Healing of the Lord # 1
I’m going to begin a new series this week entitled “The Healing of the Lord.” I don’t know how many weeks we’re going to be on this subject, but I feel the Lord leading me to teach on it for about four to six weeks and then returned to it in about three months.
I) For my opening text I’d like you to turn with me to Exodus 23:25-26.
A) In this verse the Lord made a promise of healing that is available to all that serve Him.
1) And then in (Exodus 15:26) the Lord says, “I am the Lord that healeth thee.”
2) The purpose of this opening message on the healing of the Lord is for you to see, without question, that God wants you healed.
IT’S IN THE REDEMPTIVE PLAN
II) Matt 8:17
A) Matt 8:17 is really a fulfillment of ISA 53:4-5
1) Young’s Translation says, “Surely our sicknesses he hath borne, And our pains—he hath carried them, And we—we have esteemed him plagued, Smitten of God, and afflicted.”[1]
2) Holman Christian Standard Verson says, “Yet He Himself bore our sicknesses, and He carried our pains; but we in turn regarded Him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.”[2]
3) Jesus fulfilled the Isaiah’s prophecy here.
4) 1Pet 2:24
a) Some have said that this does NOT MEAN PHYSICAL HEALING but SPIRITUAL HEALING.
(i) Yet, GOD DOES NOT HEAL THE HUMAN SPIRIT HE RE-CREATES IT.
b) (2 COR 5:17) Says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”[3]
(i) EZEK. 11:19
c) Until you’re convinced that God wants you well, there will always be a doubt in your mind to whether or not you will be healed.
d) And as long as doubt is in your mind, it’s going to be impossible for you to stand in faith without wavering.
B) Mark 11:23 it says, “For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.” [4]
(i) In (James 1:6-7 NKJV) it says, “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;[5] This is someone with more than just a little doubt.
(ii) KJV “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. (7) For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord.”
(iii) From that verse we can see that if we want healing from the Lord we have to ASK IN FAITH, nothing wavering.
2) Once people are FULLY CONVINCED that God wants to heal them and that it’s NOT HIS WILL for them TO BE SICK, they almost always RECEIVE their HEALING.
a) Knowing God’s will concerning sickness and healing provides the ground on which you can stand on in faith.
C) In the years that I’ve been ministering I’ve had people come to me and say they just can’t seem to get the faith to receive.
1) But if you ask them, “DO YOU HAVE THE CONFIDENCE THAT GOD WILL KEEP HIS PROMISES?”
a) Almost always the answer is, “YES.”
b) That’s faith. It’s that simple.
(i) But if you ask, “WILL GOD HEAL YOU?” They answer, “I DON’T KNOW.”
(ii) Sometimes people make faith so hard and complicated and they struggle at it for years, trying to get the faith to receive from God.
(iii) But all faith is, is simply trusting God and His Word.
2) Turn over to NUMBERS 23:19.
a) Here we have an assurance from God that if he said it, He’ll make it good. We need to be this assured of his promises.
b) In (1ST KINGS 8:56) it says, “There hath not failed one word of all his good promises.”
c) In (PSALMS 119:89) it says, “Forever, O Lord, Thy Word is settled in heaven.”
(i) The Word “SETTLED” in that verse literally means, “STANDS FIRM.” It doesn’t change.
(ii) They knew that God would heal, & that he does heal.
(iii) They knew that God keeps His Word
d) And then in (JEREMIAH 1:12) the Lord says, “I will hasten my word to perform it.”
(i) The NIV translation says, “For I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled.”
(ii) God is standing behind His Word to fulfill it.
3) Satan is the liar, as Jesus said, not God.
a) We can go to the Word of God and show you for 6000 years, Satan has lied to people, telling them that God’s Word is not true.
(i) The Devil has denied God’s Word, and made his own promises but has broken every one.
III) When God announced to the children of Israel that he was the Lord that healeth thee, he spoke those words to about THREE MILLION PEOPLE.
A) Every one of them believed God’s Word to be true and the result of that was healing for the entire nation of Israel.
1) Everyone that needed healing was made perfectly whole.
2) The Psalmist in writing about the same story of Israel leaving Egypt said in (PSALMS 105:37), “He brought them forth and there was not one feeble person among their tribes.”
a) Can you imagine that, three million people all well and strong? Not one feeble, not one week, and not one sick.
B) If that was true in Israel, who were under the law, how much more for you and I, who have been redeemed by the precious blood of the Lamb and are living under Grace and mercy.
1) If God did it for them he’ll do it for you. Why?
a) Because Peter said in (Acts 10:34) that God is no respecter of persons.
b) On that cross Jesus paid for our sins and our sicknesses.
(i) Christians don’t need to be sick just like they don’t need to be sinful. Jesus paid the price for both.
2) The only reason those three million Israelites received their healing and were made strong was that they believed what God said: “I am the Lord that healeth thee.”
a) That was what was said to them, and they believed it.
3) If we want to be healed and set free from sickness and disease, then we need to believe God’s Word. It is faith in God and in His Word that will get us healed.
4) Today the only reason disease takes such a toll among Christians is that too many do not believe what God has spoken.
a) It is that simple. Faith begins where the will of God is known.
b) They know that God said, “I am the Lord that healeth thee.” But somehow they have failed to believe that He meant what He said.
c) Basically that’s what Satan said to Adam and Eve in the garden, “God didn’t mean what he said, go ahead and eat the fruit.”
5) Another reason that people have a hard time receiving their healing is that they’ve been influenced by tradition.
a) Look at Mark 7:13. “Making the Word of God of none effect through your tradition.”
(i) Tradition starts because of someone’s experiences or their own words and not the Word of God.
(ii) Tradition has changed God’s “I AM” to “I WAS.”
6) If, under the old covenant, God healed three million of his people at one time, then how much more will God do for his people today who were living under the new covenant of Grace, mercy, and truth.
a) We have a covenant, which has been established upon better promises. HEB 8:6
IV) One of the greatest barriers to the faith of many seeking healing today is the uncertainty in their mind as to it being the “WILL OF GOD TO HEAL ALL.”
A) Most Christians today will accept the fact that God does heal some, but because of a lack of teaching from the Word they don’t know that healing is provided for all.
1) It’s impossible to come to God in faith if you’re not sure you can have it.
a) The blessings of God, including healing, can only be claimed where the Will of God is known.
B) The only way you can know God’s will is to read His will.
1) The word “TESTAMENT” literally means “WILL and COVENANT.”
a) The Bible is God’s will and His covenant with us.
b) Since the Bible is God last Will and Testament anything added to it or taken away from it is a counterfeit or a forgery.
2) There is no better way to know the Will of God than by reading the Gospels.
a) Jesus is so clearly revealed in the Gospels and he is the physical expression of the Father’s will.
b) His life was a revelation and a manifestation of the unchanging love of God and the Will of God.
(i) He acted out the Will of God for us.
3) When Jesus was laying hands on the sick and healing them, He was revealing and doing the Will of God for all.
a) In (Hebrews 10:7) it says in reference to Jesus, “Lo, I come, to do your Will, O God.”
b) And in (John 6:38) Jesus said, “For I come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of Him that sent me.”
c) Everything that Jesus did in his earthly ministry was a direct revelation of the perfect will of God.
C) When it comes to healing no longer should we be praying, “If it the your will.”
1) You know in the Word of God that phrase “If it be your will,” is only found once, but it seems religion has taught people to pray that after every prayer.
2) Let’s go ahead and look at, Mark 1:40.
a) This leper did not know that Jesus was willing to heal.
b) But very quickly Jesus corrected his uncertainty. Look at Mark 1:41.
(i) The NIV translation says, “I am willing.”
(ii) Let that settle it for ever within you: God is willing to heal you.
(iii) If He wills to heal 1, then He wills to heal all.
3) Turn to James 5:14. The word “ANY” includes you if you’re sick.
a) Look at verse 15. The word “SAVE” in that verse would be better translated “HEAL.” You can look it up in the Greek or even easier read it from the NIV translation.
b) Now notice that verse doesn’t say the prayer of faith MIGHT save or heal the few sick. No it says the prayer of faith WILL heal the sick.
D) Healing is for today just as it was 2000 years ago because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
1) Just simply ask God in faith believing that his Word is true and that he will keep his promises.
W. O. L. C. C. Sunday, December 06, 1998 from T. L. Osborn’s book called “Healing the Sick” Chapter 1 and ½ of Chapter 2 ending in the middle of page 22.
Healing of the Lord # 1.doc
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[1]Young, R. Young's Literal Translation. Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, 1997. Is 53:4.
[2]The Holy Bible : Holman Christian Standard Version. Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2003. Is 53:4.
[3]The New King James Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1996, c1982. 2 Co 5:17.
[4]The Holy Bible : King James Version. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1995. Mk 11:23.
[5]The New King James Version, Jas 1:6. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1996, c1982.