Apologia Radio | Confessions of a Former Word of Faith Pastor, John Samson

Hello, I'm John Sampson pastor of King's Church in the Phoenix, Arizona area. Delighted to be here with apologia. Understanding all that they're doing and the great ministry that is affecting so many people locally nationally Around the world.

I'm always delighted to work with Jeff and Luke and to be on this program today. It's a real joy. I want to talk about something. I believe is significant. Confessions of a former Word of Faith pastor.

I'm speaking as one who was formerly a pastor in The Word of Faith movement and what is sad in my experience is that many people I've talked to Relate the fact that so few come out of that system. It is a system of bondage.

It is a falsehood and I want to bring the light of God's Word to that and in that Evidence for Scripture and for bringing forth the truth. I just want to pray that God would be lifted up. Rightly the Lord Jesus be lifted up rightly as we go to his word.

So allow me to pray Lord, I thank you for the fact that you are God we are not and that you reveal truth. We look to you. We just ask that you would help us by the Holy Spirit to go to your word and understand your truth afresh.

We ask it in Jesus name.

Amen.

The Word of Faith Movement and Its Promise of Health and Wealth

Some of my background may be helpful as we launch into this. We're going to go to God's Word and see what it says but I was converted at the age of 14 in a church in Chester in England and Immediately was thrust into what we now would explain as the word of faith movement let me try to give a definition of that and that is the idea of the promise of health and wealth is Included in the covenant that God has made with man, especially in the New Testament.

But also in the old and therefore the idea is that anyone who will work certain laws in the kingdom will have health and Wealth this side of glory and if we don't we can change that. Because God has given us laws in his word that will show us how to do that exactly.

That was my upbringing in the Christian faith. I had an orthodox view of the Trinity haven't changed in any way on that an orthodox view of who Jesus is and even the way of salvation and Unlike so many in that movement.

I did understand repentance. I was sorry for sin and I turned from it. I was very keen on preaching the gospel as I understood it. But I have what I now describe as I had an over realized eschatology.

Eschatology is a word that means the last things and over realized eschatology is the idea that everything that is For us and will be ours in heaven is available to us now. We're going to get into that and I hope that you'll come along on the journey with me.

The stakes are high in this. We're talking about two different gods. The real God who truly is and the God of the word of faith movement. The stakes are very high. Andrew Womack who is very much a proponent of the word of faith.

Was a friend of mine and stayed in my home many times as I say. I was a pastor in the movement in England after Bible College training. I entered the ministry with a man called Harry Greenwood who was at that time referred to as the Kenneth Hagen of England.

Kenneth Hagen being the chief proponent of the word of faith at that time. Here in the United States of America, although he'd really taken over the mantle from people like EW Kenyon Oral Roberts was a big figure in that movement as well had a slightly different emphasis but to Kenneth Hagen and Kenneth Copeland.

These were the names were notorious with the word of faith. Frederick Casey price a Casey treat. Creflo dollar. Jesse Duplantis. These were names heralded in that movement. I met a number of them number of times as I say.

Andrew Womack was someone who I had come at My church as a speaker a number of times stayed in my home as I say. He's made the statement often that the doctrine of God's sovereignty is the greatest attack on truth in our time on the other side of it.

There's people like myself who's saying it's the greatest thing going in the body of Christ right now. People are getting hold of the fact that God is sovereign. So we're talking about a big issue here.

Who's God is he sovereign?

Is he?

When we look at the scripture, we're going to see it's filled with the Concept of God's sovereignty. It's not just one verse here or another verse there in him. We live and move and have our being acts.

Chapter 17 says we can't even move. Except God is supplying the ability to move in him. We move as well as live and have our being and the Lord is in the heavens. He does all he pleases. That's the God of the Bible.

He gets his will done. That's an anathema in the word of faith movement the idea that God is sovereign that we would pray prayers that End with if it be thy will that is an unbelief prayer. Prayer that is not based on God's Word.

They think we're gonna look at some of these issues. Perhaps not in every detail. There's a limit on time. But I want to get into the big picture and here's where I'm coming from. Rather than do what many are doing and have done very very well in our day.

Exposing the darkness by talking about the darkness. Talking about the falsehoods. I want to just bring light. I want to bring the light of God's Word and Specifically in the area of sovereignty because here's what I found if we get that if light comes into the house We can then go into each room of the house and see where sovereignty applies.

We can go into the room of the house and see why? Sovereignty affects our understanding of divine healing about Riches and wealth and poverty and all of these things. So we're going to go to God's Word.

But I want to give you that background. I was a pastor then after Bible College became an associate minister of Harry Greenwood Traveled the world with him for a number of months and then suddenly in 1988 he died of a heart attack.

I thought my Life was over. This was my father in the Lord. I Respected him so much. I then teamed up with another young man. I was young at the time in the late 80s early 90s and became an associate pastor in Fleet in Hampshire, England and was there for a number of years and then came out to the United States and Started a church from scratch in the Phoenix area from nothing and eventually became a church of two three hundred people and As I say Andrew Womack was one of many speakers who came who I knew very very well very interesting times.

What happened was God intervened and he did so in a very unusual way. In fact just recently going through some of my papers in my study I came across the flyer That caught my attention back in the year 2000.

I was pastoring at the time. Seen a lot of things take place which were good a lot of things I look back on and just wince at as to what I was teaching. I was able to bring a lot of help to folk in the air of healing I thought but looking back I brought nothing in the way of preparation for death.

Really did not. I'll talk about that in a moment. What happened was at various different times in the ministry. I'd had these big gun preachers come in and they would teach for a while and then pray over the sick and the pastor who's left behind is to deal with the ones left behind whereas the visiting speaker flies off to the next meeting and What I saw was a number of healings but also I had to conduct a number of funerals people that were prayed for that had spent a lot of time under the ministry of these teachers prayed for by these teachers declared to be healed and then Some weeks later some months later They died.

The preparation was not for death, but for healing and there was just this Lack of understanding of the sovereignty of God, which is what I want to get into. So you got our Andrew Womack on one side saying the greatest?

Danger greatest offense against the church in our time is the idea of the sovereignty of God. Let me quote CH Spurgeon who's on the other side of the aisle on the subject of sovereignty. He says this or he did.

There is no attribute of God more comforting to his children than the doctrine of divine sovereignty under the most adverse Circumstances in the most severe troubles. They believe that sovereignty hath ordained their afflictions.

That sovereignty overrules them and that sovereignty will sanctify them all. There is nothing For which the children of God ought more earnestly to contend than the dominion of their master over all creation.

The kingship of God over all the works of his own hands the throne of God and his right to sit upon. That throne on the other hand there is no doctrine more hated by worldlings. Worldlings there he's referring to not only people of the world who are non-believers, but worldly saints who have not been taught by God.

There is no doctrine more hated by worldlings no truth of which they have made such a football something they kick around as the great Stupendous, but yet most certain doctrine of the sovereignty of the infinite Jehovah men will allow God to be everywhere Except on his throne.

They'll allow him to be in his workshop to fashion worlds and to make stars. They'll allow him to be in his almonery to dispense his arms and Bestow his bounties. They'll allow him to sustain the earth and bear up the pillars thereof or light the lamps of heaven or rule the waves of the ever-moving ocean.

But when God ascends his throne his creatures then gnash their teeth. And when we proclaim an Enthroned God and his right to do as he wills with his own to dispose of his creatures as he thinks well without consulting them in the matter, then it is that we are hissed and Mexic rated and then it is that men turn a deaf ear to us.

For God is on his throne for God on his throne is not the God they love. They love him anywhere better than they do when he sits with his scepter in his hand and his crown upon his head. But it is God upon the throne that we love to preach.

It is God upon his throne whom we trust. Here's what I'm saying with all that an Analogy would be this I've got a button shirt on and if I get the wrong button in the top hole doesn't matter what else I do it's going to be wrong all the way down and That's the truth with God's sovereignty.

Get it, right? And our doctrines will be right all the way down or at least they'll have the tendency For it to be right doctrine all the way down, but get it wrong here. We're wrong all the way down and every false teaching elevates man and denigrates God.

That's true in the cults. They cannot handle the true God the true God of Scripture. They Devalued the Lord Jesus Christ. They don't honor him as the son in the same way that they honor the father as John chapter 5 Makes clear Jesus says you must we are to honor the son even as we honor the father.

John chapter 5 verse 22. Man's religions will never be able to do that and the word of faith movement is man's Religion we need to get it right at the top on God's sovereignty. What I want to do is put the light on when darkness is in a room.

We don't need a vacuum cleaner. To get rid of darkness just turn the light on and while I'm very grateful for all the ministries that expose The darkness of the word of faith. I think there's a great place for all of it.

Not in any way Undervaluing that what I want to do in this time together is just turn the light on. Let's see what Scripture says and I want to ask you. Are you hungry for truth? What is the passion of my heart is to know God as he really is and the gospel as it really is and There's not one without the other we must get God right from the Bible and the gospel right from the Bible light Dispels darkness.

I wrote a book called at the five solas After darkness light is the first are the first words. The entrance of thy words. Giveth light it giveth understanding unto the simple Psalm 119 verse 130 that's from the King James Version.

Here's what I wrote in the first paragraph light Dispels darkness when the light of God's Word shines into places of spiritual and cultural darkness. It transforms people families and Nations, it does not matter how long the darkness has persisted when light appears darkness like a hostile Renegade usurper to the throne must submit bow its head and walk away in shame again light dispels darkness the entrance of God's Word brings light and Darkness is the shared experience of a people without light and such was the case before the Protestant Reformation.

The Bible wasn't known in its place. Religious superstition tradition and falsehood reigned the Reformation brought God's Word and The gospel back into the hands of the masses. That same principle applies in this case as well in our day.

People have been impacted greatly by the Kenneth Hagen and the Kenneth Copeland, although Kenneth Hagen died I believe it's 2003 Kenneth Copeland is now in his 80s and Outside of the fact that now he's in league with the Pope and embraces him as a brother.

It's the false teaching of Copeland himself that has caused many to be in bondage. But it has a certain appeal his message has a certain appeal because if people have been Bounced around in the game of life So to speak the Word of Faith says you can change that you can put laws into operation if you learn them and apply them whereby your Future will be very different from your past.

Learn the laws get hold of them Speak them out of your mouth. You'll have what you say in. In our day a new generation have risen in terms of the teachers out there the NAR the new apostolic Reformation led by men like Bill Johnson of Bethel Church in Reading, California.

Jesus culture is a big music proponent of that same teaching and That's something that is addressed and I'll give you some resources at the end of our time together. That I think you'll be interested in if you want to discover more, but I want to go to God's Word And talk about it.

My own experience was as a pastor. I was Deeply involved not only teaching it myself but attending Crusades and Teaching and preaching Crusades myself around the world India other places. I was on stage as one of the pastors with Benny Hinn who is again a Proponent of the Word of Faith Shook his hand and was thrilled to see what I saw looking back again.

I wince because the claims that were made Very different from what actually takes place in those services. Music is a massive factor for at least an hour and a half perhaps even two hours people are singing as the Atmosphere in the meeting is progressively becoming more and more intense and two hours before brother big shot brother Benny comes on stage and Does what he does and here's what I understand now looking back the really sick people I mean the really sick people and never seen let that sink in the quadriplegics the people that Are not unable to move in their beds, but they've come because a family member has Is believing that God will give them a miracle?

They're in some other room. They're in a backstage place because the organizers of the event know if people see the really sick people it will dampen people's faith and Let me tell you this if even one of them Over the years and over the decades was healed.

It'll be national news. But it's not happening, but the claims are made over and over again about God wants you well God wants you free from sickness and The bondage of that. When for some their healing is not going to be seen this side of glory the bondage is massive.

Here's what I know I believe Jesus did go to the cross for sin for sickness for the curse for every malady of man. For everything we could ever experience on the earth that is crushing that which is of the curse and I believe in heaven there will be No trace of sickness.

None at all and Jesus purchased that for his people he Bore our sins in his body on the tree and he bore sickness and disease and the curse He became the curse for us. So I'm not denying the very scriptures that I used to stand on Decades ago.

I believe all of what the Bible says. But I do believe that God is sovereign over when those healings take place. And I continue to see divine healing because God is very merciful. I see just as much healing now as I did then God was merciful to me then as he is now and He is merciful to people then as he is now but he's Lord over healing and he for his own reasons can say I Have gone to the cross the Lord Jesus gone to the cross.

But for healing for deliverance for freedom for all of the things that we will experience in heaven. But he's Lord over when that takes place and for some they're not getting out of the wheelchair this side of glory and God gives grace for that.

Just as he gives miraculous healing in terms of I've seen many many times great Horrendous sicknesses healed by the power of the Lord, but not in every case two things happened within the space of a week in the 90s and began to make me think and one was a little boy of three who was playing in an apartment complex here in the Phoenix area and The railings on the third floor of this apartment were not Tight enough, you know what I mean by that?

He could actually fit through the railings and fell through and fell down three flights. Three stories to the ground below solid concrete the the father who was trying to grab hold of the son and Let me let me get all the details right if I can in fact, I think was an uncle who's looking after him.

Anyway, everyone all the all the adults ran down and found the the little boy Not breathing Didn't look good. Paramedics were called and I was called and the church got praying and we rushed to the hospital found out which hospital it was rushed to the hospital and The father there was just pacing up and down.

The uncle was beside himself felt very responsible for what happened and after about three hours a surgeon came out of the operating room and said, where's the father and was Was able to meet the father.

He says I've got amazing news for you. Not only is your little boy alive. We can find nothing wrong with him. I Would put that down to great Miraculous power from the Lord. I used the word miracle with a little hesitation, but certainly a dramatic Dramatic answer to prayer we were rejoicing.

Absolutely rejoicing. This little boy is alive and well today. That's the last time I heard I think the family moved out of the area of lost touch, but so thrilled to hear great news and no further ramifications.

The father was told we're going to keep the the boy in overnight, but That's all they did. There was no other issue and The boys doing just tremendously well, but within a week there was another incident of a young girl engaged 12 her name was Faith and she was in a horse riding accident and.

And.

Fell off the horse but her feet one of her feet were caught in the reins of the horse and her head was dragged on the floor as the the horse just bolted and Very very sadly she died at the scene and Didn't recover.

And we prayed as a church just as earnestly Just as passionately just with the same amount of faith as previously before in fact. Our faith was encouraged by what had just happened with the little boys within a week of this.

But.

This this girl faith didn't recover and my first funeral as a pastor in the United States was the funeral of this young girl. And It was a sad time because especially in the light of what had just happened in that movement everyone looked at the family as to what they did to let the devil in and What they didn't do to get the laws of faith to work.

Imagine the bondage of that. Imagine the bondage of that. It's legalistic Bondage and that's where the rubber meets the road. Because in the magazines You know what? They'll do they'll talk about the little boy.

They won't talk about faith. The girl whose name is faith.

And.

I look back and think I wasn't able to help that family. I remember going to the pulpit at that funeral. It was the hardest time. Trying to bring comfort and I quoted Deuteronomy 29 29 the secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever and I still believe that verse but my interpretation of the verse at that time was this God has his secrets and he doesn't always reveal to us.

Why? Something didn't happen. Obviously, we didn't understand something and we didn't do what we should have done and we Didn't work the laws and all of that. But we'll find out in heaven what went wrong.

It's a secret now then it won't be a secret and we trust him in the meantime and let's go back and preach God's Word the Uncompromised Word and that's exactly what I did. Looking back. I wasn't able to help that family at all.

And I have much regret the Lord is so good and he's forgiving and he has brought me out of that mess. Theological mess as it is. What happened? Well the flyer came of a visit of dr. RC Sproul to Scottsdale, I actually have the flyer as I say November 3rd and 4th of.

The year.

2000 and I'd heard Dr. Sproul on the subject of the holiness of God, but I hadn't really heard him. You know what I mean by that you're here. But it hadn't really heard. I hadn't heard everything. The way I needed to and so I had a respect for him because even at the Bible College I went to in England many of the teachers were reformed in their understanding.

They were Terrific Bible teachers and they never really walked me through why they were reformed or what it meant. But I had a healthy respect enough to know that they were definitely in the kingdom. They're just misguided.

Don't walk in faith as I understood it just Submitted to God's sovereignty and all things. Which I now understand is the walk of faith. But I had a respect and enough to want to hear dr. Sproul. But my heart sank when I saw what the flyer was revealing what he's going to talk about in the year 2000.

Chosen by God that was the theme and he's going to talk about the subject of predestination now. I wanted to hear dr. Sproul. I had a healthy respect for him. But I didn't want to hear him on that subject anything else would have been better as far as I was concerned I wanted to hear about Something other than that Chosen by God.

I thought that's an idea that we got over as the people of God right it Jonathan Edwards was into that and This is a new millennium. Why would someone of that caliber whom I respected fly from Florida to Scottsdale, Arizona?

To talk about an idea that's past its sell-by date we got over this. I Wanted to hear him, but I didn't want to hear him on that. And so I was in two minds whether I'd go is a Friday night meeting and a Saturday morning meeting.

And I thought I'll go no I won't. I'll go. No, I don't want to go. I'll go well. I decided to go. But I sat on the back row because I thought the moment this man whom I do respect Starts quoting all these theologians.

Some of the greats of church history, I'm out of here. I'm not really interested. That's my thought now if I sit on the back row, I'm not going to disrupt the event. Well, I went to the event and if you've ever experienced a Ligonier ministries meeting.

It's full of God's Word. It's full of God's people. I was surprised that 70 of the people attending were men that took me by surprise. I'm not sure I Fully grasped all of the reasons why that was the case, but that got my attention and dr RC Sproul came out and all he did was go to God's Word and teach from the Bible and I could listen to him without exasperation and I was challenged by what he said, but I thought but I've got other verses that would dismiss his arguments and It's gonna fall apart when I could ever ask him a question.

Well, then he announced the fact and I saw it in the program. They were gonna there was going to be a question-and-answer time. Question-and-answer time I thought well, that's when this idea of his is gonna fall apart.

It's gonna be exposed when we ask just simple questions. Like what about John 3 16? What about 2nd Peter 3 9? Well, the funny part was that's what got me to come back in the morning because that's when the question-and-answer session was and I thought I've got a few questions, but I'm sure others have too and What happened was dr RC Sproul came out sat in a chair and a moderator had a microphone and just looked at some of the questions and before We got to the first question Dr. Sproul said now let me anticipate what the first question is.

It's either What about John 3 16 or what about 2nd Peter 3 9 and I thought yeah. Well, yeah, that's that's good. That is that those are the the questions. God is not willing that any should perish. Right, but all come to repentance.

Well, what happened was he handled those two texts in the space of about three or four minutes and if you could have seen me if The camera was on me. You'd have noticed my face went deathly white. Because I realized I was in trouble in two minutes just expounding John 3 16 a verse I could quote in my sleep, I think he showed me how shallow my understanding was my assumptions that I brought to the text what the text actually said and Rather than being happy about this.

I realized I was in trouble my traditions not his were being exposed. He'd brought forth scriptures that plainly taught the sovereignty of God in salvation, but I thought I had verses that would negate it and Negate all that he was saying.

But he dealt with the biggest and the best questions out there.

Happily.

Relaxed and going to the text and saying let's see what it actually says I ended up writing a book about that experience because I did have a number of objections. And I wrote a book called 12 whatabouts answering the common objections to divine sovereignty and I really Recounted my journey into the scriptures to see what they actually taught.

But it started and in fact that the whole weekend was an amazement to me. But I realized I owed it to myself to study this. I didn't want to preach it yet. I wasn't embracing it yet. But I knew I needed to study this and here's what I found.

Most people are not open to study. Most people that are so caught up in a system of man-made Thinking think that there's no reason for them to study. Why would I study a verse I can quote? John 3 16.

I know it. Well, there's a reason to study because we often bring our own traditions to the text and Let's see what it actually says and So it started a period of about six to nine months where I ordered everything I could have dr. Sproul on the subject of Predestination and sovereignty and Was amazed what I found.

I then began to run across other authors as well. James Montgomery Boyce was one dr James White was another. Very soon after this Dr. James White came out with the book the Potter's freedom, which was tremendous exegetically to get into the scriptures to see what they were saying and with the thinking of Sproul and the exegetical insights of Dr. White.

I came out of that what I call a theological cocoon.

As.

Someone who embraced the doctrines of grace if you know what that means the the tulip of the reformed faith TUL IP and It was as if dr. Sproul had thrown a large rock called God's sovereignty into my theological pond.

Unknowingly, he just came and taught. But he set in motion a series of events whereby that rock embracing it understanding that God is sovereign had huge ramifications and I continue to see those ramifications as the Ripple effects of that rock coming into the water Makes its way to the shore.

And that's what happened in my life. I realized God is sovereign in the air of salvation and then I realized he's sovereign over this aspect of the church and that aspect of our understanding on this theological issue or I began to see that the the roof Of God's sovereignty was over all of the house.

So to speak that God is sovereign over all things. Well, I'm we going to go to the scripture. Yeah, I'm just setting us up. We're going to go to the scripture. I became a TBN host before all this I was a Set of people it doesn't get lower now as to say I Was someone who asked people to call the number on the screen live television shows here in Arizona that Spanned two hours oftentimes.

The last guest didn't show up and I'd be on the spot asked to preach for 30 minutes and just ran with it. It's an amazing experience. I was so into this believing. I was helping people. I Look back and wince because God by the Holy Spirit sent dr. Sproul through the means of Him coming and a fly that told me of the event and it started a process that has brought me To where I am today and my understanding of God the true God who reigns who rules who lives?

He really is active in his sovereignty in all things. So important we grasp this. Here's what I understood. We read 2nd Timothy chapter 3 it tells us about the last days and in fact, I want to go there.

2nd Timothy chapter 3 it tells us about God and about deception and it says that in the last days there will be deception and deceivers and Having the experience of meeting some of these Very well-known figures.

Had a meal with Jesse Duplantis. He's another well-known Proponent of the Word of Faith knew these guys a little bit. Do they really believe what they're saying? I think they do. But here's what I came to understand deceived people deceived people.

There are some that are absolute sharks. They're in it for all the wrong reasons but 2nd Timothy 3 and 4 Tells us that it's not just the preachers who are wrongly motivated. They're hearers are as well.

2nd Peter chapter 3 Verse 13 tells us but evil men and imposters will proceed from bad to worse. Deceiving and being deceived. Do you hear that? They're deceived themselves and they deceive others with their teaching, but they really believe the deception.

You however Continue in the things you've learned and become convinced of knowing from whom you've learned them and that from childhood. You've known the sacred writings. That's the scriptures which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus all scripture is inspired by God and Profitable for teaching for a proof for correction for training in righteousness.

So that the man of God may be adequate equipped for every good work. I solemnly charge you this is chapter 4 in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus Who is to judge the living and the dead and by his appearing and his kingdom preach the word?

Be ready in season and out of season. Reprove rebuke. Exhort with great patience and instruction. Now hear this. For the time will come. Well when they will not endure they'll not put up with sound doctrine but wanting to have their ears tickled.

They will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires. I'm going to turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths, but you. Be sober in all things. Endure hardship.

Do the work of an evangelist. Fulfill your ministry. Did you hear what was written here? Do you hear what was said? Not only are there going to be teachers who are deceived who deceive others. But they're going to be people who will want to hear the deception.

They will want to have their ears tickled. They will accumulate for themselves their own favorite teachers. I'm putting in the word favorite, but it's really in it an implication. They'll accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desire.

I want someone who's going to show me how to get ahead financially. I want someone who's going to teach me the laws that will get myself healed. I'm gonna be free from this sickness. I want that I I want that with all my heart.

Jesus said he came to give me life and life more abundantly. There it is. Yeah, he did. He didn't say he came to give you lifestyle he came to give you life and It's both the preacher and the people that hear that say I want a hundred dollar.

Excuse me the hundred fold return if I give a thousand dollars. I can just be looking for the hundred thousand dollars. That's going to come because I give. I need brother big shot and brother big shot needs me.

And if you have you ever noticed these guys. They never get on the TV and say this works, and I'm gonna do the same thing. I'm gonna so my million dollars into This Particular charity work or this work in Mexico.

No, it's other it's brother big shot giving to brother big shot over the road in the same town or across the state and They never tell you to give to someone else and get the hundred fold return. It's to them Self-serving it really is deceive people deceived people.

Here's what we're talking about in the charismatic sector of the church. There is this thing called the Word of Faith not everyone who's a charismatic embraces Word of Faith doctrine but that's the seedbed where this thing springs and The Word of Faith is the idea as I say that you can have everything that is promised in the Bible now.

But the Bible itself tells us about God's sovereignty and it does not teach that we'll have every Blessing of the kingdom this side of glory that will always live to be 120 years old that will live free from sickness and disease.

We're in a fallen world and many have been born with terrible issues physically and for some. Their healing is going to be when they see Jesus face to face. There won't be sickness in heaven and Jesus has paid for that healing.