323 The Healing is in the Word

 

Today I begin a FIVE PART Series of messages on Divine Healing. During this series, I know that I will challenge many of the Traditional theological convictions some of you may hold, but it does us no harm at all to have a challenge to our thinking, for many of us believe in things, but don’t know why we believe, apart from the fact that this is how we have been taught.   I only ask that you approach these messages with an open mind and an open heart, then I am confident that you will hear from God as I have.   I ask too that you do not run ahead of me, don’t begin to pose questions which you feel I have not answered, I promise you that if you stick with me over the next five weeks, I will answer those questions you may struggle with.   Gods word is a complete Revelation, this is why I am taking the whole month of 5 Sundays with this one subject. Don’t expect all the answers today, but make sure you listen to all five parts, and write me for a free copy, – where you can peruse these Scriptures for yourself.

 

Some have asked the question, – is it still the will of God, as in the days of Jesus, to heal all who have need of healing? The greatest barrier to the faith of many seeking healing in our day is the uncertainty in their minds as to it being the will of God to heal all. Nearly everyone knows that God does heal some, but there is much in modem theology that prevents people from knowing what the Bible clearly teaches – that healing is provided for all. And if you hold a differing position

– you are being deceived!

 

It is impossible to boldly claim by faith a blessing which we are not sure God offers, because the blessings of God can be claimed only where the will of God is known, trusted, and acted upon.

 

The first thing I urge you to do is to READ THE WILL.

If we wish to know what is in a person’s will, we read the

will. If we want to know God’s will on any subject, we

read His will. Suppose a woman would say, “My husband, who was very rich, has passed away. I wish I knew whether he left me

anything in his will. ” I would say to her, “Why do you not

read his will and see?” Testament means a person’s will. The Bible contains God’s last will and testament, in which He bequeaths to us all of the blessings of redemption. Since it is His last will and testament, anything later – anything else is a forgery.

 

If healing is in God’s will for us, then to say that God is not

willing to heal all, as His will states so clearly, would be to change the will – and that, after the death of the testator.

Jesus is not only the testator who died; but He was

resurrected and he is also the mediator of the will. He is our

advocate, and He will not cheat us out of our inheritance, as some earthly advocates might do. He is our representative at the right hand of God in the courts of Heaven.

 

There is no better way to know the will of God than by reading the Gospels, which record the teachings and the works of Christ. Jesus was the physical expression of the Father’s will.   His life was both a revelation and a manifestation of the unchanging love and compassion of God. He acted out the will of God for us.

 

When Jesus laid His hands on everyone of them and

healed them, He was revealing and doing the will of God

for all people.   Has he not said: “Lo, I come, to do your will, O God“ Heb 10:7 and “I came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me“. John 6:38

Everything Jesus did for needy humanity during His earthly ministry was a direct revelation of the perfect will of God for the human race.

 

  1. F. Bosworth says in his book, Christ the Healer:

Perhaps no one could be more conservative than the scholars of

the Episcopalian church. Yet, the commission appointed to

study the subject of spiritual healing for the body, after

three years of study and research in both the Bible and in

history, reported back to the church: The healing of Jesus

was done as a revelation of God’s will for humanity.

Because they discovered that His will is fully revealed,

they reported further: No longer should the church pray

for the sick with that faith-destroying phrase,

If it be your will.

Mr. Bosworth goes on to say: The message taught in the

Gospels is one of complete healing for spirit soul and body, for

all who will come to Him. Many today say, “I believe in

healing, but I do not believe it is for everyone.”   If it is not

for everyone, then how could we ever pray the prayer of

faith? Among all those who sought healing from Christ during

His earthly ministry, there was only ever one who prayed for

healing with the words, If it be your will. This was an

outcast leper, in Mark 1:40, who clearly knew nothing about

the will of God!

 

The first thing Christ did was to correct this uncertainty

by assuring him, I will.   It is no longer, if it be your will – it is God’s will.   The leper said: If you will, you can. Jesus answered, “I Will”.   Let that settle it forever with you: God will heal the sick. If He wills to heal one, then He wills to heal all.

He is not willing that any should perish.

 

James asks: Is any sick among you? Any includes you if

you are sick. Of those who were bitten by the fiery serpents, the Bible says that as many as looked to the brazen serpent lived.

Even now, as many as look to Christ as redeemer are

saved – and are healed. (I’ll prove this to you over the next 5 messages on Healing) When it comes to the benefits of Christ’s redemptive work, all of us are on an equal basis.

The words “whoever and whosoever” will and are always used to invite the unconverted to be saved. The words “as many as, everyone, all, and any“ – are used to invite the sick and the diseased to be healed.   It’s A UNIVERSAL INVITATION!

Both invitations are always universal, and the results are

always positively promised: “shall be saved; shall have life;

shall recover; shall raise them up; healed them all and as

many as touched him were healed.”

 

Sometimes (although they shouldn’t) parents will show favouritism among their children, but God doesn’t. When we meet the same conditions, we reap the same results. When we do our part, God is always faithful to do His part. The benefits of redemption are for you. If God healed all then, He still heals all; that is, all that come to Him for healing.   Do we not read …

Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever.

[Heb 13:8]

Great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all.

[Matt 12:15]

As many as touched (him) were made perfectly whole.

[Matt14:36]

The whole multitude sought to touch him: (and he) healed

them all. [Luke 6:19]

 

When the evening came, they brought to him many that

were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits

with his word, and healed all that were sick: that it might

be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet,

saying, “himself took our infirmities, and bore our

Sicknesses“. [Matt 8:16-17]

 

Jesus Christ is still healing the sick, in order to fulfil the prophet’s words: Jesus Himself took our infirmities (weaknesses), and bore our sicknesses (diseases). Always remember: You are included in the our of Matthew 8:17, and God is bound by His covenant to continue to heal all who are sick and weak, in order to fulfil Isaiah’s words. God says: My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of My lips. [Psalm 89:34]

We read “When the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with various diseases brought them to Jesus; and he laid his

hands on everyone of them and healed them. [Luke 4:40]

Healing was for all in those days, and Christ the Healer

has never changed.

 

So we have seen that HEALING IS FOR ALL AND

I want to say it SHOULD BE PREACHED TO ALL!

Philip preached Christ at Samaria: And the people with one accord gave heed to those things which Philip spoke, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many with palsies, and that were lame, were healed. And there was great joy in that City. [Acts 8:6-9]

Jesus proved to be exactly the same when Philip told the

people about Him. Peter preached Christ to the cripple’s, to the multitude, to Aeneas. All were healed. Jesus was the same for Peter. Wherever and whenever Jesus Christ is proclaimed as our sacrifice for sin and sickness, physical healing as well as spiritual salvation will result. (Some will say they believe that this healing is Spiritual healing, but absolutely nowhere in the Bible will you read of Spiritual sickness, – Spiritual Death, YES, but Spiritual Sickness NEVER!)

 

Paul preached Christ. And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother’s womb, who never had walked: the same heard Paul speak: who steadfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed, said with a loud voice, Stand upright on your feet. And he leaped and walked. [Acts 14:8-10]

Paul must have preached the gospel of healing, because

the lame man received faith to be healed while listening

to Paul’s message. THIS is a METHOD that WORKS!

 

Wherever healing is taught as God’s provision for all, faith

is always imparted and the people are always healed. This

method never fails. Faith cannot fail. I believe that many of you will be healed this month as you listen to these special healing messages every week. God will build your Faith and God will Heal your body. I have no doubt about it!

But faith cannot be exercised when one is undecided as to whether or not God will heal all.   If He will not heal all, then we are forced to consider in every case: “I wonder if God will to heal this one? Or is this one of the unfortunate ones whom God wills to remain sick and to suffer?” How could we ever pray the prayer of faith with such uncertainty in our minds?

 

Let it be a settled fact: It is God’s will to heal you. You have

a right to healing as well as forgiveness – when you

believe.   I don’t intend to listen to any MANS word on the matter, I only want to listen to what GOD says.   I don’t want you to come to me and say “our Pastor says… or our Priest says…” God said: I am the Lord who heals you. If God said this,

and God cannot lie, He meant it. What God says is true. So,

healing is yours. Healing is part of the gospel and is to be preached throughout all the world and to every creature, to the end of the world.   Being part of the gospel, the double cure, the divine blessing of physical healing is for all.

 

But my message today needs to focus on the fact that …

THE HEALING IS IN THE WORD

Many people get the wrong idea about the nature of

faith in God’s word. They imagine that faith is for almost

everyone except themselves. They think that, in order to exercise faith, one must wonderfully and rigorously exercise the mind, to strain and worry or go through certain rituals in order to appropriate the promises of God and secure His blessings.

Many will say they believe the word of God, but they are

still sick. They will say, “I have all the faith in the world;

but until I see some change, I do not believe I am healed.

I refuse to claim something I do not have. I believe that if

a person is healed, they will know it.”

 

This is the wrong idea of the nature of faith. There are just two platforms on which to stand: One is belief; the other, unbelief.

Either the word of God is true, or it is not. God will either

do what He has promised, or He will not. His promises are either reliable, or they are not.

 

Will you believe that the word of God is true? Or will you

believe that it is false? If you believe that God is truthful,

then you need not hesitate to obey and act upon His

promises, regardless of whether or not you can see any

immediate results.

 

Genuine faith in God and in His word is stepping out upon

what He has said, regardless of what one sees or feels or

senses in the natural.   Faith is a decisive act, depending only upon God’s word. Faith ignores every natural symptom or evidence which is contrary to what God’s word states.

When you pray the prayer of faith and call upon God for

what you need, then you leave the results with Him,

knowing that, according to His word, it shall come to pass.

Like natural seed sown in the ground, the results are not immediate, so why should we expect the Holy Seed of Gods word to act immediately – it may, but it may not!   Every gardener needs patience, and so does every Christian.

 

 

You know what God has promised in His word; you do not

seek after “signs and wonders” in order to verify God’s

promises, or to give evidence that He will fulfil His

promises. You know that the word of God says, These signs shall

follow them that believe, not those who have to see something before they will believe.’ David (the Psalmist) said, I had believed to see. He did not say, “I had to see before I would believe. “Yet many are demanding a sign of healing before they will believe that they have received healing. Those who believe they have received healing according to the word of God, invariably see the healing manifested in their bodies. But we must BELIEVE THE WORD OF GOD.

 

Consider this scenario: Suppose a person, bound hand and foot and cast into prison, were to make an appeal for pardon; and the Governor were to come and present the paper showing that a pardon had indeed been granted.   Would the prisoner feel grateful toward those who had granted the pardon? The Governor reads the pardon, takes off the fetters, unlocks the prison doors, throws them open, and says, “You are free: go your way in peace.” But the prisoner says: “I know the pardon says I am free, and I believe every word of it, but I am in prison. ” “The doors are open. Walk out,” says the Guard. “I know the doors are open, and I know I would be free if I were out; but I am not out.” “Well, walk out,” persists the Guard. “Do you not believe that what the pardon says is true?” “Yes, I believe every word of it, but it seems as if I never will get out of here.”

 

A pardon would be of no benefit to such a person. By his own choice, the prisoner remains in prison instead of acting on the authority of the pardon. The gospel of healing for the body is of no benefit to those who will not act on it. The scripture, I am the Lord who heals you, is of no value to those who will not accept that promise of God and act upon it. Who heals all your diseases is of no benefit to the person who will not step out on that statement and act his or her faith. With his stripes you were healed is worthless to you if you refuse to believe that all of your sicknesses were borne by Christ. You refuse to believe that you are healed because you can still feel a pain, so you say, “I know that does not mean me; it cannot mean that I was healed because I am sick.” So you refuse to believe the word of God because of

what you can see or feel, forgetting that the very nature of

faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of

things not seen.

 

So Faith, demands that we ACT ON THE WORD.

A lady in the state of New York, who had been in bed with

tuberculosis for several months, was musing on the scriptures one afternoon. She was a wonderful Christian, but had never heard the truth about divine healing. As she lay in bed meditating on the second chapter of I Peter, she came to verse 24: “Who his own self bore our sins in his own body on the tree“.

As she read this, she wept for gratitude for the salvation

that Jesus had provided for her. She rejoiced because He had borne her sins and because of the wonderful experience of salvation she had enjoyed. She knew that when her tuberculosis had run its course, she would be ready to die.

While rejoicing over this great mercy of forgiveness, she

decided to read on further: “By whose stripes you were

Healed”. She looked back at the first part of the verse and noticed that Jesus had borne her sins. He had already done it.

It was in the past. It was over, and so she was saved.

She knew it. It was real to her. No one could make her

doubt it. But what about these other words in the same verse? By whose stripes you were healed. Could that be true? Did it

mean what it said? Yes, she thought, it must be true.

It is the word of God.

 

“Mother,” she called in a voice weakened by the ravages of

tuberculosis,” did you know that God has said in His word

that I was healed?” Her mother replied, “Why, dear, what do you mean?” “Look here,” the daughter said, with tears of joy flowing down her cheeks. “Listen to this. The Bible says, By whose stripes you were healed. That must mean me. It’s

wonderful! I never saw that before. Just look at it! By

whose stripes you were healed. Mother, it has already been done. I am healed! Get my clothes. Bring them here. I’m healed. Oh, this is wonderful!” The mother did everything she could to calm her daughter down and to keep her in the bed. She avoided bringing her clothes to her. But the daughter asked, “Haven’t you taught us to believe all of the word of God? Haven’t you brought us up to believe every word of the Bible?” and the mother could not control her daughter’s joy.

 

This former tuberculosis patient arose by herself, put on

her clothes, left her bedroom, shouted through the house,

and was completely healed.   In less than three weeks, she

regained her normal weight and was completely restored.

What had happened? She had come to treat the word of

God as a direct revelation of what He was eager to do for

her.   When she saw what He had said in His word and

believed it, it produced faith: Faith comes by hearing the

word of God. Romans 10:17.   God’s healing power went

through her body and she was delivered.

 

Rev. E. E. Byrum relates the following incident that

occurred in his life: He writes: “Shortly after the Lord called me to work for Him, I learned a very precious lesson. There was much sickness in the community in which I lived. Three of our family had been stricken down with fever and passed through a severe siege of sickness. I soon felt the dread disease taking hold of me. I withstood it for several days, but was finally overpowered by it. Lying in bed for a few hours, burning with fever and suffering excruciating pains, I began to commune

earnestly with the Lord. I told Him that He had called me

to a ministry, which in my present condition I was unable

to fulfil.

 

As there were no elders to call upon, I began to refer my

case to the Lord and to quote His many wonderful

promises, among which was John 15:7: “If you live in me,

and my words live in you, you shall ask what you will,

and it shall be done for you“. I examined my consecration and then asked Him to search me. I was willing to do anything for Him, and I said, “Lord, I am living in You, and Your words are living in me, so the promise is mine. I give my case entirely into

Your hands and I pray You, heal me.” Then I waited for the work to be done, but no change came. Finally I said, “Lord, why am I not healed?” The answer came at once: “Take Me at My word and arise.”

 

I said, ‘Amen, Lord, I will.” And without hesitation I began

to get out of bed. It seemed as if my head would burst with pain, but in my weakness I began to dress myself. When I was only half-dressed, a slight change came over me and, dropping upon my knees, I thanked the Lord for it. After dressing, and giving thanks again and again, I was much better and walked into another room, declaring that the Lord had healed me.

Within twenty minutes, the fever had entirely left my

body. Immediately, I went to work and was well from that

very hour. I am sure that had I lain in bed and refused to act on the Lord’s word, I would have had to pass through a long

siege of sickness. To God be all the glory.

 

This has taught me a very valuable lesson of trusting God and

His word. I found that when faith is acted, in spite of every contradictory sense, God will always fulfil His word, and make it good to us. Real faith is taking God at His word and stepping out on His promise with all confidence and sincerity, without a

doubt or fear“.   A double-minded soul will never receive from God!

 

NOW THIS FINAL WORD

 

Real faith cannot exist, nor can you claim healing for your

body, until you know that God wants to heal you. How can

you know this? Read God’s will as it is revealed in the

Bible. You may know that He wills to heal everyone who is

sick in exactly the same way that you may know that He

wills to save everyone who is lost.

 

The very minute you realize that the promises of God to

heal all who are sick ARE FOR YOU personally, then your

faith is ready to act and healing will come. Because of so much wrong teaching regarding this great mercy of healing, many have failed to boldly claim the promise AND failed to receive the healing which was clearly God’s will for them to enjoy.

So … Receive what is yours today, In Jesus name…

 

God Bless you. AMEN,