transcript: faith and healing through fellowship
Last week I was talking about my prayer relationship with the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey.
I began with a story about Stephen Webster the rector of Dundee (?) who had cancer in a lethal form, malignant tumour in his brain, and God said to him, “Stop saying how sick you are by sight. Start saying how well you are by faith.” From thereon, and with his wife, that’s all he affirmed – “How well I am by faith.”
Every day he said he was marginally better over the previous day. He went to a doctor who said how sick he was, and then he became confused. He was trying to affirm them both, and it doesn’t work like that.
That is a profound story. It is very simple. It is absolutely essential. Today I am going to tell you something of how you can do that. Begin saying how well you are by faith.
When the healing ministry began, in St. Andrew’s Cathedral in the last Wednesday in September 1960, apart from the persecution I suffered, the first observation I made as a result of what happened by doing that, was that people drew upon more healing. The reality of it as a result of being in fellowship, some who were sick, some were well. So much so, that Boxing Day December 26th, to the end of January, the group I had was about 25 people, took over an ideal country place. With a chef, the healing ministry people made it work.
People came for a short or longer time as they were able to. It was so successful, we went there for 11 years. Then we had nothing for several years. While I knew that people drew on more healing while in fellowship that when in an hour at 6 o’clock each week, I didn’t know why. I could guess. But I never knew why. When we stopped going after 11 years, one of the families set up a place in Collaroy, and my mother would go from Randwick, just to have two or three hours in fellowship. It was popular and greatly used.
We got to a frustration point after those several years, and people in the healing ministry committee started to say, “We should be looking for a place in the city.”
A man in the committee was John Davis, an architect. John was a “doer”. Next week he approaches a Roman Catholic reality agent, who says “I’ve got the place for you. It’s coming on the market today, a Roman Catholic convent school in Newtown.”
John said, “Take me to it.”
John called me on the phone. I called up our other leaders, [treasurer, solicitor] and we met at the centre. I always remember them saying, this is going to be like the country place, but in the city. I was instantly converted to its desirability.
They wanted $850,000 walk in, walk out. It was very run down. I realised I needed advice. Someone once said, if you want advice, go to the top. I said, I know, I’ll go to the Governor of the Reserve Bank, Sir Harold Knight, a member of the Cathedral Chapter. I rang him up on the phone.
“Sir Harold. It’s Jim Glennon from the Cathedral. The Healing Ministry wants to buy a property at Newtown. I don’t know how to go about it. Would you advise me.”
He said, “All right.”
He dropped everything. He stoped being the chief economist of the Commonwealth and came out to Newtown. I saw him there within an hour.
He said, “You’re taking a big bite of the cherry.”
I said, “Yes I know.”
When he saw I was serious, he said, “Where can we go, to have a council of war.”
“Let’s go to the Cathedral.”
He said to me, “I want you to see Neil Cameron. He is the leading lawyer in the town and get his advice.” He too is on the Cathedral Chapter.
I called him on the spot, Monday morning saying I was with Sir Harold Knight. I saw him on Tuesday. He was generally approving of what we were wanting to do and offered to help. He said, “Next person you see is the Archbishop Robinson. And if he wants, he will then see me as the lawyer.”
I saw Archbishop Robinson on Wednesday and he was generally supportive.
Next Thursday there was a big meeting in the Dean’s office, with the Archbishop, the Dean, and the Chapter Executive, and Neil was there if needed. Neil saw things were going smoothly, so he left.
The Executive said to me, “You can exchange contracts with the intention of buying the property if you’ve got two thirds of the money of the purchase price, given or pledged by the time you exchange contracts.”
There was about a month’s grace.
The second thing they said was, “It would not be owned by the church. You will form a company.”
We had to go through that procedure.
So, it became what is called in church language, an Independent Anglican Work.
It is not owned by the church. It is like the Church Missionary Society or the Bush Aid Society.
It was called The Healing Centre Golden Grove Limited.
On Friday we put down what money we had saved, about $20,000, and got a receipt.
On Saturday, all hell broke lose in the Roman Catholic Church, (I apologise, that’s not the right word to use). They went to our Cardinal Gilroy to change it, but, they had our money. We had their receipt. We had a month to exchange contracts or we’d lose our deposit.
When we came to the end of January, there was the Wednesday night healing service. Thursday the Chapter met, and Friday we had to exchange contracts. We didn’t have a day after that.
We asked our people to bring money or a pledge form, which we had distributed, and bring it in to the ballot boxes that I had borrowed from the Synod, on the Wednesday night. And they did that. When we counted up the pledge forms and money, mainly pledge forms, we were $130,000 short of the two thirds that we had to have. That was that.
Then I saw one of our men bringing on one of the ballot boxes from the vestry. I said to my secretary to see if anyone had put in a pledge form on the way out of the Cathedral. And she brought back a pile of pledge forms. We counted, and they came to exactly $130,000. Not one dollar more, nor less. So we knew, God was in it.
The Chapter approved of our activity the next day, and we signed contracts on Friday. People just gave the money. We bought it and asked for $100,000 more money for renovation, and they gave $120,000. So we raised $970,000. That’s 20 years ago. By direct giving, just like that.
Anyway, that was another story. Praise God.
The point I am trying to make is, we always found the reality of fellowship to be the way for people to draw on healing. But I never knew why.
But I learnt from Canon Stanley Giltrap, who had migrated from Ireland to South Africa with his family, in the East Africa Revival Fellowship, who was one of my colleagues in the Cathedral Healing Ministry, who said, “In the East Africa Revival Fellowship they have a signal text, the words from 1 John 1:7, ‘If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with the other. And the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin’.”
He said, “That is what governs the activity of the revival fellowship. If we walk in the light as Jesus is in the light we have fellowship one with the other and as a result, the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.”
He said the scripture is interpreted like this. It means if you belong to the fellowship, you walk in the light as he is in the light, if the blood of Jesus Christ is to cleanse and remove the sin, not forgive, remove, you must have fellowship with one another. He said if you are in the revival fellowship, you must have fellowship with others in the fellowship, every day.
It’s not just saying, Oh, I am part of the fellowship. You are to have fellowship. That is the secret. Because without realising it, we were having fellowship. And because that Spirit was stirred up, people cleansed, and healing followed.
It was one of the most important things I ever learnt. I never forgot it.
If we are going to stop saying how sick we are by sight, getting back to my earlier story, and start saying, and only say how well we are by faith, which you have to do if you are going to be healed, one of the ways forward is to put into operation 1 John 1:7. It means we have to have active fellowship with one another every day. It’s part of your life.
Now you might not be able to see someone, but most people have got a telephone. You could organise it if you have to. And that’s what we have to do.
This church is very good with the fellowship. That’s why we have a time of prayer on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday, again, to provide daily fellowship.
If you do that, you’ll find the Spirit is stirred up, so you Can say, how well I am by faith and overcome the other tendency to say how sick I am by sight. There you have it. We ought to be talking about how we can put into operation that beautiful text of 1 John 1:7, and not have fellowship just on Sunday. Let us realise, it is in the fellowship the Spirit is stirred up.
There is nothing in the New Testament about the Christian who goes it alone. It is unknown. We are the Body of Christ, and members in particular.
It is not up to someone else to provide the fellowship. It is up to me! to provide fellowship. It’s up to you as far as you’re concerned. Create it.
My point is, in the long run, other people haven’t got my problem. They are relatively objective and can help me because of the Christian fellowship. That is an important aspect of the Healing Ministry. That is what we mean by the laying on of hands. Outside, and relatively objective faith, is being added to inside, and relatively subjective faith.
It’s got to be there day by day by day.
Get that right, then the mountain is moved. Then the mountain is moved. Then the mountain is moved. And it helps the individual and it helps me to have faith for my situation, because other people are having faith with me and for me. That enables me to believe, and rise up against my presenting circumstances. It’s what you’ve got to do.
If you only say, “Oh dear me. Oh, dear me.” you won’t make any progress. You’ve go to start saying, “Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.”
If you can’t do it yourself, you need to have fellowship. And day by day. That is the way forward.
I believe this is very central, very simple. This is something we need to develop as far as we are concerned, that the fellowship is on a day by day basis. And we accept the responsibility for ourselves as well as others.
The telephone… I often have telephone fellowship with people. I’m going to ring up three people today. And, visiting. Making the opportunity. Then you will find the Spirit is stirred up and you will be able to say how well I am by faith, and enabled to do that in an ongoing way. Not how sick I am by sight which doesn’t help you anyway.
I hope you find this very important. We’ve got to develop it. It’s up to me. It’s up to you. It’s the way forward.
Let’s have a prayer.
“Father we believe for your blessing in our fellowship. Father, we would walk in the light, as Jesus is in the light. And because of that, have an active, developing, effective, growing fellowship with one another – day, by day, by day, by day. “
And as a result of that, find the blood of Jesus Christ, removes sin. The Spirit is stirred up. Healing takes place. People are converted. We go from strength to strength.
Let’s say together, “Thank you Father. Thank you Jesus. Thank you Holy Spirit”, together.
[Congregation says, “Thank you Father. Thank you Jesus. Thank you Holy Spirit”.]
Amen
