Healing 6
Notes
Transcript
When I was growing up, we always had a christmas tradition of opening a present early on Christmas eve
We would sit around the tree looking at the presents and there would be smaller presents and then typically a larger one..and the one we wanted to be ours was the bigger one!
Everyone wants the bigger present, right?
Until you get older, then you want a smaller one because you know it is either money or something expensive like a phone or air pods
That wasn’t the case when we were younger
We all wanted the bigger present to be ours
So, Christas eve, we would sit around the tree and my parents would hand us one present, and we knew it was never going to be the bigger one!
Because they would always give us a smaller one on Christmas Eve.
I remember one year we were going to open our gifts and I was handed mine and it was pretty small
I opened it and it was literally a pen, like a writing pen…
Not going to lie, I was a little disappointed, but that meant that my bigger present was going to be sooo much greater!
And then on Christmas morning, we would open the rest of our presents and of course, the bigger one would be the last present opened, and it was the best!!
Except for the one year that my brother an I received paintball guns and decided to shoot them at each other when it was freezing out!
Nothing like getting shot in the finger when it was super cold….ouch!!!
Good times!
I wanted to start with that analogy this morning as we continue talking about healing.
I’m thinking next week will be our last sermon on healing, possibly one more, we will see how the writing goes this week!
Remember to continue memorizing the romans road!
Back on track, so when we talk about healing I don’t want us to lose sight of the bigger picture...
We talk about healing here and now and that is important, but there is a bigger picture in that we will all be fully healed and restored eventually!
When we think about healing, it may be beneficial to think about using the analogy I presented this morning.
Healing here and now, might be that small gift that we receive at Christmas eve. It is exciting, we are looking forward to it!
But it is small in comparison to the full healing that we will receive when we are raised from the dead!
If healing doesn’t happen in the way that we want now, kind of like the year that I received the pen, we all can hope for and look forward to the day when we will be fully healed!
This morning, we are going to talk about the role of faith in healing
There is a lot of thoughts on what role faith plays in healing, and I hope this morning to bring a bit of clarity, or at least my perspective, hopefully the biblical perspective on faith in healing
Let’s start by defining faith
A simple definition is: “complete belief in someone or something”
The bible actually defines faith for us as well in:
1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
Faith is a bit of a generic word and can be applied to many things
Cliffe Knectle says that everyone has faith….
It isn’t just a christian thing
We all believe that we will not be hit by a bus today so we leave the house
We believe that Walmart will have food on the shelves when we go to the store
We all believe that our spouse loves us, or we wouldn't have married them
So, faith can be used in a generic sense, simply believing in something that you can’t see or even prove
But, the christian faith, as we are discussing today is specifically focused on one being, God!
Even within that, that are nuanced things that we have faith in
We have faith in that Jesus was a literal person who was born of a virgin, died on a cross, and was raised from the dead
We have faith that the word of God is true
We have faith that when the scriptures were canonized that only what was supposed to be included was
So, there are certain things that we have faith in/for even within christianty
This morning, I want to present that idea that while talking about faith in healing, we are talking specifically about faith in a person, Jesus
I think that this is very important when talking about healing
We have all heard sermons about that go something like this “just have faith” and whatever you’re wanting/expecting will happen
The problem with this in a generic sense is, faith in what?
Is this like just believing that I will get whatever I want?
I sure hope I don’t because then God wouldn’t be sovereign
I want to worship and trust a God that knows more than I do and will only give me what is good for me!
I don’t want a God who is a genie and will give me whatever I ask for, because it may not be good for me!
So, what does it mean to have faith for healing?
We are going to look at a couple stories, by the way, in order to form a good theology of healing, you need to read all of scripture. Many sermons I have heard on healing, they pick one story, like the woman with the issue of blood and give you the 3 steps to being healed found in that story….
The main issue with this approach is that:
Stories are descriptive, not prescriptive - meaning, they tell us what happened, but don’t tell us what to do
For example, in John 9, Jesus healed a blind man by taking some dirt and spitting in it and putting it on the man’s eyes
This is describing how Jesus healed this man, but He never said, this is HOW you heal someone
Because, in Luke 18 Jesus comes across another blind man and he cried out to Jesus and Jesus asks him what he wants, he wants healed so Jesus just speaks it and the man is healed, no dirt, not spit, just spoke it
So, it would be error to take a descriptive story and make it prescriptive without scripture doing that itself
Now, this doesn’t mean we can’t learn from descriptive passages, but it does mean we need to read them all before forming a theology
I can’t read all the stories today, so you will have to do that
So, let’s look at a couple:
The first is the woman with the issue of blood
42 because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying. As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. 43 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. 44 She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.
45 “Who touched me?” Jesus asked. When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.” 46 But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.”
47 Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. 48 Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”
Many times, people will conclude form that story that her faith healed her…I believe that is true, as Jesus says it, but my question is faith in what?
Sometimes, people make faith to be an abstract idea…just faith
But as we said earlier, we have to ask in what….
We have to look at what healed her…
Was it touching Jesus? Well, a lot of people were pressing around Jesus and it doesn’t sound like any of them were healed
Was it her belief in an abstract idea? I don’t think that would be true…
Well, this story is found in 3 of the 4 gospels, in Mark’s version he says this:
27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.”
So, she heard about Jesus…I will contend that she had faith in Jesus….the person, who would heal her
I don’t think the method mattered, I don’t think it was a system I don’t even think it was simply faith….I believe it was faith in a person, Jesus!
I will take it even a step further, I don’t believe healing is even based on faith that you will be healed…
To me, that is having faith in an outcome…I believe again, it is about faith in a person
Otherwise, the healing isn’t from Jesus, it is from my thinking, that is called psychological certainty
Some, make faith out to be more about convincing yourself of something rather than believing in a person
I believe that Jesus will heal because He is the healer! I don’t think that Jesus heals because - I think He will heal.
Let me give you couple of examples of why I think this
In:
1 When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. 2 A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”
Notice, he puts the emphasis on Jesus…if YOU are willing, YOU can make me clean
3 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. 4 Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”
Clearly, Jesus healed because He is the healer
Going down a few more verses
5 When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, 6 “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” 7 And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.”
Jesus links the healing to the man’s faith in verse 10…but notice who healed, it was Jesus
So, I contend that faith has a role in healing, and you will see that as you read every healing story…but don’t lose sight that it is Jesus who heals
A couple more texts, post ascension that lead me to believe this way as well
In Acts 3 Peter and John are going to the temple and there is a beggar there and asks for money, Peter responds
6 Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”
Now some think that they had the “gift of healing” and healed this man on command, I don’t believe that is how the gift operated then or now…
but the problem is they stop reading
If you continue, the people around are astounded and Peter talks to them and goes through the old testament and then down to Jesus and makes this statement
16 By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see.
So, Peter links the Healing to Jesus name and the faith through Him.
Lastly, in one of the only prescriptive passages on healing we see
14 Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.
So, we see here that faith is again linked to healing, but it is the Lord who will raise them up!
The last scripture I want to look at is one not directly tied to healing, but often times used to support it
In Mark 11 right after the cursing of the fig tree
23 “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
So, here this indicates faith in an outcome whatever you ask for, believe you have received it, and it will be yours….
But, you see, I skipped something intentionally because preachers sometimes do
We need to back up a verse and see what Jesus starts with
22 “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered.
You see, this verse is vitally important. You see the faith is in God, It begins in a person, not in an outcome!
Finally, we do know that a lack of faith can hinder healing
Jesus goes to Nazareth and Mark says this
4 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” 5 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 He was amazed at their lack of faith. Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village.
Matthew says it this way
58 And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.
So, yes, there is a link between faith and healing….but to what extent? Is there a scale of faith?
Once you hit “enough” faith Jesus will heal you?
Well, there is two facts you must know and people often forget the second fact
1.Jesus healed everyone who came to Him for healing
1.Jesus healed everyone who came to Him for healing
As far as we know, this is true. He didn’t turn anyone away.
So, some would make the claim that if you are not healed, it’s not Jesus, it has to be with you, probably your lack of faith
But the problem is the second fact that people often miss
2. Jesus didn’t turn anyone away because of their lack of faith
2. Jesus didn’t turn anyone away because of their lack of faith
So, I would buy the argument that someone may not be healed because of their lack of faith if Jesus turned someone away because of it…He doesn’t…scriptural silence on the issue
So, what can we conclude from these two facts?
If you have enough faith to come to Jesus for healing, then you have enough faith to be healed!
If you have enough faith to come to Jesus for healing, then you have enough faith to be healed!
This isn’t something that you can just make happen. Faith isn’t convincing yourself….
It is relationship with a person…the person of Jesus!
When you understand who He is, that He is the healer, and you walk in relationship with Him you understand His goodness, you understand He wants to heal you
Now, He may not…and we will talk about what we do if we are not healed next week
We are also going to talk about some reason why we may not be healed…scripture gives us some reasons…
And so I don’t take it lightly when someone is not healed
But I do believe Jesus is the great healer.
Hal Perkins says he believes that God will heal you and when you stop believing that, then you need to go back into your prayer closet
Meaning, faith is relational! Have faith in Jesus and who He is.
So, when I pray for you, I believe Jesus will heal you, not because I believe in the outcome, but because I believe in Him!
Let me add to this here, I know we are late, but it is important.
Physical healing here and now is good! But God wants all of you healed! That includes relational, emotional, sin issues, etc…He wants to heal all of those areas
I believe in healing, but I would take Jesus saving someone any day over Jesus healing a broken leg!
These bodies are temporal, but our spirit is eternal! Let’s come to Jesus for healing in these areas too!
And I would go further to say first and foremost come to Jesus for spiritual healing!
So, if you’re dealing with bondage and sin issue, let’s let Jesus heal those areas!
Jesus wants us to experience inner healing just as much, probably more than outer healing.
If a broken bone, or a sickness being healed is the small gift, inner healing is the medium gift, and complete healing is the large gift!
So, next week we will wrap up healing, probably, it might take two more. I want to get to inner healing and deliverance before we end and then move onto evangelism.
