Gtcotr/ss030120
What
would you think about someone who went around breaking arms or infecting people
with diseases on purpose to teach them a lesson? First of all, only someone
evil would do anything like that. And second, sickness, disease, infirmity,
pain, kidney stones, cancer, migraines … they don’t teach anybody anything of
value. They just hurt and degrade life and kill people.
People aren’t stupid and God’s not evil. Good people may show
just how strong and capable they are and they may even learn something under
the pressures and the pain of some unwelcome disease, but the disease didn’t
make them good or loving or kind. And, I don’t know any sane person who is
praying for more sickness to come to them or their children so they can be more
like God. God is not sick, and sick is not God.
Don’t
get confused about the eternal and the temporal. God’s eternal will, and His
temporal will, are the same. What God wants for us throughout eternity is the
same thing He wants for us right now. However, this world is not the place that
we will fully realize the eternal will of God. Everything Jesus did, He did to
secure our eternity on a New Earth without sin, sickness, poverty, defeat or
death. Thank God the eternal truth has power in the right now.
These
eternal realities can grant blessings we get to enjoy in a temporary measure
during our mortal life. We must fight the good fight of faith to get a measure
of our inheritance in this life and we must fight to keep it. However, Every mortal blessing of God is temporary. (Clothes;
houses; money; cars; power; fame)
· If you become
prosperous in this life by faith, you won’t take it with you.
· If you become famous
in this life by God’s grace, you won’t take it with you.
· If you get healed in
this life by the divine intervention of the Holy Spirit, you won’t take it with
you.
· Eternity has
its own set of rewards.
· Every person who Jesus
prayed for to be healed in this mortal life, died of something later.
· Jesus became a man so
He could defeat sin and teach us about His Father and what His Father has
planned for us.
· Just because bad
things happen to good people does not mean God’s will is bad.
· Your life on
earth, even life lived by faith, is not the
measure of God’s will for mankind.
· Without God’s intervention, life would be hell!
Now,
let’s begin this healing series …
John 1
1 ¶ In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
14 And the Word became flesh
and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth.
17 For the law was given
through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
18 No one has seen God at any
time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared
Him.
Jesus
came to show us the Father … to declare Him to us … to teach us about God and
show us God in the flesh.
What
do you see when you see Jesus? What did He show us?
Mark 1
40 ¶ Now a leper came to Jesus,
imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, “If You are willing, You
can make me clean.”
41 Then Jesus, moved with
compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I
am willing; be cleansed.”
I
believe it is the Will of God to heal … but it does not matter to you what I
believe near as much as it matters what you believe.
The
Bible is the Word of God. The Word of God is the Will of God. God’s Old Will and Testament and God’s New Will and Testament.
What does God’s Will and Testaments say about the subject of healing? Here is
the Will of God in a thousand words: Jesus said:
“The Spirit of the LORD is
upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He
has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the
captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who
are oppressed; (Luke 4:18)
And Jesus came down with them and stood on a level place with a
crowd of His disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and
Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and be
healed of their diseases, as well as those who were tormented with unclean
spirits. And they were healed. And the whole multitude sought to touch Him, for
power went out from Him and healed them all. (Luke 6:17-19)
“How God anointed Jesus of
Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and
healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.” (Acts 10:38)
And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues,
preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all
kinds of disease among the people. (Matthew 4:23)
For He healed many, so that as many as had afflictions pressed about
Jesus to touch Him. And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down
before Him and cried out, saying, “You are the Son of God.” (Mark 3:10-11)
Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; Save me, and I shall be
saved, For You are my praise. (Jeremiah 17:14)
But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was
bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)
He sent His word and healed them, And delivered them from
their destructions. (Psalms 107:20)
When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with
various diseases brought them to Jesus; and He laid His hands on every one of
them and healed them. (Luke 4:40)
My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. Do
not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart; For
they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh. (Proverbs
4:20-22)
Then the blind and the lame came to Jesus in the
temple, and He healed them. (Matthew 21:14)
Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless
His holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: Who
forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your
life from destruction, Who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies, Who
satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed
like the eagle’s. (Psalms 103:1-5)
Then Jesus healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast
out many demons; and He did not allow the demons to speak, because they knew
Him. (Mark 1:34)
Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and depart from evil.
It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones. (Proverbs 3:7-8)
Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He
might send them out to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast
out demons: (Mark 3:14-15)
“So you shall serve the LORD
your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take sickness
away from the midst of you.” (Exodus 23:25)
Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute;
and Jesus healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw. (Matthew
12:22)
Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we,
having died to sins, might live for righteousness — by whose stripes
you were healed. (1 Peter 2:24)
Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health,
just as your soul prospers. (3 John 1:2)
And Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.” (Matthew 8:7)
Then great multitudes came to Jesus, having with them the
lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus’
feet, and He healed them. (Matthew 15:30)
And great multitudes followed Jesus, and He healed them there. (Matthew
19:2)
Then the blind and the lame came to Jesus in the
temple, and He healed them. (Matthew 21:14)
And when Jesus had called His twelve disciples to Him, He
gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all
kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease. (Matthew 10:1)
He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. (Luke
9:2)
So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel
and healing everywhere. (Luke 9:6)
And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were
sick, and healed them. (Mark 6:13)
And it happened that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and
dysentery. Paul went in to him and prayed, and he laid his hands on him and
healed him. So when this was done, the rest of those on the island who had
diseases also came and were healed. (Acts 28:8-9)
The manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of
all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another
the word of knowledge through the same Spirit,
to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by
the same Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:7-9)
Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one
another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous
man avails much. (James 5:16)
Sicknesses,
diseases, infirmities, injuries and pain are very important subjects to all of
mankind. I imagine physical and mental health are among the top concerns every
individual will face at some point in life. It stands to reason that Jesus
would tell us and show us how God felt about these issues. And He did.
An
exhaustive search of the life of Jesus shows that never, not even once, did
Jesus make any person sick or give them some sickness or disease. Seeing this
is one of the main and most important topics of life it stands to reason Jesus
addressed these issues and gave a very definitive conclusion to the matter.
God
does not make His children sick … God heals. That’s what Jesus showed us and it
is unmistakably the will of God to heal. However, this mortal life is temporary
and so are the mortal blessings of God. One day I will leave this mortal body
behind. Until then, God knows, and I know I need it to function correctly,
according to His divine design. With that in mind, God has given us all great
advantages over sickness and diseases.
Healing
in this life begins when our mortal bodies begin to respond favorably to the
measure of attention we give to any sickness or disease that attacks us.
Healing can be achieved and/or received in measure or in full. We should be
engaged in every avenue provided by the goodness of God to affect healing.
· God created us to
heal. We were designed by God with an immune system – and sometimes it needs to
be healed.
· God blessed us with the
healing arts, research science, doctors, nurses, medical technicians and
nutrition experts.
· God designed the
biological elements of the human body to respond to faith, confession, touch,
attention, and attitude.
It’s
the message we hear from Pastor James … faith without works is dead. But … we
must also realize that works without faith is dead as well.
It is impossible to believe for
something you don’t believe in.
Let
me challenge you today just as I challenged myself in 1980. Decide to accept
the fact that God’s Word clearly defines that it is God’s Will to heal.
Ultimately His will ends with us being eternally healed in Christ however, we
can plainly see that God still heals His children on earth, even if it’s only a
temporary blessing.
This
series: Jesus the Healer - 5 Days in the Life of Christ, will help us to
discover and pursue a balanced approach to divine healing as God intended.
First Lesson: “I Will!”
Recognize the will …
Second Lesson: “Roots and Fruits”
Repent of you sin …
Third Lesson: “Naked and Afraid”
Rebuke the devil and every
foul spirit of infirmity
Fourth Lesson: “A Virtuous Touch”
Resolve to press in by
faith and confession
Lesson Five: “So What?”
Reach out to others in need
of prayer
Promises
are made by God to individuals, nations and generations. When we look at a
promise given by God to someone else in the Bible, it helps us to define the
character of God, discover His intent and understand His process. Jesus is the
same today as He was yesterday and will be forever. What harm can it do to
trust God’s Will and Testament, and ask Him to heal.
This
morning I am going to lead us in a corporate prayer acknowledging the fact that
God is a good God with peace and good will towards men and that He is a healing
God.
I’m
going to challenge you to consider making this prayer your profession of faith
in God’s will. This prayer will not make God your servant or give you the right
to tell Him what to do and be upset if you don’t get what you want when you
want it. This profession of our faith is a declaration in support of the
revealed determinate will of our Father in heaven. The position you take today
will make a difference to God, to you and to many others.
