to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed,
and be cast into the sea; it shall be done. And all things, whatsoever ye shall
ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” (Matthew
21: 21, 22)
“Now and then, we make discoveries which almost take
your breath away, namely, when we see what great powers are present in this
realm of the invisible. This is especially true when these powers are put to
our disposal, when God performs a mighty miracle simply because we ask Him to
do so.” (Devotional Jan.
28)
“And Jesus
answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That
whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into
the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart but shall believe that those things
which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
Therefore, I say unto you, what things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them and ye shall have them.” (Mark 11: 22-24)
6. PRAYER OF FAITH
“Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church: and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick: and the Lord shall raise him and if he have committed any sins, they shall be forgiven him.” (James 5: 14, 15)
7. THESE SIGNS SHALL FOLLOW
“And He said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to
every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved and he that
believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe.
In My name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; and
if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands
on the sick, and they shall recover.
“So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, He was received up into Heaven,
and sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth and preached everywhere,
the Lord working with them, and confirming the Word with signs following.”
(Mark 16: 15-20)
BRITA GLOPPEN OF BERGEN, NORWAY
Bergen's Labour Newspaper carried a large front-page report of Brita Gloppen's
amazing miracle healing at the 'Bergen Tabernacle' in May, 1968. 'I WAS HEALED - THREW MY CRUTCHES'.
Brita Gloppen at Mannserk: “It is the Lord that has healed me. A Wonder has happened. Jesus has healed me!” Brita Gloppen has enthusiasm in her voice. She does not have the tiniest doubt in her mind that it is He who has given her health and earlier life back again.
After many years of being in a wheelchair, Brita goes about, healthy and active! While Brita was totally dependent on help from others, she can now look after her cosy apartment in Manannverk 32. During the day, she goes out and travels about visiting friends and relatives, and above all she tells about the great thing that has happened to her.
It was a Sunday in May, at one of the meetings the well-known Canadian preacher
Max Solbrekken had in the Tabernacle. - I was pushed forward, and with help of
crutches and others steadying me, I was able to get a place to sit down, tells
frk. Gloppen in a conversation with Bergen's Labour Paper.
Max
Solbrekken prayed for me and suddenly I was able to walk over the floor without
crutches and without help from others. It is totally impossible for me to describe
how it happened! But I know that it was our Lord Jesus Christ had mercy upon me
and made me well and strong!” (Bergen
Labour Paper)
Brita Gloppen used a
wheelchair and special crutches for 8 years. For 10 years she was forced to
wear a steel corset. Her spine was deteriorated severely and beyond repair. She
had spent considerable time in the hospital over the years and had been
designated as incurable.
I was
conducting a Gospel Crusade at the Pentecostal Tabernacle in Bergen,
Norway when I learned about Brita. For five years Pastor Roald Andersen
had dutifully picked her up every Sunday morning in his station wagon and taken
her home after the service.
In our May 1968 Crusade, Brita came to receive a miracle from Jesus. She was instantly
healed and ran down isles and down the steps and around the church. She walked
home after the service! Pastor Roald Andersen stood behind the pulpit and wept,
saying, “I have waited 40 years to see such a miracle.”
Brita's life was changed overnight. The next morning she was outside washing
down her steps and her neighours saw her and heard her testimony, The ladies in
the department store wept as they witnessed her trying on dresses two sizes
smaller because she no longer needed the steel corset. She travelled by
airplane, train, boat, bus, and automobile to visit her siblings, and all but
one or two fell on their knees and received Christ as their Saviour! Amen.
Says Arne Erik Tomassen, Gjovik,
Norway
Twenty-nine years ago, I was a hopeless alcoholic and drug addict and had planned to kill myself. I was also crippled. At 17 my right leg stopped growing after an accident. A speeding vehicle struck me while walking, throwing me high into the air! A growth began to develop on my right hip, but I didn't do anything about it at the time, thinking it would go away.
I went to sea and worked on ships and boats and the tumor kept growing. As a 22
years old sailor I was taken to a hospital in Buenos
Aires, Argentina where I
stayed for 8 months and endured several operations, leaving my leg 3 inches
shorter. To walk, I had to swing my body awkwardly forward with each
step.
I also became addicted to morphine!
Life was tough when I returned to Norway. People stared and began calling me, 'den
halte pinken' (the halting cripple). From 1969 to 1973, I lived and slept on the streets of
Oslo. In early December, I planned to kill myself. I had climbed up on the high
railing overlooking a river and in a drunken stupor I was about to throw myself
into the ice-cold water when suddenly, I heard a voice, saying “Arne,
don't do it. I have a better way for you.”
I was shocked and looking around, I saw no-one. I thought, have I flipped out?
Then, I heard the voice again, “Arne, don't do it. I have a better way
for you!” Then I thought, “Maybe this is God”, remembering what my
mother had taught me.
Suddenly, in my stupor of drugs and alcohol, I remembered what a street friend
told me, “If you are ever in trouble, Filadelfia is a good church.”
My head had cleared, and I knew that I had to get to that church. God had
called my name. With all my strength and a new lease on life, I headed to
Filadelfia.
An usher asked me where I was going, and I pointed to the preacher behind the pulpit in that large church. I must not let anyone stop me. I must meet the One whose voice I had heard on the bridge! Evangelist Max Solbrekken stepped down and stood waiting for me. He asked, “What do you want?” I said, “I want God.” He threw his arms around me and began to weep, calling upon God to save me and heal me.
And then, it happened! My leg lengthened and straightened out, my head jerked back, and I stood as straight as an arrow. And I was stone sober! I was born again and became a member of Filadelfia Tabernaklet!
I am now living in Gjovik and serving the Lord here. God gave me another
miracle on January 27, 2002, when Max preached at the Gjovik Pentecostal
Church. I had suffered a major hemorrhage of my right eye resulting in complete
loss of the sight in that eye!
As Pastor Max prayed for a lady from
the Salvation Army Band, total vision returned to me as God's servant prayed
for her. God's power swept the sanctuary. Everyone there knew of my plight and
word of that miracle has spread throughout the city. We are waiting for Max
Solbrekken to return to Gjovik!
THE WORD OF GOD CANNOT FAIL!
We know that God cannot lie. We know that God cannot change. We know that God cannot fail. We know that God is no respecter of persons, places, or times. We know that His Word is true and will stand for time and eternity!
Jesus said: “Ask and it shall be given unto you, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall opened unto you. For everyone that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” (Matt. 7: 7,8)
“Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible o him that believeth.” (Mark 9:23); “And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men this is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible” (Mark 10: 27)
The Bible says: “And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, I we
ask anything according to His will, He heareth us. And if we know that He hear
us, whatsoever we ask, we KNOW that we have the petitions that we desired of Him.” (1 John 5: 14, 15).
Amen.
