Jesus Paid it all

Imagine you’ve just enjoyed an expensive meal in one of our more fashionable restaurants, and you go to the cash-desk to pick up the bill, only to be told that “its already been Paid”.

Now that’s what I call the perfect ending to any day!

My Sermon today entitled “Jesus Paid it All” is about the price that was paid for you, at a place called Calvary, more than 2000 years ago.

Let me read you a few verses from Isaiah chapter 53: at verse

4. “Surely he hath borne our grief’s, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
and then skip down to verse 11
11. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many;

for he shall bear their iniquities.
12. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured

out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors”

Andrew Murray, (Son of a Scottish Dutch Reformed Minister) in his book Divine Healing, wrote the following commentary on these two passages of scripture.

The expression “to bear” could not but appear in this prophecy. It is, in fact, the word which must accompany the mention of sin, whether as committed directly by the sinner, or whether as

transmitted to a substitute. The transgressor themselves, or a substitute must bear the sin. In the same way, it is because the Lamb of God has borne our sins, that God smote Him for the iniquity of us all. Sin was not found in Him, but it was put upon him; He took it voluntarily upon him. And it is because he bore it, (and that, in bearing it, He put an end to it) that He has the power to save us. “By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities… he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because… he bare the sin of many.” It is therefore, because our sins have been borne by Jesus Christ that we are delivered from them as soon as we believe this truth; consequently we have no longer to bear them ourselves. In this same chapter, the expression “to bear” occurs twice, but in relation to two different things.

It is not said only that (Gods Son & Servant) has borne our sins (v. 12), but also that He has borne our sicknesses (v. 4). Thus His bearing our sicknesses forms an integral part of the redeemer’s work as well as bearing our sins. Although Himself without sin, – He has borne our sins, and He has done the same for our sicknesses. The human nature of Jesus could not be touched by sickness because it remained holy. (Jesus never gave any place or ground to the devil) We never find in the account of His life any mention of sickness? While participating in all the weaknesses of our human nature—hunger, thirst, fatigue and sleep—because all these things are not the consequences of sin, He still had no trace of sickness. As He was without sin, sickness had no hold on Him, and He could die only a violent death and that by – voluntary consent. Thus, it is not IN Him but ON Him that we see sickness as well as sin; He took them upon Him and bore them of His own free will.

In bearing them and taking them upon Him, He has by that very fact triumphed over them, and has acquired the right

of delivering His children from them!

Having taken upon Him sickness as well as sin, He is in a position to set us free from the one as well as the other,

and in order that He may accomplish this double deliverance,

… He expects from us only one thing: our faith.”

Those of you who know me and listen to, or regularly read my sermons, will understand that I concur wholeheartedly with Murray’s assessment of these passages in Isaiah 53:4-5,&11-12. In fact, other passages of scripture seem to bear out these truths as well. For instance, in Psalm 103:v1-3 states, “Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits; -Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases”. In verses 2&3, two important factors are evident:

One: A divine benefit.
and Two: Forgiveness of sins and healing of the physical

body – they go hand in hand.

First of all, what are benefits? (According to Strong’s Hebrew & Aramaic Dictionary) it’s a service or requital, a reward, an act of good. The Psalmist says, …Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits – rewards, acts of good, etc. He then begins to list these rewards and acts of good toward us.

The first two are, 1) who forgives ALL thine iniquities, and 2) who heals ALL thy diseases. Forgiveness and healing are our rewards of faith in Christ Jesus. How well the benefit of healing is described in Acts 10:38, which states,

“How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that

were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him”. Did you notice that He went about doing good and healing all? What a glorious benefit!

Another passage of scripture where this benefit is expressed is found in James 5: verses 14-16, which states,

“Is any sick among you? 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 shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much“.

In 1 Peter 2:24, Peter makes a similar declaration in relation to Isaiah 53:5, and in his declaration, he changes the phrase “and with His stripes we are healed” to “by whose stripes ye were healed.” The reason for this was that Isaiah was looking forward to the cross approximately 600 years before it had happened, and Peter was looking back to the cross after it

had been accomplished, after it had happened.

Let me say this that forgiveness of sins and healing of the body are “forever-settled subjects” to those who put their faith in Christ. Many church going people including their preachers and priests readily accept the “benefits” of God’s forgiveness of their sins, but fail to accept the “benefit” of healing for their bodies. This is due in part to the lack of teaching of the healing benefit and the “half of the Gospel” being promulgated throughout much of the Church world. The reason I called it the “half of the Gospel” is because only half is being preached. Divine healing is part and parcel of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and whenever the “full Gospel” is preached, …

healing for the body is included. Don’t misunderstand me.

I do understand that the forgiveness of our sins is much

more important than the healing of our bodies. After all, it is the forgiveness of our sins that gives us access to heaven, not the healing of our bodies. However, without the good news of Jesus paying for our healing, that access to heaven will be realized more quickly than it needs to be.

I once heard the story of a Preacher who asked his congregation, “How many of you want to go to heaven?” To the Preacher’s surprise, everyone raised their hands – except one man. The Preacher then addressed the man. “Sir”, he said, “You don’t want to go to heaven when you die?” The man answered,

“Sure I do, when I die, but I thought that you were

gathering up a crowd to go now!”

Departing this earth to be with Jesus is far greater than anything that this world has to offer, and I am by no means criticizing anyone who departs to be with Him—sick or not.

I’m simply saying that we have benefits that we can take advantage of, if we know about them, including the healing for our bodies, and we can live a full life, being a blessing to others and affecting the kingdom of God in a positive way.

Listen to what the apostle Paul writes in

Philippians 1:21-24
21 “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
22 But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour:

yet what I shall choose I know not.
23 For I am in a strait between two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:
24 Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you“.

If you are sitting up in a Church Sunday by Sunday and your body is wrecked by pain, and no one is showing you how to be free, no one is teaching you about Faith, or you are not having your faith encouraged and strengthened, then my dear friend

I believe you are in the wrong church, a Church that does not believe the Bible. One Minister told me that “it may not be Gods will for all to be healed” but the same Preacher could not find one single scripture to enforce his beliefs.

Not once in all of the four Gospels did Jesus ever say to any that were sick, it may not be Gods will …. Jesus healed all who had the faith to believe for it. Make sure you go to a Church that Preaches and believes in the “full Gospel” and is not blinded by religious traditionalism. I am passionate about the Gospel, for it is the Power of God to set you free from Sin and Sickness, and furthermore, I shall speak of it, sing of it and shout about it, until God takes me home. Your pain is my Pain, and your Pain is Gods pain; and God told me to “loose you and set you free”!

Now let’s go back to the Book of Isaiah and see the effects of Jesus’ sacrifice on His own body. We already know that Jesus was beaten before He was crucified. Really, He began paying for our healing at the “whipping post,” for by his stripes we were healed, but this next passage tells the rest of the story.

Turn to Isaiah 52: and to verses 13 &14

13 “Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be

exalted and extolled, and be very high.
14 As many were astonished at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:”

Now, the English word visage means the face or facial expression of a persons appearance. This is saying that Jesus’

face was marred (disfigured) more than any man who had ever lived. You have never seen a face as disfigured as that, – that Jesus’ was. It didn’t mean more than any man up to that time; it meant more than any man. The word form means the body, especially of a person. The NIV translates this verse as “…his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness”. There is no beating that anybody could do to Jesus that would put him in such a condition. His whole face and bodily form changed until He was virtually unrecognisable as a man. All this happened on the cross. I believe that the reason His face and form were changed to such a degree is that He took upon Him every sickness and every disease not only that existed at that time, but throughout all time! As I pointed out earlier, healing of the body and the forgiveness of sins go hand in hand; Jesus paid for it all!

and what a high price he paid!

Therefore, the good news is that there is absolutely no sickness and no disease and no condition that could ever come upon us that He can’t or won’t heal—nor does He choose whom He will heal. In fact, on the basis of what Jesus has done for us in his substitutionary work, – God considers the matter settled.

Now, if you’re a religious-minded person, you need to be sitting down when you hear what I am about to say. God CANNOT choose whom He will heal anymore than He can choose whom He will save! Let me explain …

Jesus has already paid for the sins and sicknesses of the whole world, John 3:16 declares that “God so Loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever, (that includes all and excludes none) whosoever believeth in him, (puts their faith in Him), should not perish, but have (and enjoy) everlasting,

eternal life. The whole world is legally saved, but if people won’t accept it, won’t take it, won’t own it, then it can never be theirs! Heaven will only be Home to those who want it

and believe they already have it in Jesus.

None of us will ever have to Beg or Plead with God to save us, He WILL save us the moment we accept the “gift” offered. Salvation is a gift, not to be earned or won, we must just reach out and accept it, take it!

We receive our healing in the same way we receive forgiveness of our sins: by believing we already have it – with all of our heart!

But is believing enough? NO. Paul says in Romans 10: 9&10

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from

the dead, thou shalt be saved.

For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation”.

This brings into play what I call the

“Law of Confession & Possession”

You first believe the Gospel, the Bible prompts your faith to believe in what Jesus Christ has done for you, then you accept it, and confess it, tell it, (because you will never tell it if you don’t believe it) but in the telling of it, the confessing it, you actually move into possessing it; – then its done!

Its the same with your health and your healing. You must first believe that “by His stripes you were healed” then if you begin to speak that, to tell that, you actually move into possession of that, and the healing will manifest (show) itself in your body.

Keep saying it, keep saying it, let that declaration, that confession of your faith get right down into your spirit, and then you’ll know you are saved, and you’ll know that you walk in health. You will discover who you really are in God, and you’ll walk in His Power and Peace. That’s what Jesus Paid for.

God is a good God, a powerful Saviour, and a wonderful Friend.

Miracles are about Relationship. Look at the Gospels again and see how Jesus and those whom He healed related to each other. There may be those times when there was no relationship until the healing, but I can guarantee you that a relationship followed.

Don’t desire the Healing without the Healer; Don’t desire Salvation without the Saviour, … It cannot happen!

NOW THIS FINAL WORD

I heard a story a few days ago, about a young woman who went out jogging … she went out for a run on a dirt track across the fields near to her home. After about 15 minutes running she

noticed a male figure ahead of her on the track?

He was not running, but just standing still.

Apprehensively, she ran by him without speaking and without any acknowledgement of his presence there, and ran on for about another 15 minutes. Beginning to tire, she decided to turn around and jog back to her home. Then she remembered the male figure she had passed a while ago and felt a little uneasy and uncomfortable, even a little frightened about meeting him again. Sure enough, a few minutes later, she saw him in the distance, still standing where she had seen him moments before. He had not moved, and she was certain that he was not a local, nor a neighbour? Nevertheless she pressed onward and came within a few feet of the man. He was smiling, and spoke to her, just a few words. She did not stop but ran onward, until

she reached the safety of her own back yard.

It was then that she remembered what he had said:

“if you know who I am, and if you know who you are,

then you have got it”

“if you know who I am, and if you know who you are,

then you have got it”

This was I believe a Divine encounter; with an amazing

but simple Biblical Truth.

Get to Know who God is, and then get to know who you are

in God, and if you get these two things, you’ll have it made.

You will be on the right road to benefit and blessing in God.

It will be well with your Soul and well with your Body.

Glory be to Jesus

Amen