Today I'm going to be speaking on Healing Grace. We've been talking in a series on grace and last week we had a marvelous testimony of Haley, how God created a new eardrum when she had none. They were going to do surgery and we prayed for her a couple weeks ago and God created a brand new eardrum for her in her ear. I believe that's only the beginning of what God wants to do in this place.
Psalms 1: 2-3, "Bless the Lord, Oh my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases".
Father, we thank you today that you're in this place, for the marvelous things that are taking place in the outreaches and the ministries and for the miracles that you're doing. We thank you for the miracle of your word and as your word is being delivered this morning I pray that you would speak beyond my voice. Holy Spirit, you are able to minister into each heart and life in this building today. May you increase and we decrease, in Jesus name. Amen
Everyone of us at some point in life faces sickness and disease. We all know people who suffer greatly from different ailments and things that they've struggled with over the years. I believe that it is important to remember that just as Jesus through his grace has given us the forgiveness of sins, that same provision of grace that Jesus gave us on the cross was also given for our own physical healing. We believe that today.
There are a lot of people that won't teach that God is the healer. As a matter of fact, it's amazing, I've got a different study Bible that I was using that was put out from a different point of belief. In it they were saying that they didn't believe that healing was provided on the cross. All I could think of was what they're missing out on. The truth is this, healing was provided for us. I find it interesting that it is easier for some of us to trust God for eternal salvation, to believe that we can be right with Him through all of eternity yet still struggle with the idea that God really wants to heal our bodies. Healing is one of the benefits we have as Christians, it's a benefit.
I remember someone saying this, a benefit is not something that you get after a contract, a benefit is something that you get as part of the contract. It's something that's there, it's something that's a part of it. How many understand that we are under the new covenant, the new contract with Jesus Christ today? I want you to understand that healing benefit was provided under the old covenant and is still provided under the new covenant. It is part of God's will for our lives. Wherever Jesus went he healed the sick. As a matter of fact, God is so convinced about what healing is suposed to do in our lives as we minister his gospel that He made healing part of the great commission. "Go ye therefore into all the world and preach the gospel to every nation, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. These signs shall follow those who believe and they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover and they shall cast out demons".
I want us to realize this morning that healing is part of God's grace and I want us to look at some of those things the Word of God says about the grace of healing today. The first thing that we must settle in our heart and I want to challenge you because many of us have struggled with this in prayer. We must have it settled in our heart that it is God's will to heal. It is God's will to heal.
Healing is one of the primary ways that God reveals himself to people. It's not only in his character, healing is not only a part of his nature. As we were worshipping this morning how many could just sense that healing presence of God just touching your heart? Healing is in his name. God has so many names, if you were to actually to describe the Lord you have to call Him by his name.
In Exodus 15:26 it says, "If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to his commandment and keep his statute, I will put none of the diseases on you which I brought on the Egyptians for I am the Lord who heals you". I am the Lord who heals you, that's His name. In the Hebrew that is "Jehovah Rafah" the God who heals. It could also be said like this, the Lord your physician. How many here today know Dr. Jesus? The truth is alot of us will run to whoever your doctor is and I've got 2 doctors that are helping me with some of the ailments I've got in my life. But neither of those doctors know the Lord, One is Jewish and the other is Muslim.
What's marvelous is that I've been able to already see the miracles of God in my life and had opportunity to witness. Before I went to either of them when I found out there were things that I needed help with, I went to Dr. Jesus first because the one who created you ought to know how to take care of you, amen? He made our bodies inside and out.
Healing reveals some things about God. Number one I believe that even though he is God, he notices and cares about our condition. To me that's absolutely amazing. God knows everything about us. We all get excited that he knows how many hairs are on our head and how many of them aren't but that's beside the point. More than that, if he can be that detailed he knows about the sicknesses.
The 2nd things that it reveals is that God knows exactly what we need.
He's our healer. That healing does not just apply to our physical body, it applies to the emotional and mental states that we have as well. Man is really beginning to recognize how all 3 of those, physical, mental and emotional all play in the complete wholeness of man. God knows how to heal and he knows exactly what to do.
Number 3, we know that he's compassionate and merciful, abounding in love. One of those things about understanding that it is God's will and intent to heal is knowing that he is a loving God. Without question when you begin to recognize and grasp the idea that he cares about you that much it is easy to begin to trust for those needs that we have in our own bodies. It also reveals that God is more powerful than anything. He is the Lord who heals.
I want to tell you this morning that God is greater than cancer. He is greater than diabetes, he's greater than a broken arm, he's greater than the flu, he's greater than leukemia, he is greater than any disease that you can name. He is the greatest medication that you and I could ever take or receive.
Watch this, healing is God's will and we need to understand this because he made provision for it on the cross. For some of you this morning this may seem like a little bit of an elementary teaching but the truth is it is important that we understand this part of the covenant. God made provision for our healing on the cross. In Isaiah 53 it was prophesied what would take place on calvary and this is a verse that all of us should know very well.
Why am I preaching this? Why is this something that I believe we really need to talk about in the church today? Because we need to understand that when Jesus went to the cross there was a many faceted plan that he was putting in place for everyone of us. First of all he wanted us to be able to have relationship with him and with God the Father, to make sure that we could be forgiveness of sins. How many of you are glad today that you've been set free and washed in the blood of the lamb? You have been bought with a price, the blood of Jesus Christ but that blood has also made provision in many, many ways. We live in a time where in certain circles this is really understood but even in those circles where we have talked about it and believe it and practice it, it is becoming downplayed so much that the world today does not really experience the real true power of God in their life.
Isaiah 53:3-5 says about Jesus, "He is despised and rejected by men".
How many know Jesus is despised and rejected by men not just on the cross but even today. "A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief". Who's grief? Our grief. "We hid as it were our faces from Him, he was despised and we did not esteem him. Surely, he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted but he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for iniquities, the chastisement for our peace was upon him and by his stripes we are healed". Every bit, we're healed. The emotional wounds that we've suffered, the tears that we've gone through, the traumas we've faced in life, the physical ailments that we carry about in our bodies because we live in a sinful and fallen world. God took care of all of that through his son Jesus Christ on the cross. The Bible says that they esteemed him not and the truth is that even as Christians we don't esteem him as the healer. Jesus, you're my Savior but we forget that he is the healer.
In 1st Peter 2:24 says, "Who himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree that we having died to sins might live to righteousness by whose stripes you were healed". I want you to notice two words that I believe are key in those very scriptures. Number 1 is the word "are" and the word "were", "are healed" and "were healed". Are and were describe a finished work that has already been completed. The Bible doesn't say, "Who is going to heal you", that's like saying, "who is going to save". How many understand that God has already saved, we just need to receive. Those two words indicate a finished work and I want us to get this into our hearts, "We are the healed of the Lord". You are healed, not are going to be, not maybe going to, not sometime kind of maybe. You are the healed of the Lord. If we know Christ, His work of salvation is a finished work and because Christ died on the cross and he even said it himself, his last words were, "It is finished". It's done. That means that you and I, all we need to do is come to Christ and receive that salvation and when it comes to healing that work has been finished as well, we just need to receive it.
I know that shakes alot of people's theology. This word is either true (all of it) or it is wrong (all of it). How many believe this word is true all the way this morning? And it is faithful and we can count on it.
We know that God is willing to heal because he said so. First of all he told his people and revealed himself to us in "I am the God who heals you". I am Jehovah Rafah, I am your physician. In Mark, when Jesus walked the earth, and we need to understand in the limited time that Christ was here, the words he said not only had application then but they speak throughout the history. Mark 1:40-42 talks about an encounter that Jesus had with a leper. A leper came to him, imploring him, kneeling down to him and saying, "If you are willing, you can make me clean". How many believe that his faith speaking out of that man's heart? Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out his hand and touched him, saying to Him, "I am willing, be cleansed".
I want you to hear this, God is willing to touch each one. We need to understand this on several levels. Number 1, because when we come to Jesus we need to know that God wants to heal our bodies and make us well. How many know that gives us confidence when we come to the Lord in prayer. Secondly, it gives us confidence because believe it or not, Christian, you have been called to fulfill the great commission. Part of that is revealing God's love to people and one of the greatest ways that we reveal God's love to other people is when we meet them in their time of need and God said, "You shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover".
I know I've talked about this a little bit overtime but my question is, how many of us are doing the stuff? Part of what I believe God wants us to understand this morning as we're talking about healing grace that not only does God give us the grace to receive that healing and to trust him and believe it in our own bodies but to dare to trust that God will give us the grace to minister his life to others. What a marvelous God we serve. The way we receive healing is the same way that we receive God's salvation, by faith. Faith is the key to healing, trusting God and believing that his word is what it is.
Matthew 9:22, Jesus said to that lady who reached out in the midst of that crowd when she had that issue of blood and she was desperate for a touch from God. How many have noticed the desperation of those who actually wanted to get well? The leper came, the Bible says, kneeling down to him and saying, "If you are willing, you can heal me". This lady with the issue of blood pressed through the crowd reaching to Jesus saying, "I know he's busy but If I can just touch the hem of his garment I know I can be made well". She was desperate for God and she trusted him, she pushed through everybody, reached out and just grabbed the hem of his garment and God noticed. He turned around and said, "be of good cheer daughter, your faith has made you well".
People say, How come there are people who are getting healed? Because they desperately believe that God can take care of it. I believe you don't even have to get to the point of desperation where you've suffered and suffered. I believe that God is wanting his people to begin to walk in that faith where even when they begin to see it coming on, when they're first given the diagnosis, before they go through years and years of suffering that if they would dare to trust and believe that God can do the work. I know that challenges. How many know we serve a God who cares?
Faith is expecting God to do what we know is his will to do. You receive what you expect from God. Those who are sick, those who have a need, the Bible says, "Ask and you shall receive". You get what you expect. When you pray for others and you minister the gospel of Jesus Christ, you get what you expect. That's been challenging to me because I know there have been times when my faith has been small but I want to tell you there have been times when I've stepped out in it and I began to watch the Lord build it because he's given what I expected.
James 5:14,15 says, "Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord, and the prayer of faith will save the sick and the Lord will raise him up". Listen, here's what we need to understand, this work and ministry of healing is not anything that we do except obedience. When we pray for others it is not me raising up. When we prayed for Haley, it wasn't me that raised her up, it's wasn't her mother and father, it was the prayer of faith that touched the heart of Jesus who moved in compassion and raised Haley up. I believe when we pray that prayer of faith we need to understand that it is not up to us to make God do what he said he would do. It is up to us to be obedient to do what God asks us to do and then expect God to do what he said he would do. How many know God never fails?
I know this challenges and there will be questions and we can deal with those when we get there, there is so much that I want to speak on. Remember, the truth is you could spend a lot of time preaching and dealing with this. I'm not going to answer all your questions but I do believe this, the place that we start is with Jesus. I found it interesting in the word where it says, "the prayer of faith will save the sick". That word "save"in the greek is "sozo" and that word means to heal, to deliver, to protect and to be made whole. The prayer of faith will make whole.
Because faith is a key to healing, healing is affected by our hearing. That's why I've given you these healing scriptures because Romans 10:17 says, "So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God". You can hear by it being spoken and you can hear by reading? I want you to hear the word of the Lord. My prayer is that after today you won't just hear the voice of Marvin Nemitz ringing in your ears all the time but that you will read that word of God and hear the voice of the great physician ringing in your heart. This is what my word says, listen to what I have to say. Hear it and allow that faith to build up in you. There is a reason, Christian, why we are blessed to have the written word of God because it is something that if we will eat and digest and read, getting this thing and memorizing this thing and reading and speaking this thing and getting it in your heart, out of that comes great faith.
Psalms 107:19-20 says, "Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble and he saved them out of their distresses. He sent his word and healed them and delivered them from their destruction". Jesus is that word made flesh and we can trust it. We need to know it, we need to internalize it. There is no greater medicine than this. I want to tell you, before any doctor gives me something to take, whenever he puts a prescription in my hand, I believe we need to follow doctor's directions, I'm not telling you to chuck them out the window, I think people who do that are foolish. But before I do any of those things, here's what your word says, "His word is good medicine".
There's a difference between a miracle and healing. I want to speak this into hearts because I believe that many times there is a great deal of confusion about this in the church. Many times when we think of healing we think of the instantaneous wellness that follows immediately after prayer. The instantaneous wellness is a miracle and it's also healing. But many Christians get confused when their healing doesn't happen immediately. I want to speak about this, just like a natural cut that takes time to mend, healing may take place over time. Gradual healing is no less of a miracle than instantaneous healing and if you don't believe that then heal yourself. Try it, you can't.
Luke 17:14 says, "When Jesus saw them (the lepers) he said to them, Go show yourselves to the priests and so it was that as they went they were cleansed". I want to tell you that this will apply to emotional healing, to mental healing, to any time of healing that you need. The healing process in your life can be just as important to the believer as the healing itself. Some will argue that it's God's will that some people are sick. I believe that's like saying it's God's will that some people live in sin. God never wanted you to sin, he died for your sin. In the same respect we need to understand that healing and salvation go hand in hand because he did it on the cross.
There are some who receive salvation and there are some who receive healing and there are some who get both but the truth is that all sickness is from the enemy. Because we live in a sinful world, because it is fallen, many of us will experience sickness and at some point all of us are going to die and that will either be a result of sickness or a lack of breath. Some sickness is allowed and permitted by God for a short time. It is not given by God but it is permitted by God.
Job was afflicted by Satan and God permitted it. Listen, that means it was God's will to allow them to go through a period of sickness but did you notice in the Bible that everytime someone was permitted to go through it they were always healed? Lazarus was permitted to go through sickness and he died. People thought that was the end but how many know he got the ultimate healing? Jesus walked up and called him right out of the grave and he walked out and his story has become a testimony. God did a powerful work in Job's life and rewarded him beyond measure. Lazarus went for a purpose. In John 11:4 when Jesus was talking to his disciples about Lazarus when he delayed his coming, "This sickness is not unto death but for the glory of God that the son of man may be glorified". Jesus said it wasn't unto death and Lazarus died but he didn't stay dead. It wasn't unto permanent death, it was for the glory of God.
I want to say it again, that each one of these healings that were delayed, there was a purpose that God had in it and he brought healing, it was done.
I want to talk about a couple of hindrances to healing. People ask, "What hinders healing coming? Because I know I've prayed. What are some things that have kept the hand of the Lord from working? Number one, deliberate sin will prevent God's healing work in your life. Some sickness is a result of sin. Actually all sickness is a result of sin but some some people get certain diseases because of certain sins. Listen, one cannot intentionally be living in violation to God's will and expect his promise to be fulfilled. God is always more concerned than our spiritual life and that comes first. Someone asks, "How come I'm not receiving the blessing of God in my body?" Because many times it is that sickness that is in your body that is even keeping you coming to the Lord. Once you surrender that life of sin to Jesus you release that so that the blessing of the Lord and the grace of healing can come in.
Another reason that healing may not come is because of doubt and unbelief by those praying for the healing and by those needing to receive the healing. The truth is sometimes healings don't take place even because of community unbelief. I want to challenge us as a church. There are some churches where you see healings happening time and time again. What's the difference between that church and our church? Faith.
There were certain cities that Jesus would walk in and he could do almost nothing there because of their unbelief and that was Jesus, God in the flesh, and he could do nothing there because of their unbelief.
How many know, those who walk in faith and trust the Lord for those things begin to see things. Why? Because you get what you expect. My prayer for Harvest Community Church is this, as our heart is to reach out and to see God do things, the one thing that I pray will distinguish this church besides the love that we have for God and love for others, will also be the absolute faith and trust that we have that God is able to change people's lives and to draw them close to him. Whether it means bringing them out of a life that was so destructive and then seeing them grow in the knowledge of God and see them become people that have a vibrant, fervant fellowship with Christ, and to see also those who come in with the greatest needs and to see their lives healed and touched. People whom doctors have given up hope. If you want to see a witness for Jesus is when doctors have done everything they could out of their compassion and all their knowledge and nothing could be done and then God does a wonderful miracle in their life. That gets the attention of a community.
The disciples would walk and people who were laying by the temple gates begging for money, they were made well, they could see, they could walk, they could hear and it changed the life of a community because they knew those people. How many believe that if we would go out and do what Jesus said, all of Palm Beach County would come to Jesus. That's my prayer. I know that challenges some of us. I want you to think about it. I pray that we will begin to live this Biblical faith, that we'll walk out with what Christ said we could have because that's what the Lord intended for us anyway.
Another reason is because there's no prayer, "You have not because you ask not". It's as simple as that. Another reason people don't receive healing is from lack of instruction. I want to tell you as your Pastor I'm trying to put an end to that this morning. I want to teach you about it, I want you to read about it, I want you to know about it and once you've been taught it you can begin to teach that to others and that becomes a powerful thing.
The last thing that can hinder healing is when there's no desire. In John 5:6, when Jesus saw the man that was laying by that pool that used to be stirred by an angel and people got in at a certain time to receive their miracle. This guy had been laying there for years and Jesus walked upon the scene and he said, "Do you want to be made whole"? I want to ask you that question. Do you want to be made whole? Some people have grown so familiar with their sickness, with the attention that it brings, with the familiarness of waht life has become. Some don't have to work because they've been sick and healing will mean working. There are some who've grown used to the attention and although they really would like the pain to go away, they really don't want things to change.
Here's what I want to speak to you, when the power of God is released into people's life things change. How many know when you got saved life changed? How many know your relationship with the Lord changed? The relationship with your spouse changed, the relationship with your children changed, the way you respond at work changed, the way that when Christ gets a hold of someone things change. God looked at that men and said, "Listen, you've got it good really, you've been lying by this pool and I know that you don't like your sickness but you really don't have to do a whole lot day after day, you just have to sit here. My question to you is "Do you want to be healed"? The man said, "Yes". He had a desire to be healed.
All the faith of the person praying for you can be quickly negated when you really don't want what God has to offer. It's the same thing with salvation. Are you ready to receive Christ? You can pray a prayer of salvation and not be in agreemant with it and nothing happens. You can pray a prayer for healing and not want it and nothing happens. That's the difference with faith and desire.
I want to challenge you, healing grace is for us today. I don't care what your sickness is or what your emotional state is, emotional healing is just as important as bodily healing. The truth is people have been paralyzed by depression and discouragement, fear and shame just as much as they've been paralyzed by lower extremities that won't function physically. They've been paralyzed emotionally. I want to tell you that the grace of God is greater than all those things because he's made provision for it.
Proverbs chapter 4:20-22, "My son, give attention to my words, incline your ear to my sayings, do not let them depart from your eyes and keep them in the midst of your heart for they are life to those who find them and health to all their flesh".
Father, we thank you for your word this morning. Jesus, we thank you for the testimonies and the wonderful triumphs that are being won in the spirit and in the natural by you. Holy Spirit, we ask that your word would have its way in our hearts, that we would decrease and that you would increase in this place, in Jesus name.
Everywhere that Jesus went he healed the sick, everywhere. Jesus healed without any condition, without any pressure on people to be converted to Christ. He was spreading the gospel really through the demonstration of his love and through his power in people's lives.
I want to mess with your theology just a little bit this morning. Last week I said that sometimes deliberate sin can keep you from receiving your healing. How many know that's very true? I believe that deals primarily in the life of the Christian. Listen, although deliberate sin may hinder a Christian from receiving healing, being a Christian is not a requirement for getting healed by the Lord. The Lord is a loving God and one of the finest ways that he is really able to demonstrate his love to us is by Him reaching out and doing a powerful work in our lives. God uses physical healing I believe to demonstrate his love in a powerful, tangible way that people will know that he is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. How many in this room have found God to be that faithful in your own life? Look at those testimonies all around and I pray that faith would rise in our hearts to live and do what this word says.
God heals without obligation. He heals simply because he loves and simply because the sick are sick. We need to understand that his motive in all of that is just caring grace to everyone of us. How many have noticed in the way we relate to other people there are conditions involved all the time? What I found is this, God's love is so wonderful, the reason he does it is because of the condition that we are in. Jesus came to die on the cross while we were still in sin. Our condition was a mess and he still came. He didn't wait for us to get better. This is something we need to understand even as believers, that we are to reach out with that healing, to not only receive it from the Lord but minister it because people are in a condition that they need a touch from God.
Physical healing, I have found time and time again is the catalyst for helping people to find Christ as their Lord and Savior. It brings wholeness not only to the physical condition but even to the spiritual and emotional conditions. What a wonderful God that we serve who cares about those natural things that are going on in our life. I want you to imagine the profound effect of comfort and the divine revelation that would reach into the heart of someone who doesn't know Christ as God begins to do a divine work in their hearts and in their lives. Healing has that effect on people. What a marvelous thing it is to realize that God can not only touch your natural body but he can reach deeper than any doctor could. God can touch and bring healing so deep that it brings a complete work in our lives.
How many have found God to be faithful in that way? What a marvelous God.
Healing is an act of grace and I want you to understand that grace is the unmerited, unearned favor of God. You don't have to go out and do something to earn the favor of God. The only thing that you needed when you received Christ as your savior is to confess that he is the Lord and believe in your heart that he is the King of Kings and that he died and you can receive that into your life. It's the same thing with healing. You don't have to earn it. People say "if I could just do something I could prove to God, if I could go to church so many times or if I could do so many nice things for other people then maybe God would want to do something for me". Listen, how many know that is the enemy trying to discourage everyone. The truth is, healing grace is unearned and it's something that God will give to all of us.
Another thing I want to talk about is the importance of healing and the word of God. An element of healing that is often overlooked I believe is the necessity of the word of God. The reason Jesus healed is because he is the word made flesh. In John 1:14 it says, "And the word became flesh and dwelt among us". God gave us a living, breathing example of this so that when we finally got to read this we would understand what it looked like when it was being lived out.
Our opening text relates to God's word and it says, "His words are life and health". The Bible tells us that we are to keep his word, to know his word, to write God's word on our heart so that it is so inside of us that we live it.
We need to grasp this with all of our hearts as believers so that the word of God is effective in every area of our lives. It will never, ever fail. That's why it is so important to know this Bible. That's why when we're talking about healing we should know healing scriptures and understand them so that the word is living and active inside of everyone of us. "You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free", in any area. You just need to know what that truth of the word of God is, no matter what that area is, we can live free in it.
The word, health, that we're looking at will be "life and health to all our flesh". The word, "health", in the Hebrew can also be translated, "medicine". Someone said that many people make the mistake of substituting belief in healing for the actual taking of his medicine. I believe that we can live in that health that God has for us, not only health in the physical but health in the spiritual and emotional and in every single area. How many know His word is complete? I believe there are times where we need to be laying on hands. The Bible says to lay hands on the sick and they will recover. We need to pray for those things but the truth is, when this word is in us, when we take this medicine, the word will produce in us what the word was meant to do. God's word is able to heal anything.
It is not just a generic medicine. God's word is able to specifically target every area that we need in our life. From the area of salvation for us to be right with God and be safe with Him, to the area of relationship in our marriage. How many know this word can save your marriage? If you'll get this word in you when you're young before you get married, it will be good medicine for your marriage. This word is good medicine for raising your children. This word is good medicine for being a good employee on the job. This word is good medicine for when your body is sick or you get cancer or you get something that the world throws at you. If you need a touch from the Lord, this word will produce what it said it will do but you've got to know it, you've got to take it.
I want to encourage you this morning, this word, if you will get it and know it, read it and ingest it, it will do a marvelous thing. God's word is good for whatever ails you. Psalms 107:20 says, "He sent his word and healed them and delivered them from their destruction". Sometimes our life needs healing. Not only does our body need healing but how many have had situations in our life that needed a touch from the Lord? Difficulties that we go through, jobs that might have been lost or accidents that may have happened or just everyday problems that we need help with. We serve a God who has an answer that he's given in his word. The truth is that word is there. "He sent his word and it healed them and delivered them from their destruction".
There are several parallels I believe between God's word and actually taking natural medicine. Number one is this, God's word is a healing agent. The reason you'll take medicine is because you know there is capacity in it to produce healing. In God's word is the ability, the energy, and the nature to produce healing of every sort. We must take it, we must know it. I believe the more we know the Lord, as Christians, the less we're running in desperation to others to pray for us and the more we already have that word inside of us, the spirit of God is producing that work inside of us. How many know that reduces the panic that we have? A lot of people will run to the doctor only when they are finally in the worst condition but if you're always taking what you need you don't get in that condition. When you have those conditions start to appear, you already have what it takes because you've got this word inside of you to produce what it said it would do. The Bible says "He sent his word and healed them".
Isaiah 55:11 says, "So shall my word that goes forth from my mouth, it shall not return to me void". What does that mean? That means that God's word will always do what it said it could do. It's not going to go out and land and do nothing. God's word will always do what it said it will do. It has the power to produce what it says it will produce not only in the area of healing but in every area that this word talks about. God spoke and light came into being. God gave his word and that same word that produced the stars and the earth and everything that we see is that same word of every promise that is in this Bible and those promises are for us. He sent his word.
Hebrews 4:12 says, "The word of God is living and powerful, sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even the division of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow and is the discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart". What is sharper than a soldier's sword? The scalpel. A surgeon's scalpel is able to produce healing. I want you to notice the 4 areas as you read that in Hebrews 4:12. There are four areas of healing that his word ministers to. "Piercing even to the division of soul and spirit". This word will do a spiritual work and God knows how to get to the very core of every part of our being. It separates joint and marrow. God's word is able to do a physical work inside of our body and produce healing in every area. I'd rather have Dr. Jesus working on my cancer than I would anything else. We have some great doctors here, get to know them and they'll help do a good work in your life. They've been a blessing to me. God's word is wonderful and what's cool is to see doctor's operating with the word. We've got doctor's in this place that do that. It also says that it is the discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. That's the emotional and mental area of our life. That means that God's word has us covered in every area.
Smith Wigglesworth, the great evangelist, who ministered in the early part of the century, who was credited with seeing between 14 and 20 people raised from the dead. He was a man used by God all over the world. As a matter of fact, he ministered a great deal in England and he came to America and ministered in many of the Assembly of God churches. He also started a healing revival in New Zealand. No one in that early time really even knew where New Zealand was but God sent his servant down there to do a marvelous work and healings began to take place and lives were touched. Through the demonstration of God's power, many people began to give their life to Jesus. Right now we see what we see in Australia and in new Zealand in some of these powerful churches as a result of those people who dared to take the message of Jesus Christ and trust that God would do a powerful work.
When asked what was really the secret or the key to his ministry, why did he see so many miracles done? He said there were 4 simple points that I follow. First of all, "I read the word of God". How many know if you know this word and this word is in you it will do something powerful. The second thing he said is, "Consume the word of God until it consumes you".
Read this until this thing begins to get inside of you.
One of the things that I have found so necessary in my life each day is to get in this word. I know a difference in my life when things get too busy or I get to the office and I make the mistake of taking a call first or checking my messages first and get busy with the day. The tendency is to get on with your day real quick. One of the things we need to understand is that God is a consuming fire. He's a Lord that doesn't just want part of us, he wants all of us. The truth is, the way that you become like Jesus, the way that I become like Jesus is to read this word and let this word get a hold of you until Jesus and you are so indistinguishable together. How many know that's what we're going for anyway? Amen. Let the word of God consume you. That's how Christians begin to live this stuff out. Not only do they know this, not only do they sometimes pick it up or leave it as a decoration on the table or next to the bed but it's a word that gets in your heart, not only do you have it memorized but the word of God is living inside of you and being demonstrated through you.
The 3rd thing he said is "Believe that word". Believe what it says and begin to live it. If you believe what it says it will lead you right to the 4th thing and thats "Act on the word". You'll begin to do what the word says you can do and live how the word says you can live, not only in the area of receiving God's healing but in every area of our life. I love that. I love those 4 points but I really like that 2nd point: Consume the word until it consumes you.
Can you imagine what would happen in America if the church of Jesus Christ would really let God consume every part of them? When we sing that song, "I surrender all". I surrender Jesus, all of me. Less of me and more of you. God, come into my life and consume me.
I love what Smith Wigglesworth said, "The reason the world is not seeing Jesus is because Christian people are not filled with Jesus. They are satisfied with weekly meetings, occasional reading of the Bible and sometimes praying. He said if God lays a hold of you by the spirit, there is an ending to everything and a beginning with God and he will take you by the hand and he will make you a vessel of honor for him". I wonder this morning if there's anyone else in this place who just wants to be a vessel of honor for Jesus?
I believe that there's something the Lord is doing. When we talk about his healing grace, I believe we're living in a time where God is stirring things again. How many know there's been a kind of dead zone going on with churches throughout the world but I believe there is something that God is doing within his people. God is doing something in the life of this church. Over the last couple weeks you could feel it stirring, not just walking into this building because the building isn't the church, we're the church. God is doing something in our lives and in our hearts, there's a transforming power and the reason I believe we're dealing with the issue of healing is because really and truly God cares so much about us that he wants to take care of those hurts and those needs and those sicknesses so that we can be consumed by Him and really enjoy that experience.
I believe why this is such an urgency in what God is doing here, I believe God is in the process of healing bodies. We know how we've been attacked over the last 2 years as sickness has come in and now what we're seeing is the sickness has come and the devil can't get a victory and God is getting all the glory. How many know that's the way we should be living? I love that, he's a faithful God.
I believe that God is healing marriages. I believe that God is touching hearts, those who have been hurt in the past with wounds that have gone on and one of the reasons I believe God is doing such a powerful work in that way is because God is going to use us to minister that same healing grace to others. I hope faith is rising in your heart if you've come here this morning with a need for some area of your life for God's healing grace to be released. I believe you're in the right place and he wants to do it.
I want you to remember this, that medicine is no respecter of persons and neither is God. The truth is if you take penicillin it will work in people the same way. The word of God will work for anyone who takes it. It is not a matter of God being willing to heal but whether a person will receive the medicine that the word and the healing will produce in them.
I want to tell you, what I'm preaching this morning will change your life, not because Marvin Nemitz said it but because this word said it. Here's the choice we have, we can hear it and walk away from it or we can hear it and receive it. Listen, if it were up to me, I promise that if I could do it all, I'd make sure that every person was healed and everyone was doing well. But the truth is there is a part of that where God is saying, "I want you to receive what I have for you". This morning if you're here sick and have a need from the Lord, you can hear this word and I'm sure it's touching you but you have to make the decision to receive that word and allow it to have its proper work in you. The 2nd thing is that medicine needs to be taken according to its directions. "My son, give attention to my words. Incline your ear to my sayings". Inclining means not only to give attention to it but to really walk what I've got for you. "Don't let them depart from your eyes. Keep them in the midst of your heart". What the word is saying is that the word of God must go past our eyes and our ears into our hearts so that it gets into the depth of our spirit man. God's word must get into our heart to produce healing.
One of the greatest hindrances in America to what God has to say is this, "I've got to think about it". We've got to think about it, that's why the Bible says to dwell on this word to let it consume you and to let it do a work in us. God's way of healing is spiritual, whether it's emotional, mental, or physical. God's way of doing things is a spiritual work. Power is first ministered to our spirit and then to our body. God's word must first be taken internally then it will work externally, just like regular medicine.
Our inner life effects our outer life. Proverbs 17:22 says, "A merry heart does good like a medicine but a broken spirit dries the bones". How many have noticed that when God has done a work inside of you that no matter what happens, if you've got this word inside, no matter what sickness you go through, the joy of the Lord is our strength. Why? Because his joy is from the inside out and regardless of what we go through in life, we've got that strength of the word of God as a medicine in our heart. You can go through anything if you've got the joy of the Lord no matter what you go through, as long as you've got it working on the inside.
Romans 8:11 says, "If the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies by his spirit which dwells in you". If you have received Christ as your savior and you know him, that spirit of God that raised Jesus from the dead then lives inside of you. You have all the Holy Spirit you need. We all need more of God but you have to understand that we need to receive more of what he has, it's not a matter of him not giving us enough, it's a matter of have we received from him all that he has? That same spirit that dwells in you is more than enough. It's not like you only got a part of the holy ghost that raised Jesus from the dead, you got the whole holy ghost living inside of you. So listen, we have what we need. What a marvelous thing, what a promise. God inside of us changes us from the inside out.
Even when it comes to healing, the thing that I've noticed in most people when I pray with them at the altar or just even in a store, wherever we are, when I look in their eyes you can see many times before the actual manifestation takes place in their body, there is a recognition inside of them that God is already doing the work. If its your marriage, you've received that help for it. If it's cancer, you've already received help for it, there is that recognition. It's a marvelous thing. God promises to be an ever present help in our time of trouble. He is a shelter and a refuge and a help. He talks about those wings that he puts over us and covers us and many times we talk about those wings as just a shelter but Malachi 4:2 says, "But you who fear my name, the son of righteousness shall arise with healing in his wings". You just need to run and receive the covering from the Lord. Something rises up, the son of righteousness shall rise. How many of you have ever felt that spirit of God rising up and doing a work?
For the most part, what I've spoken about this morning really has been dealing with God consuming us and God doing a work of healing through us and in us. But I want to talk to those who really want to be used by the Lord in ministry in healing. One of the things that I'm so convinced of that God is doing in this church, not only healing us because he loves us but also doing a work in us so that we can go out and do his work in this area.
There's already a work that is being done. There's a chiropractor that won't get business because Kathy's neck is healed. I'm so thankful there's a hospital last night that didn't get a couple thousand dollars from the Cifone's because they had to release him early. When God is doing the work it really does have practical results.
I want to speak to those who want to go out and do the stuff. God has called us to be disciples. Not only will we see miracles but we will be that healing and that life to others as Christ works through us. When Jesus told his disciples to go into all the world and preach the gospel and make disciples, he told them to heal the sick. He warned them that they would be called upon to suffer and to be persecuted. This is probably not going to be one of the most popular points where you say "I'm so glad you told me about it preacher". How many in this place want to be used by the Lord? When we talk about being used by God because we know he wants to work through us, I'm not talking about God somehow taking advantage of us. Jesus told his disciples to be ready.
We understand that the reason healing is available today, the reason salvation is available is because Jesus died on that cross. We know that healing is available because by his stripes we are healed. Reinhard Bonke put it this way and he made a point that I'll never forget. He has been used, even today, all around the world as healings have been taking place and he said this, "Healing and cross bearing go together". The price for others wholeness was Christ's brokenness and those who minister his grace are also going to share something of Christ's heart. One of the reasons I believe that God is doing something in this world again is because Christians are getting to the point again where they're willing to say, "God, whatever it takes, to see people come to you. Whatever it takes for you to be able to use me, I am willing to go through that. Whatever you want to do in my life, if I have to become a living sacrifice so I can surrender everything just so that someone can know the healing grace of God, so that someone could know the touch of the Lord, then I'm willing to go through it".
It's interesting to me, some of the men I've talked about like Smith Wigglesworth who saw the deaf hear and the blind see, had a daughter who was deaf and never could hear. I don't understand all of that. I don't get all that. What I do know is that God still touched many people. There is something about experiencing that same kind of pain and that same kind of hurt where God will do the miracle in your life and you understand really what God wants to do is so much bigger than our problems, it's so much bigger than our own hurts.
Listen, God heals. There are times he will let us go through those things. Paul who was used so powerfully by God that even people would bring handkerchiefs and he would pray over them and tell them to take it to that person because I can't make it there. He took that same handkerchief and people would go and be healed. Paul himself experienced many difficulties in his own life. There was a price that he paid to take that wonderful message of Jesus Christ to others.
Take your Bibles and turn with me to 2nd Corinthians 12:7-10 because I want to challenge us as a church. If we're really going to have this word consume us and be used by the Lord there must be a point in our lives where we can experience that same work of God in us. Paul who got to do many great things said, "And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing, I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me and he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Therefore most gladly I would rather boast in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches and needs and persecutions and distresses for Christ's sake for when I am weak then I am strong".
Listen, that's going to mess up alot of things being preached over the tv today. I want to tell you, it's when we're weak that we become strong. Some say that Paul's thorn was a sickness, like an eyesore and that he would preach with puffy eyes. Others say that he was hunchbacked but none of that is true. If you look at this word of God, the Bible tells us what the thorn in the flesh was. It was a messenger of satan that buffeted him. It buffeted him with trial after trial after trial. It did buffet him with sickness, he got sick and he got better. He would do the will of the Lord and he wound up being whipped and stoned but he would get better. He wound up being shipwrecked but God preserved him. He wound up going to jail but God took care of him. This was a man of God who was being powerfully used by God and notice what happened. Trial after trial after trial seemed to just hit him and what Paul said is "God, take this thing from me". How many of you have ever found your self just looking around going, "Dear Lord, I went through this, this and this, when is it going to stop? God, would you please stop this". The messenger of satan, why? You need to understand, he said, "Lest I become exalted".
As Christians it is very easy for us to become prideful but something happens when we're ministering that power of God and we still go through those same type of things that people we're praying for are going through. God says, "My grace is sufficient for you". Do you know what that does? It keeps you from walking around saying, "You're sick, I wonder what your problem is? God must be real mad at you". If you're like that, you're going to be sitting home when you're sick asking God, "Why are you so mad at me?" God is saying, "I'm not mad at you. You're just going through it and I'm here for you. My grace is sufficient for you". That same grace of God not only helps us to know his love but helps us to extend that love to others.
I want to encourage you. Some of you have just been going through stuff. It just seems like wave after wave has been coming at you and you've been going through it and you're asking God, "What is it?" God is just saying, "listen, I protect you, I've seen you through, I have healed you, I have been with you. My grace is sufficient for you". We have two choices as Christians. We can begin to doubt what God's word says and just sit down, take a break and quit this thing. Or we can receive his healing life and say, "Devil, I'm still going to do whatever God has got for me. I don't care what you're doing to me. You're a messenger of satan, you're a liar and a thief but you can't keep a good man down". Jesus said, "a good man will fall but a righteous man will rise up every time". If you are the righteousness of God in Christ, you're going to keep rising up. That's what Paul did and he was used powefully by the Lord.
Here's what I want to challenge you , Christian, are you ready? Are you willing to go through that? The truth is this, not only do we need to be ready to receive his healing but Jesus said, "Those who would come after me must take up their cross and follow me". Healing grace. Christians, I want to challenge us a church. In just a few minutes you're going to come up and we're going to lay hands and God is going to do a healing work in your life. I believe it. Some of you have been walking around with aches and pains and when you leave this place today, those pains are going to be gone. Some of you have got things going on with your family and God is going to strengthen and heal. Maybe you've gone through some hard stuff and you just need God to touch you and know that his peace is there. He's going to heal that emotional and mental anguish that you've been going through. I also want to challenge you, Christian, if you've prayed the prayer that says, "Lord, use me powerfully. I want to be used by you, I want to be known by you". I prayed the prayer a long time ago then I stopped praying it for awhile and then I started praying it again. I said, "Lord, if you will write in this Bible still today, I'd want to be one of those people that you put in it". Then I began to read what those people went through and then I started realizing I was going through that stuff so I stopped praying the prayer and I stopped seeing the results. So I started praying the prayer again. "Lord, I surrender everything. My life is not my own. I was bought with a price. Father, whatever you want to do, do it. Whatever I've got to go through, I'll do it but you'll be with me because your rod and your staff they comfort me". How many know we serve a good God this morning?
