Spirit Baptism & Deliverance
- by David Berthiaume
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The premise of this book is that those ready to meet Jesus will have gained the victory over every influence or oppression of Satan in their lives: spiritually, emotionally, and physically. They will be just like Jesus when He returns (1John 3:2). Satan will have no influence over them.
My goal in this book is to present a balanced approach to this deliverance. We are warned that the majority of Christians in the last days will lack real genuine faith and will live their lives in denial of the reality of God’s delivering power (Luke 18:8; 2Tim 3:5)
I will begin by presenting the importance of following God’s laws of health in order to achieve good health. Many who read this book will be somewhat familiar with these laws. My prayer is that all who read of their importance will renew their commitment, by God’s grace, to live their life in harmony with them.
The biblical teaching on what many call “faith healing,” which is the “trust in divine power,” which Ellen White referred to in the following quote, will also be presented.
“Pure air, sunlight, abstemiousness, rest, exercise, proper diet, the use of water, trust in divine power—these are the true remedies.” Ministry of Healing, p.127
Ministry to the sick is not to be limited to teaching the importance of following God’s ordained health laws in order to achieve good health. They are also to be prayed for in faith believing God will heal them.
“The work of the true medical missionary is largely a spiritual work. It includes prayer and the laying on of hands;” Counsels on Health, p.540
Another vital aspect of healing presented is the importance of deliverance from Satan’s emotional oppressions in our life such as: depression, anxieties, fears, uncontrolled anger, critical spirit, etc. The principles of how to achieve this emotional deliverance will be delineated.
Every biblical teaching in this book I have either experienced personally, or seen in the lives of others who have put into practice the principles of deliverance presented in the following chapters. I know and believe the teachings of deliverance you are about to read are true because of three witnesses to their truthfulness; the Bible, the Spirit of Prophecy writings (Ellen White) and experience.
The deliverance of Israel from Egyptian bondage was a type of the deliverance of God’s remnant people when Jesus comes the second time. We are told that there was not “one feeble person among their tribes” (Ps 105:37). When Jesus comes there will not be “one feeble” person among God’s remnant. Why; because they have learned and practiced the principles of deliverance from all the oppressions of Satan in their life; spiritually, emotionally and physically. This may sound impossible from where we stand today in Laodicea. However, remember, those ready to meet Jesus will have heeded God’s call to come out of their Laodicean condition by receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Rev 3:18-21). They have experienced a genuine and powerful revival and reformation as the Spirit continued to fill them day-by-day. Their faith will have developed to the point where they are able to stand against anything Satan brings to them. They are completely victorious in every area of their lives; spiritually, emotionally and physically.
I have not used the word “perfection” or “perfectionism” in this book. There have been many misunderstandings throughout the centuries on the meaning of these terms. According to the Bible we will retain our sinful nature and bodies that are subject to death until Jesus comes (1Cor 15:51-53). Put simply, the spiritual deliverance I am presenting in this book is in essence; if you know something is sinful you don’t have to do it.
I believe God is calling this “remnant” today. My personal conviction is that we must take seriously this call by receiving the daily baptism of the Holy Spirit, experience revival and reformation under the power of the Holy Spirit, and experience the full deliverance Jesus offers to us over all of Satan’s temptations, influences and oppressions.
Our personal experience of deliverance over all of Satan’s influences in our life is an ongoing process. Its full and complete deliverance does not happen over night. It is an experience we are to grow into, and become stronger and stronger in (Mark 4:28).
So as you read in this book about the deliverance God’s last remnant people will have experienced and you do not see that full deliverance in your life now, don’t be discouraged. Let God begin the process now and trust him to bring you to the state of full and complete deliverance (1Thes 5:23-24). Learn and apply the “weapons” of your warfare against Satan and you will experience many more victories in every area of your life; spiritually, emotionally and physically (2Cor 10:4-5; Eph 6:10-18).
Everywhere I have presented and applied the principles in this book I have seen people delivered from Satan’s oppressions. Many have asked if this material was available in print so they could have something to study. This book is written in response to these many requests.
I invite you to read this book with an open mind and prayerful attitude (Acts 17:11). If we are living when Jesus comes, our eternal destiny will rest on whether or not we have cooperated with God in achieving this complete and final deliverance the gospel of Jesus Christ offers. This book is dedicated to the preparation of that last remnant people, who will have experienced that deliverance.
I was baptized and became a Seventh-day Adventist Christian just before I graduated in engineering at Colorado State University. The year was 1966. Before I began studying the Bible with the local pastor and attended a short series of meetings conducted by HMS Richards Sr., who was joined by his son HMS Richards Jr. in Longmont, Colorado, I had come to the point where I even doubted the existence of God. But God in His masterful way led me to take the Bible seriously. Over a period of a few months I accepted Christ and His teachings.
I was excited about my new found faith and soon began feeling a call to the ministry. I worked in engineering for over a year, but then decided to leave everything and go to Andrews University and study for the ministry. God providentially opened many doors and within a little over two years I received my Masters of Divinity degree and began pastoring a small church in the northwest.
If the Bible Teaches It – That Settles It! Up
I was happy to be an Adventist Christian and to be a pastor. Since my baptism I had prided myself in the fact that my church and I took the Bible as it read. If the Bible said it I would believe it. I have found that every person that comes to accept and obey the fourth commandment on the seventh-day Sabbath must come to that same conclusion. So I always held myself to this principle of believing something if it is in the Bible and I have taught others to do the same.
Over the years as a pastor I have had about every teaching that is contrary to my beliefs presented to me with Bible texts that supposedly supported them, and every time I became more confirmed in my faith. The teachings that I held and my church held could stand up to the closest scrutiny.
Often God allows something to happen in our lives in order to teach us more about Himself. Such an experience happened in 1992. My wife, Patty, began experiencing an intense internal side pain. After several tests it was discovered that she had a congenital obstruction in one of her kidneys. Surgery was scheduled to remove the obstruction. During the surgery the doctor discovered that the kidney had been too badly damaged so it had to be removed.
About a month after this surgery Patty began experiencing severe edema. We again sought a specialist. After several tests it was discovered that the other kidney was being destroyed by glomerulonephritis, an auto-immune disease of the kidney. The doctors could only recommend steroids, but could guarantee no positive results. We sought a second opinion at UCLA Medical Center and spoke with the chief of the nephrology department and he gave us the same advice. We obtained information on steroid therapy and discovered there were many negative side effects. After much prayer and discussion Patty and I decided to take this problem to the Lord and trust Him for healing. We studied every verse in the Bible on healing to bolster our faith. In the process we discovered that it is God's will to heal His children. In time, Patty's kidney was healed and is functioning today at the level of two kidneys.
During the months that followed I didn’t pursue the Bible teaching on healing to any great extent. I had been a pastor for many years and had never seen a healing occur except for Patty’s kidney. So I had concluded that as a rule it probably was not God’s will to heal. However, this premise was challenged when we began studying the Bible teaching on healing after Patty faced the loss of her last kidney.
In September of 1999 God began challenging me in various ways to look at the Biblical concept of healing more closely. After careful study and prayer I came to the conclusion again that it is God’s will to heal His children. This book is the result of my study and the confirmation God has given to so many who have reached out to Him and received healing grace in their lives.
We as Adventists have been a little afraid of the concept of “faith healing” and deliverance ministry. Biblical healing is a simple concept. One must simply believe in God's desire and power to heal in Jesus' name in order to be healed. I will elaborate on this concept in much greater detail in other chapters.
What I will share next is what has happened as we have asked God for healing. One’s healing may be spiritual, emotional or physical since it is God's desire is to heal and sanctify us wholly: body, soul, and spirit (1Thes 5:23-24). Of course, we must remember that the one praying does not do the healing. God is the only One Who can bring healing.
The following deliverance experiences and more have occurred since mid September of 1999. Since then I have seen God heal scores of individuals as they have reached out in faith to their healing God. For the previous 30 years of ministry, before understanding the biblical concept of healing, I had never seen a parishioner healed as the result of prayer except for my wife, Patty. A brief description follows of healings I have witnessed since coming to understand God’s desire to heal His children and the principles of biblical healing.
• A lady had severe pain in her left arm and was wearing medicated
patches to relieve the pain. She also suffered from severe anxiety and
mild depression. She was healed physically and emotionally.
• A thirteen year old suffered from a heart ailment called tachycardia for
which he was taking medication several times a day. He also suffered
from asthma and allergies. He was delivered from all three.
• A lady had severe back pain and several fused vertebrae. She was
completely healed of the pain.
• A lady had a very severe cold, which left her after a prayer for
deliverance.
• A child had torn knee cartilage, which was healed. She was running with
the other children that same afternoon.
• A lady suffered with depression and had kidney stones that caused her
great pain. After prayer and learning the weapons of her warfare her
depression was relieved and the pain left her.
• A young man was clinically depressed and planned to commit suicide on
two occasions. He was heavily medicated for his condition, but was
completely delivered from depression after prayer.
• One individual was healed of leg and neck pain.
• Two individuals were healed of severe pain for which they were taking
cortisone shots. One had knee pain and the other shoulder pain.
• A lady was healed of a tumor on her lung.
• A man was healed of a heart condition that caused him to have
breathing problems.
• A lady was healed of asthma
• One individual was healed of severe shoulder, back, leg pain caused by
an accident years before
• Eye floaters, which were inhibiting one individual’s reading ability, were
removed through prayer.
• One individual suffered from stomach pain, shoulder pain, lower back
pain, and her neck artery was 50% blocked. All of these health problems
were healed.
• A lady was healed of severe arthritis in her back and hands
• An individual was healed within an hour of a severe bladder infection
• A man was healed of a throat problem that hindered his singing for the
Lord in church
• A man’s severe hip pain was healed that he had been suffering with for
several months
• Another lady’s blocked neck arteries were opened
The following chapters give the biblical basis for faith healing. However, I want to make one thing very clear. I do not believe the Bible teaches that one should not seek medical advice and rational medical cures for ailments. My personal belief is that God should be sought first in all cases. He will direct sincere believers as to what His will is for their recovery. In my wife, Patty’s, case we were directed to depend on God for the healing and not follow the recommended regimen of steroid treatment. There are also many “natural” means that can be used to bring relief from many health problems such as: diet, exercise, rest, etc.
I recall one case where an elderly man in our church had a defective heart valve that needed replacing. We prayed for his healing. Yet, God seemed to keep leading toward surgical replacement of the valve. I didn’t understand why the Lord did not heal him without surgery. The man had a successful valve replacement through surgery. After the surgery the doctor said, “Your heart valve was so defective I don’t understand how you were kept alive!” Then I understood. The Lord had answered our prayers and used the experience as a powerful testimony to the doctor of God’s power to keep His children.
In another case a young man had gone though many surgeries because of a severe health problem. Again he was facing very serious surgery on his neck. We had prayed for him that God would heal him. However, again the Lord kept leading toward the surgery. So the young man had the surgery. During the operation something amazing happened. When the doctor opened the area in his neck, the bone that he was going to try to properly relocate (which was a dangerous procedure) automatically moved on its own to the proper place in the neck. After the surgery the doctor related this to the young man and his mother stating that he had never see such a thing happen before. He didn’t understand it. Again God used this medical procedure as a testimony of His power.
God has also led us to understand His desire and power to heal emotional problems such as chronic depression, anorexia, anxiety attacks, anger, critical spirit, etc ... . As a result of applying this understanding I had never before seen such delivering power in ministry. These issues and how to become delivered from them will also be studied in this book. I think Satan’s plan is always to try to drive us to extremes by causing us to:
• Be suspicious of “faith healing” and reject it
• Look to doctors and modern medicine only
• Depend on “faith healing” only and reject all modern medical solutions.
I believe God wants us to take a balanced approach.
In the following chapters we will look more closely at the Biblical teaching on healing and deliverance. My prayer is that the reader will approach this subject with an open mind. Healing is a wonderful gift God has given to His children. Do not allow Satan to steal it from you.
What made the difference in my ministry? Why have I seen so many healings in recent years when for over 30 years I saw none? I had to choose to believe what the Bible said about healing and deliverance. I had to step out in faith and act on that belief and encourage others to do the same. As a result I have seen how truly merciful and loving God is. I have gotten a glimpse of how desirous God is to heal all who suffer. In fact, the prophet Micah states that God “delighteth in mercy” (Micah 7:18). Every act of divine healing is an act of “mercy.” God “delights” to show “mercy” and “heal” His children! Remember that God’s word tells us to “believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper” (2Chron 20:20). Let us believe what Micah and the other Old and New Testament prophets tell us about God’s desire to be merciful and heal His children. When we do this then we too shall “prosper.”
This understanding didn’t come easily. Whenever one studies the Bible they bring to that study certain presuppositions. We all have previously formed ideas about certain teachings. These can affect the interpretation of what we read.
When I began this study of the biblical concept of healing I knew that I had preformed opinions on this subject. The following are the major presuppositions I had on the topic of faith healing.
• God has the power to heal but He probably will not
• God's promise of physical healing applies primarily to when Christ returns and we
receive our glorified body.
• We live in a sinful world, and disease and suffering are part of this world for both
the believer and non-believer.
• When we ask God in prayer to heal us we can never be confident that He will heal.
• We must always preface our prayer for healing with the words “If it be Thy will.”
• It is presumptuous on our part to pray with assurance that God will heal us.
• God's way of healing today is through the use of doctors, hospitals, and following
natural health laws only.
• Miraculous healing may occur today through prayer. However, this in the exception
rather than the rule because this type of healing was needed in times past when
there was a great ignorance of God's health laws and medical science was not
understood as it is today.
• There is so much counterfeit faith healing taking place today that God will not now
work in this way very often.
We need very much to have an open mind on the subject. Our goal must be to let the Scriptures speak for themselves. We would do well to emulate the Berean's attitude when searching for Biblical truth.
“These were more noble that those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” Acts 17:11
I recall one man in my church that was very skeptical about what I was teaching on healing. When he was a child a “faith healer” had come to the area where he lived. As a result of what he saw and heard, he concluded that faith healing was not scriptural. Now he was a professional truck driver transporting vehicles. On one of his trips he fell from the top of the trailer and broke his foot. The pain was excruciating. Remembering what we had been teaching about God’s desire to heal His children, he called out to God in prayer asking Him to remove the pain. Immediately the pain left. When he went to get treatment for his foot the doctor asked him what pain medication he was taking so he could give him another prescription for continued relief from the pain. He told the doctor that there was no pain. The doctor couldn’t understand it. Such a break should be very painful. From that point on he believed in God’s desire to heal His children.
Three Views of Healing in the Christian Church Today:
1. Some believe the gift of healing does not apply today. It was a gift for
the apostolic Era of the church only. Therefore doctors and medicine
are God's ordained means to heal today.
2. Other Christians teach that faith healing is very much applicable
today. However, some Christians go so far as to teach that if one
goes to a doctor or uses medicine he is denying faith in God's power
to heal. They teach that one should only look to God for healing of any
disease one faces in this life.
3. The Seventh-day Adventist church has taken the middle road of these
two extreme views. The Adventist church teaches that God has given
the knowledge of medical science for our benefit and we should avail
ourselves of this knowledge. Natural laws of health such as diet,
exercise, etc. play an important role in maintaining health. The church
also teaches that the gifts of faith healing are given to the Christian
today as well.
Health is God’s Plan for His People Up
The apostle John shared the desire he had, which would have been God’s desire also, for Gaius and all of God’s children.
“Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” 3 John 2
Ellen White also wrote much about health. In the following statement she lists what have been called God’s eight natural remedies.
“Pure air, sunlight, abstemiousness, rest, exercise, proper diet, the use of water, trust in divine power - these are the true remedies.” Ministry of Healing, p.127
Why has God given us these eight natural remedies? He wants us to experience good health. In the chapter entitled, “Laws of Blessing,” I presented the importance of following God’s health laws. In the chapters that follow we will study closely the last of these eight true remedies, “trust in divine power” in order to experience spiritual, physical and emotional healing.
My prayer is that every reader of this book will truly be a Berean Christian, mind open and receptive to what the Bible teaches on this wonderful subject of divine healing. I know from experience that a great blessing awaits you if you do so.
The goal of this book has been to present a balanced view on spiritual, emotional and physical deliverance. My impression is that most Christians tend to emphasize one aspect of deliverance to the neglect of other important aspects. Those who focus on “natural remedies” such as diet, exercise, rest, etc. often know little about “trust in divine power” (faith healing). While, on the other hand, those who emphasize “faith healing” tend to put little emphasis on the natural laws of health.
My personal conviction is that God wants us to understand and apply all the truths concerning how we are to achieve total deliverance from Satan’s influence in our life; spiritually, emotionally and physically. I am also deeply convinced that the last generation of Christians living when Jesus comes will have achieved this total deliverance.
Not an Accurate Example Today Up
Therefore, what we see in the Christian world today concerning spiritual, emotional and physical deliverance is not an accurate example of what those believers living when Jesus comes will have experienced. In general, God’s children today are still struggling with sin, emotional oppressions and physical diseases. When we read God’s description of the seventh church era, Laodicea (Rev 3:14-22), which is a description of the church today, it would be expected that the Laodicean Christian would be experiencing little real deliverance. In fact, those who choose to stay in their Laodicean condition will deny God’s power to deliver until the very end of time (2Tim 3:3, 5). Today’s Laodicean Christian’s experience is no where near the victorious experience God’s last day remnant people will have obtained just prior to Christ’s second coming.
However, even today I have seen glimpses of the deliverance God’s last day believers will experience. I have seen amazing spiritual, emotional and physical deliverance. I have seen flashes of God’s glory; that glory which will fill the earth just before Jesus returns (Rev 18:1).
A Glorious, Victorious Future Up
You see, that last generation of believers will vindicate their God before the entire universe (1Cor 4:9; Eph 3:10). In the midst of the greatest darkness upon this earth they will “perfectly” reflect the character of Christ and will have experienced, in the name of Jesus, complete deliverance over every “oppression” of the devil in their lives. They will be just like Jesus (1John 3:2).
I believe Ellen White supports this view in her many statements about deliverance. In the area of spiritual victory she states the following concerning the “character” of those ready to meet Jesus.
“Christ is waiting with longing desire for the manifestation of Himself in His church. When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His people, then He will come to claim them as His own.” Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 69
They will be continuously victorious over Satan’s temptations and will be reflecting Christ’s character perfectly.
“He who has not sufficient faith in Christ to believe that He can keep him from sinning, has not the faith that will give him an entrance into the kingdom of God.”— Manuscript 161, 1897.
Christ will be living fully in His remnant people through the baptism of the Holy Spirit (early rain). Their life will be a life of continual obedience to Him.
“All true obedience comes from the heart. It was heart work with Christ. And if we consent, He will so identify Himself with our thoughts and aims, so blend our hearts and minds into conformity to His will, that when obeying Him we shall be but carrying out our own impulses. The will, refined and sanctified, will find its highest delight in doing His service. When we know God, as it is our privilege to know Him, our life will be a life of continual obedience. Through an appreciation of the character of Christ, through communion with God, sin will become hateful to us.” The Desire of Ages, p.668
Loving God and our fellow man are essential requirements in order to be ready for Christ’s Second Advent. God’s last generation of believers will love the Father with all their hearts and will love others as Christ loves. They will love “just like” Jesus loves. Ellen White wrote of this with the words:
“Love to man is the earthward manifestation of the love of God. It was to implant this love, to make us children of one family, that the King of glory became one with us. And when His parting words are fulfilled, ‘Love one another, as I have loved you’ (John 15:12); when we love the world as He has loved it, then for us His mission is accomplished. We are fitted for heaven; for we have heaven in our hearts.” The Desire of Ages, p. 641
They will also have gained emotional victory over every emotional oppression of Satan.
“That which brings sickness of body and mind to nearly all is dissatisfied feelings and discontented repinings. They have not God, they have not the hope which reaches to that within the veil, which is as an anchor to the soul both sure and steadfast. All who possess this hope will purify themselves even as He is pure. Such are free from restless longings, repinings, and discontent; they are not continually looking for evil and brooding over borrowed trouble.” Testimonies, Vol.1, p. 566
God’s last remnant people will not have dissatisfied feelings, discontented repinings, and restless longings. No; instead they will have peace with God and reflect the purity of Christ in their countenance and emotions.
Thirdly, those ready to meet Jesus will be victorious over every physical infirmity Satan has tried to bring upon them. Ellen White indicates this when one understands the logical conclusion of the following statements.
“Through faith in his all-powerful name—the only name given under Heaven whereby we may be saved—man could overcome appetite and passion, and through his obedience to the law of God, health would take the place of infirmities and corrupting diseases.” Review & Herald, March 4, 1875 par. 11
“It is a sin to be sick, for all sickness is the result of transgression.” Counsels on Health, p. 37
“God has pledged Himself to keep this human machinery in healthful action if the human agent will obey His laws and co-operate with God.” Medical Ministry, p.221
“Sin brings physical and spiritual disease and weakness. Christ has made it possible for us to free ourselves from this curse.” Ibid, p. 12
“The influence of the Spirit of God is the very best medicine that can be received by a sick man or woman. Heaven is all health, and the more deeply the heavenly influences are realized, the more sure will be the recovery of the believing invalid.” Ibid. p.12
God’s children, who are ready to meet Jesus, will most certainly be living under the “heavenly influences” of both the early rain baptism of the Holy Spirit and the latter rain outpouring of the Spirit. According to Ellen White, this powerful heavenly influence will bring recovery from debilitating disease.
Simply put, Ellen White tells us that those who obey God, which certainly describes those ready to meet Jesus, will experience health instead of infirmities and corrupting diseases. She states it is a sin to be sick. Those ready to meet Jesus will not be living in any known sin. Therefore, they will not be sick. Also, those ready to meet Jesus will be cooperating with God in every way. God will honor their obedience and pledges Himself to keep them in a healthful condition.
Also, prophecy indicates that those ready to meet Jesus will have gone through the “time of trouble.” They will have either been imprisoned or fleeing to isolated places to escape persecution. They will not be able to “buy or sell” (Rev 13:17). Under such conditions medical care, medications, kidney dialysis equipment, etc. will not be available to them. They will have learned to depend on God for their health, protection, sustenance, and victories over Satan’s attacks. They will know from experience what the scripture means when it says, “man shall not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matt 4:4 NIV). They are truly living by faith in God’s Word.
Remember, those ready to meet Jesus are the “first fruits” of the redeemed who will be raised from the dead (Rev 14:4). They still have a sinful nature and a body that is subject to death, both of which will be changed when Jesus returns (1Cor 15:51-53). However, they will have gotten complete victory over their sinful nature because they are allowing the “divine nature of God” to rule in their life (2Pet 1:4). And under the Spirit’s influence and power they have been delivered from emotional and physical infirmities. They will have achieved in the power of the Holy Spirit a level of victory that no other “generation” has experienced. They are a “type” of those who will be resurrected when Jesus comes. They are the “first fruits” of the redeemed.
I personally believe God’s prophetic time clock has struck the hour in which God is calling His remnant to experience the baptism of the Holy Spirit and come out of their Laodicean condition. God is now calling us to experience the full and complete deliverance from all of Satan’s influences in our life (spiritual, emotional, physical), and reflect God’s glory fully. Those who heed this call of God will be able to stand “in the flesh” in the presence of a holy God in all His unshielded glory (Rev 6:17; 7:1-3).
Will you heed this call and glorify God in your spirit, soul and body (1Thes 5:21; 1Cor 10:31)? Are you willing to let the Lord refine and purify you? If you say “yes” to God’s call in your life, then when Jesus comes you will be among those of whom Jesus says; “This is my people,” and you will reply; “The LORD in my God.” (Zech 13:8-9)
At the time of the writing of this book, Dennis Smith is serving as pastor in the Southern New England Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. Dennis has served the church as an active layman, and in pastoral and departmental positions for over 35 years.
Dennis received a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Colorado State University. While at Colorado State, he became a Seventh-day Adventist Christian. After working in engineering for a short time, he felt the call to full time ministry. To fulfill that calling, Dennis attended Andrews University Theological Seminary and received a Masters of Divinity degree. Dennis has also done studies in the area of public health from Loma Linda University.
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