If I can enjoy a joke at the expense of another; if I can in any way slight another in conversation, or even in thought, then I know nothing of Calvary's love.
Amy Carmichael

Another Thorn In The Flesh

Another Thorn In The Flesh

ANOTHER THORN IN THE FLESH

Please read the following article carefully. My personal comments follow.

One can only feel sorrow for Demos Shakarian, Founder and Leader of The Full Gospel Businessmen’s Fellowship International. For years he has taught the erroneous charismatic doctrine that healing for the body is included in the atoning work of Christ — that a believer may always obtain healing for their body just as an unsaved person may obtain salvation by coming to Christ. But in 1984, Shakarian suffered a stroke which paralyzed his left side and now, two years later, he is forced to accept God’s sovereignty and admit that God will heal him IF that is God’s purpose. Shakarian admits that his physical affliction has caused depression at times and that a “lot of people in the fellowship can’t understand why God hasn’t healed him since so much of his ministry over the years has focused on healing.”

The Apostle Paul learned that God doesn’t always heal His children, His servants. Often He uses the “thorn in the flesh” to demonstrate His grace and strength. Read 2 Corinthians 12:7-10. God can heal anybody, anytime. But it is not always God’s will to heal everybody, every time. Those who teach otherwise are unscriptural in their ministry, and will experience the same disillusionment of many in the FGBMFI.

PERSONAL COMMENTS

By

Phil Scovell

Here’s another one of these self righteous unknown authors who have taken the opportunity to kick a brother in Christ while he’s down. Listen to what he, or she, says. “One can only feel sorrow for Demos Shakarian, Founder and Leader of The Full Gospel Businessmen’s Fellowship International.”

Do you honestly think the writer of this article feels sorrow and compassion for Demos Shakarian? Do you think the writer has spent very much time, if any, praying for him and his condition?

Something else this writer says which I find interesting:: “For years he has taught the erroneous charismatic doctrine that healing for the body is included in the atoning work of Christ — that a believer may always obtain healing for their body just as an unsaved person may obtain salvation by coming to Christ. But in 1984, Shakarian suffered a stroke which paralyzed his left side and now, two years later, he is forced to accept God’s sovereignty and admit that God will heal him IF that is God’s purpose.” I do not personally know Shakarian nor have I ever heard him speak but if

he has been preaching for years that God still heals today, I applaud him loudly. People such as the author of this critical piece generally are negative in everything they believe and wouldn’t know how to exercise faith if someone paid them. They usually haven’t experienced an answer to prayer for so long, they can’t remember when or for what they prayed. They are good at criticizing others, however, for what they believe; especially if it differs from their beliefs.

He said this teaching of the healing power of God is a “erroneous Charismatic doctrine.” Thank you for letting us know that Jesus did not die for us physically. Why, pray tell, did our Lord do all that physical suffering? If sin is only spiritual in nature, why did Christ have to physically suffer for sin? What does the apostle Peter mean, then, in I Peter 1:24 when he said “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.” I suppose you are going to tell us now that this is metaphorical and Peter, silly old Peter, that dumb old fisherman, really was just trying to poetically say that Jesus “healed” us from sin. The Greek term translated “healed” in this verse is (cured). It is used repeatedly in the four Gospels when referring to those whom Jesus physically and bodily healed of physical illnesses. Tell me that Jesus “cured” sins? You can’t be “cured” from sin; just forgiven.

Notice something else this unknown critic says:

“The Apostle Paul learned that God doesn’t always heal His children, His servants. Often He uses the “thorn in the flesh” to demonstrate His grace and strength.”

I’m not sure where this writer gets his/her information but it certainly isn’t from the Bible. First, Paul makes it perfectly clear that this thorn in the flesh was a messenger of Satan; not God. How does this writer get the idea that “Often He uses the “thorn in the flesh” to demonstrate His grace and strength.” God doesn’t need the Devil to show His grace or strength. He likewise doesn’t need such to teach; He has sent the Holy Spirit to be our teacher; not the devil.

Let me back up a step and refer to something all skeptics of God’s healing power make mention of in their criticisms.

“But in 1984, Shakarian
suffered a stroke which paralyzed his left side and now, two years later, he is forced to accept God’s sovereignty and admit that God will heal him IF that is God’s purpose.”

Again, I haven’t heard Shakarian speak nor have I ever read anything he may have written. The writer of the article, however, seems to know him personally and seems to be totally familiar with all of Shakarian’s new beliefs. He quotes no source though. I wonder if the author of this piece interviewed Shakarian before making these claims. I don’t see where Shakarian is forced to believe or except anything differently from his earlier convictions. While I’m on this, however, let me address the question of God’s sovereignty since all healing skeptics dump God’s inability to answer prayer into the black hole of His sovereign nature.

To hear many speak, one might think that God is a random wondering gaseous cloud of anorganic electrons bumping around in the vacuum of deep space. Once and awhile He does something nice like answer a prayer or heals somebody but otherwise He’s a pretty busy fellow and can’t be bothered with the little aches and pains of His own creation. This erroneous concept of God’s sovereignty probably comes from when people really need something from God and when they pray for it once or twice and don’t get it, well, then, shoot, it must be God’s will (I.E., His sovereignty). This is a real spiritual way of hiding behind their true feelings of anger and frustration over the lack of God’s personal interest in them. Since I was knee high, when God didn’t answer someone’s prayer, it was jammed into the sovereignty of God. It really is a nice way of saying God is God and He can do anything He wants, which is another way of saying, He simply didn’t want to answer your prayer in the first place. The problem with this philosophy is that it isn’t even Scriptural. It furthermore leads to a distorted view of one’s self in the light of Biblical revelation. Most people who follow this unholy interpretation generally begin to see themselves as less than worthy of God’s love and care for them personally. “If I were a better servant of the Lord,” one begins to think and, of course, launches off, head first, into legalism; doing and not doing everything in the book, to please God.

The sovereignty of God has nothing to do with what God can and cannot do. He’s God. The fact is, however, God has chosen, in His infinite wisdom, not to do some things. For example, since He is God, He could in fact save everyone in the world and secure their home in Heaven. He won’t though. Why? He has a plan and that plan is secured in His Son Jesus Christ. One either comes to Christ in faith, confessing his sin and sinfulness, and confessing Him as Lord of their life or they can’t go to Heaven. This is fixed; forever settled in Heaven; never to be changed. I heard a knucklehead preacher once say that since God is sovereign, He could have us go through this whole thing about salvation, Heaven, and Hell and then at the end of all time say, “April fools. I was Just kidding. All you people in Heaven go to Hell.” I know how stupid that sounds but it simply demonstrates how silly people can become when trying to understand God and His sovereignty. The sovereignty of God doesn’t mean He can do whatever He wants; when He wants. It doesn’t mean maybe He will and maybe He won’t. It means He has laid down some eternal laws which He called His Word. He has even personalized His Word by sending His Son which He, God, calls (The Word Of God). If we live by this Word, we can trust God to perform what He has promised. In short, God, being God, has limited Himself. The limitations He has placed upon Himself is for our benefit. Interestingly enough, God’s own Word is so sovereign in nature that He has literally placed it’s authority and power above His own eternal, and Holy, nature in order to fortify its eternality and finality: “I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name” (Ps. 138:2).

The author of this worthless criticism of Demos Shakarian, apparently believes God’s sovereignty is “Enie, menie, minie, moe.” Some days God heals and some days He doesn’t; some days He saves and some days He doesn’t; some days His promises are true; some days they aren’t. It all depends on God and how He feels, I guess, whether or not He answers prayer and stands behind His Word. The issue which one must face is not if God heals today but does God honor His Word. No matter how you decide, you cannot jam your insecurity into God’s sovereignty; it won’t fit.

The unfortunate part of this person’s assessment of Mr. Shakarian’s disability is that he/she is making the same mistake that the unregenerate do when viewing the doctrine of salvation. Many men of God have preached strongly against immorality only to fall into the very sin they preached against. When an unsaved person see such a thing, it is likely that they would say, “See there. It isn’t true.” Fortunately the Word of God is true even if one preaching it falls into sin. Furthermore, it should be obvious that the devil is going to attack those taking a stand on a particular issue more than those sitting on the sideline criticizing others. It is of little surprise to me, therefore, that my brother has been attacked physically since he has been preaching God heals just like He saves.

I’ve finally identified Paul’s thorn. It is people like the author of the article from which I’ve been quoting. I have prayed many times that the Lord would remove these thorns from the body of Christ but since He hasn’t, and because He is sovereign, I am convinced they are given to us of God that we might become better Christians.