THE CURING OF TUBERCULOSIS THROUGH THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

 

Hallelujah in the name of the Lord Jesus I bear witness. Forty eight years ago I was working in Chiayi, Taiwan. All my friends then, were friends in revel and I indulged in wining, gambling, and womanizing. As a result, I was plagued with various diseases. I suffered from asthma and later, tuberculosis I vomited blood. Despite constant medical treatment, my condition deteriorated and I reached the most serious state of tuberculosis three years later. No western or Chinese medicine could cure me. I was financially exhausted and was heavily in debt. I resorted to supernatural aid, consulting spirit-mediums and burning incense paper, but none could be of any help.

 

Three months before I received the grace of the Lord, I was unable to get up from bed. I lost my appetite completely and had insomnia, I was abnormally thin. I was in a hopeless state at the time when the Lord extended His merciful hand and showed me His grace and great love. A member of the True Jesus Church preached to my wife, saying, "God is with the True Jesus Church and has bestowed the church with the power of healing sicknesses and casting out demons. No matter what incurable sickness, it will definitely be cured if only the patient would pray with faith". After hearing this my wife came home and persuaded me to accept Christ. At first I was very stubborn and refused to accept, but seeing that my wife was physically exhausted by the burden of taking care of me, day and night, I promised her that I would. Happily she went to contact the members of the Church to come and pray for me.

 

In the evening of 2nd December 1931, about eight members of the Church came to my house to pray for me. They taught me to pray: "Hallelujah, praise our Lord Jesus". I prayed in this manner and after praying twice I felt much relieved and was able to sleep peacefully that night. In the middle of the night while I was half awake, two dark and hairy hands of a devil appeared, one pressing my back and the other pressing my chest. I heard a voice saying, ''I have warned you not to believe in Jesus and yet you disobeyed". This happened three times and I was so weakened that I could not move my body at all. But finally, I managed to shout, "Hallelujah" and the two hands disappeared. When I woke up I was perspiring heavily and I thought to myself: "I am just beginning to have faith in Jesus and the devil has already tried to prevent me from believing. What I have believed in must be the Truth". My faith was thus strengthened and the Church members continued to come to my house for prayer service every night. My sickness improved and after a week,

I was able to get out of bed:

 

On the tenth night, I asked an elderly member by the name of Kuo Yu: "Why is it that every time you pray, you start to shake and make funny noises?" He answered, "This is because I have received the Holy Spirit and am speaking in tongue. When the Lord Jesus was preaching in the world, He promised to give the Holy Spirit to those who believe in Him. Speaking in tongue is the" evidence of receiving the promised Holy Spirit" (Jn 7:38,39; Acts 1 0:44-46). I asked again, "Can I also receive the Holy Spirit?" He said, "If you pray earnestly and persistently you will also receive the Holy Spirit. But if you will let those who are filled with the Holy Spirit to lay hands on you, you may be able to receive the Holy Spirit faster" (Acts 8:17, 18). I thought to myself: "1t is better for me to pray by myself". I heard that this Brother Kuo had great power. By laying his hands on somebody's head he could cause the person to vibrate. I thought if I received the Holy Spirit because he laid hands upon me, I might instead become doubtful about the Holy Spirit. I came to the conclusion that God is fair and just,- and I should be able to receive the Holy Spirit by asking for it myself. When Bro. Kuo knew of my intention he encouraged me to pray earnestly and persistently. That night, as an old lady who was suffering from asthma had requested them to pray for her, they left my house soon after the service. After they had gone, I told my wife, "Tonight I am going to pray for the Holy Spirit. Should anything strange happen, do not get alarmed nor disturb me. All that you have to do is to assist me in my prayer for the Holy Spirit by praying ·beside my bed". As I was still very weak then, I was not able to kneel up straight. So I could only pray by sitting on my heels.

 

At first my voice was rather soft, but after ten minutes my prayer became louder and I felt that I was gaining strength. About twenty minutes later I was perspiring heavily and suddenly I felt some force like a flow of current descending upon my head and right down to my feet. Then my feet began to tremble; I could feel a warm stream flowing out of my belly like living water and I began to speak in tongue. My whole body then vibrated uncontrollably. I began to kneel up straight and leapt about 4 to 5 inches above the floor. This continued for more than twenty minutes. A few days earlier my wife heard a rumour that the believers of the True Jesus Church would become insane after they had joined the Church for some time. Hence when she saw me in that state, she was frightened, mistaking me for becoming insane. As I had told her not to stop me, she could only pray beside my bed. I was perspiring so heavily that the two sweaters and the jacket which I was wearing were all wet through. So I thought to myself: "How nice it would be if I can stop for a while so that I can change before I continue to pray". At that thought, my body stopped vibrating. This is because our Lord knows the heart of man. While I was resting, I was so overjoyed that without changing my \Vet clothes or waiting for the Church members to return, I ran straight out of my house to tell them that I had received the Holy Spirit. This frightened my wife even more for she thought that I had really gone mad. She ·ran after me. When I was on the road I met the Church members returning from the old lady's house. I immediately told them of my receipt of the Holy Spirit. They rejoiced and praised the Lord: When we were back in my house, we prayed together and they confirmed that I had received the Holy Spirit. After this incident, we had family services every night in my house.

 

One month later, oh 9th January 1932, I was baptized and I joined the True Jesus Church in Ta-lin. Thanks to the precious blood of the Lord Jesus all my sins were cleansed. My sickness was also completely cured and I was feeling much better physically day after day. Not only that, I was able to give up all the vices which I had before. This indeed is a fulfillment of what the Lord Jesus had said, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Mt 11 :28).

 

Financially exhausted and heavily in debt on account of my illness, I was poverty-stricken and physically very weak. I was rather worried that I might not live long in this world. So one day I prayed to the Lord to lengthen my life-span to 50 (I was 30 years old then. I thought that in my condition, I would not last for another five years), so that I could bear witness for Him. Thanks to the wonderful love of Lord Jesus for answering my prayer and bestowing upon me peace that surpasses all things (Phil 4:6,7). I am now 75 years old, that is, the Lord had extended my life-span for 45 years. My health is even better now than when I was younger. The Lord had manifested such wonderful deeds to me, showing

His great love and abundant grace and I cannot find words to express my praise and gratitude to Him. I cannot help reminding myself of what King David said in one of his psalms: "Blessed the Lord, 0 my soul; and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, 0 my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the Pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good as long as you live so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's" (Ps 103:1-5). May all glory, thanks and praises be given to the Lord Jesus forever. Amen.

Elder Chien 1-Chen

Taiwan, 1976