Healing is the Children's Bread

Intro:

As we enter the Christmas Season I was pondering on the significance of the birth of Christ. In Matthew 1:21-23 “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.””

First, the precious gift of the Savior was immense. We were hopelessly lost in sin without Him, but now we have been brought near by the blood of Jesus. We can be born again. Ephesians 2:13-18.

Ephesians 2:13 -18 “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.”

Secondly, He is Immanuel God with us. This is extremely significant and must not be overlooked. Jesus was God in the flesh. John 14:9.

John 14:9 “Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”

This means that we can look at the life of Jesus to understand the will of God. Jesus lived to reveal and glorify God. Colossians 1:15. John 5:19-20. Isaiah 55:8-11.

Colossians 1:15 “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.”

Jesus said, John 5:19-20 “Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.”

Today, the Lord has instructed me to teach you that Healing is the children’s bread. I will show you through the scripture the nature of God to heal, the removal of the curse by the blood of Jesus, and the assignment we have been given as believers.

God has said in Isaiah 55:8-11 ““For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts. “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater, So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”

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Submit:

I will submit to you this morning.

It is the will of God to heal. How do we know that? We see it expressed in the life of Jesus. Remember, He is Immanuel God with us, the visible image of the invisible God. We must choose to receive it. The fall of man resulted in the perpetuation of death and destruction to all mankind. Part of the fall was the curse which included sickness and disease. Deuteronomy 28:61.

Deuteronomy 28: 61 “Also every sickness and every plague, which is not written in this Book of the Law, will the Lord bring upon you until you are destroyed.” Reveals that every sickness and disease is under the curse.

However, the Gospel is the good news. Part of that good news is seen in Galatians 3:13.

It says, Galatians 3:13 “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”),” Christ has redeemed us from the Curse. This includes healing from sickness and disease.

Healing is the Children’s bread. As Jesus began His ministry, would you say that what He said and did first was likely most important? Think about it. You’re the son of God, you have waited for 30 years to do what your Father has sent you to do. What you say and do first probably matters quite a bit, because it is going to se the tone for what your ministry is. Message #1 is found in Matthew 4:17.

Matthew 4:17 “From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.””

Action #1: Matthew 4:23-24.

Matthew 4:23-24 “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. Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them.”

He preached for people to repent, and He healed. Do you see that healing was not just sickness and disease but also freedom from demonic possession and others issues?

When we read this passage I believe that there are often two internal responses, one is faith to be healed, and the other is what I call the Yeah But Syndrome.

Yeah but we prayed one time and nothing happened. Yeah but we asked God for something in this situation and it didn’t happen. The result of the Yeah but Syndrome is doubt and unbelief.

Jesus came to reveal the Father. What I know from study is that you can not show me a single place in scripture where someone came to Jesus for healing and he didn’t heal them.

Even when a gentile woman from Canaan cried out for mercy her faith drew anointing and power of out of Jesus to heal her daughter.

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Apply:

The question I have for you this morning is this: Has God changed? Hebrews 13:8.

Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

God is immutable. He does not change. The prophet Isaiah prophesied about the coming messiah. One of the things that He said is recorded in Isaiah 53:4-5.

It says, Isaiah 53:4-5 “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 our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.”

Wounded for our transgressions: human deviation from the expressed will of God. Our choice to intentionally disobey, willful disobedience.

Bruised for our Iniquities: Iniquity is a premeditated choice, continuing without repentance.

Chastisement for our peace: This speaks of correction intended to produce righteousness. A stubborn or rebellious person needs chastening.

By His stripes we are healed: Jesus paid for mental, emotional, and physical healing in our lives. This was part of the atonement.

When Jesus came to the earth He preached the Gospel of the Kingdom, and healed sickness and disease. Matthew 9:35.

Matthew 9:35 “Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.”

Now are you ready for the good part? John 14:12-13.

John 14:12-13 ““Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”

Can I tell you that in my own heart this is where I have warred many times. Let me explain: I have had moments of great faith for healing. I have seen God do great miracles, and then I also find myself with the yeah but syndrome. Yeah but last time I prayed that person still died. Last time I laid hands on someone they didn’t get healed. This can leave you with a momentary crisis of faith. What I believe and what I experienced didn’t line up.

What do we do when our experience and belief don’t line up? We turn back to the word. Jesus said, He who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.

What I can tell you this morning is that it is not our job to heal. It is our job to seek the Lord and be obedient to what He says. We are to believe God and lay hands on the sick. It is our job to renew our mind with the word of God. We are to draw near to Him to hear what He is instructing us to do. John 5:19.

Remember what Jesus said in John 5:19 “Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.”

We must learn to be sensitive to the Spirit and He will direct us.

Now at times there are hindrances to receiving healing.

Iniquity: premeditated sin that continues without repentance. Psalm 66:18 “If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear.”

Doubt and Unbelief: Mark 11:22-24 “So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”

Un-forgiveness: Mark 11:25-26 ““And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.””

Suffering: Sin and brokenness leads our hearts away from trust.

Jesus never promised us a life without pain or trial. Suffering is as result of sin and the fall, and we must remember that the fullness of creation has not been redeemed yet. Remember Jesus prayed in John 17:15.

John 17:15 “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.”

The American Gospel says, God only wants us happy, wealthy, and blessed. He is only there for my blessing, benefit, and good. As a good father He does bless me, He does things that are for my benefit and good, but He also allows me to walk through the valley of the shadow of death.

In His understanding and timing he allows us to walk through situations that although tough will build our character, and trust in Him. If we believe that becoming a believer means nothing bad will every happen to us we will have great difficulty reconciling our faith and our situation.

We can easily begin to think. Where is God? I thought he was for my good. I thought he wanted to bless me and now we have a Crisis of faith because our beliefs don’t line up with our experience.

How do we reconcile this? Go back to the word. What does it say? God has revealed himself through the word. He has revealed Himself through His Son Jesus. Jesus purpose was to reveal the Father. He is Immanuel God with us.

To walk free from Hindrances we must repent of sin, renew our mind with the word to be free from doubt and unbelief, and learn to forgive as often as it is needed.

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Closing:

Jesus understands us, and has compassion on us. Hebrews 4:15.

Hebrews 4:15 “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

In His compassion He gave us a promise when he declared His assignment in Luke 4:18-19. Acts 10:38.

Luke 4:18-19 ““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; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.””

In His earthly ministry He revealed the nature of the Father and the kingdom. Acts 10:38 “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.”

Jesus revealed the nature of God and His kingdom. He through His death and resurrection conquered the enemy paying the price for our healing, and victory. Then He commanded those who believe in Him to do the same.

We have received the great commission. Matthew 28:18-20 and Mark 16:14-18.

We are to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. We are to baptize people in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Disciple them by teaching them to do all that he has commanded. We are to cast out demons, speak in new tongues, and lay hands on the sick. He promises to be with us and protect us.

This morning as we close this service we are going to do as scripture instructs.

James 5:14-16 “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. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 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.”

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Altar:

Pause for a moment to repent.

Forgive

Lay Hands on those that need healing.