Job 19:25 “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.”
In the Star-Spangled Banner,
Americans sing about living in the
“land of the free and home of the
brave.” But do we always feel free?
Aren’t there times when we feel as
if “chains” were shackling us?
There are the chains of
responsibility at work and home,
the pains we face or the financial
strains that come our way. There are the chains of guilt that
press us down as we look back at our past wrongdoings.
In the Bible Job tells us, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth” (Job 19:25). Easter celebrates the reality that our Redeemer lives. A redeemer is someone who delivers others out of trouble by paying a great price for their freedom. Jesus, the Son of God, came into this world to be our Redeemer. From what did he redeem us?
Sin puts us in opposition to God. He is holy – completely without sin – and requires us to be holy too if we are to live with him. Indeed, what we know of ourselves and all those around us proves the truth that Bible states, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). What’s the result?
God’s word tells us: “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). That’s more than death that we associate with funerals and cemeteries. Our sinfulness puts us under the sentence of God to be separated from him forever in a very real, painful place called hell.
The wonderful news is that Jesus paid for our release; he bought our freedom from sin’s punishment. The price he paid to free us was his holy blood. He took our place under the sentence of death. He shed his blood and sacrificed his life to free us from the curse of sin and the condemnation of hell. Three days after he was placed in the grave, he rose from the dead on Easter to prove that his payment was complete and we are freed. “Because I live, you also will live,” Jesus assures us (John 14:19).
Rely on Jesus your Redeemer. By his blood he bought you for a life of glory with him now and forever. As your Redeemer he is always present to help as you deal with the “chains” of living in this world. You can trust him for he loves you.
The first occurrence of speaking in tongues occurred on the day of Pentecost inActs 2:1-4. The apostles went out and shared the gospel with the crowds, speaking to them in their own languages: “We hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” (Acts 2:11). The Greek word translated tongues literally means “languages.” Therefore, the gift of tongues is speaking in a language a person does not know in order to minister to someone who does speak that language. In 1 Corinthians chapters 12–14, Paul discusses miraculous gifts, saying, “Now, brothers, if I come to you and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction?” (1 Corinthians 14:6). According to the apostle Paul, and in agreement with the tongues described in Acts, speaking in tongues is valuable to the one hearing God’s message in his or her own language, but it is useless to everyone else unless it is interpreted/translated.
A person with the gift of interpreting tongues (1 Corinthians 12:30) could understand what a tongues-speaker was saying even though he did not know the language that was being spoken. The tongues interpreter would then communicate the message of the tongues speaker to everyone else, so all could understand. “For this reason anyone who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret what he says” (1 Corinthians 14:13). Paul’s conclusion regarding tongues that were not interpreted is powerful: “But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue” (1 Corinthians 14:19).
Is the gift of tongues for today?First Corinthians 13:8mentions the gift of tongues ceasing, although it connects the ceasing with the arrival of the “perfect” in1 Corinthians 13:10. Some point to a difference in the tense of the Greek verbs referring to prophecy and knowledge “ceasing” and that of tongues “being ceased” as evidence for tongues ceasing before the arrival of the “perfect.” While possible, this is not explicitly clear from the text. Some also point to passages such asIsaiah 28:11andJoel 2:28-29as evidence that speaking in tongues was a sign of God's oncoming judgment.First Corinthians 14:22describes tongues as a “sign to unbelievers.” According to this argument, the gift of tongues was a warning to the Jews that God was going to judge Israel for rejecting Jesus Christ as Messiah. Therefore, when God did in fact judge Israel (with the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in A.D. 70), the gift of tongues would no longer serve its intended purpose. While this view is possible, the primary purpose of tongues being fulfilled does not necessarily demand its cessation. Scripture does not conclusively assert that the gift of speaking in tongues has ceased.
At the same time, if the gift of speaking in tongues were active in the church today, it would be performed in agreement with Scripture. It would be a real and intelligible language (1 Corinthians 14:10). It would be for the purpose of communicating God's Word with a person of another language (Acts 2:6-12). It would be in agreement with the command God gave through the apostle Paul, “If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God” (1 Corinthians 14:27-28). It would also be in accordance with1 Corinthians 14:33, “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.”
God most definitely can give a person the gift of speaking in tongues to enable him or her to communicate with a person who speaks another language. The Holy Spirit is sovereign in the dispersion of the spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:11). Just imagine how much more productive missionaries could be if they did not have to go to language school, and were instantly able to speak to people in their own language. However, God does not seem to be doing this. Tongues does not seem to occur today in the manner it did in the New Testament, despite the fact that it would be immensely useful. The vast majority of believers who claim to practice the gift of speaking in tongues do not do so in agreement with the Scriptures mentioned above. These facts lead to the conclusion that the gift of tongues has ceased or is at least a rarity in God's plan for the church today.
The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways... (Prov. 14:14).
Backslider, Backsliding and Backslidden
Ezekiel and Peter give valuable details about those who are backslidden and what occurred when they turned to evil:
If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does evil, he will die for it. (Ezek 33:18)
If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and areagain entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: "A dog returns to its vomit," and, "A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud." (2 Pet 2:20-22)
The Bible is filled with examples of people, named and unnamed, who turned away from God temporarily or permanently. Some returned to salvation, like King David and Peter, while others never came back to God, like Kings Saul and Solomon.
A common contact that our ministry receives is from the grieving backslider, who wants to come back to God, but isn't sure that he can. Somebacksliders think they sinned too much and too grievously while others think they committed eternal sin and therefore can't get forgiven.There is, perhaps, no more downcast person to communicate with than a repentant backslider who isn't sure he can come back to God and find forgiveness, though he desperately wants it!
Years ago, when I was pastoring, I knew a backslider who fell into sexual immorality. Over the next couple days that same backslider lost nearly 10 pounds and was actually, on occasions, beating his own head against the wall in regret over his sin and foolishness. (He wrongly thought, as abackslider, he could not repent and was doomed to hell with no possible hope of ever getting saved again.) What finally helped that backslider to see that he could come back to God, in spite of his wicked actions, were the examples of King David and the Apostle Peter. Since God took these men back after they backslid, why should he not take him too, since he was deeply repentant and resolved to never commit that sin again.
Other examples of grieving backsliders would vary from people crying to simply asking if they could possibly find forgiveness once again. For such people, we often tell them about Luke 15:11-32. In our day, we call that teaching the Parable of the Prodigal Son though it is not actually called this in the Bible.The highest authority on the backslider, and how God reacts to a repentant backslider, taught the following: LISTEN TO: Almost A Backslider (mp3)
God's Truth About Backsliding
Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them. Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate. Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 'Your brother has come,' he replied, 'and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.' The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, 'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutescomes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!' My son, the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.'"
Restoring The Backslider and Backsliding
The backslider (or prodigal son in this case) repented when he came to his senses. This means a person who remains unrepentant and in sin that is dragging him to hell is not in his right spiritual senses. He has been spiritually blinded by something or deceived somehow.
That backslider was able to find forgiveness after he turned from all the wickedness he had been in to serve God. That wise decision reversed the spiritual death he was in and he became alive again (Lk. 15:24). Repentance (turning from sin) to serve God is illustrated in this teaching. Though the backslider was in wild living, including sexual sin with prostitutes,for an unknown period of time - perhaps many years - he still found forgiveness. He was still able to return to God and God wanted him back.
The prodigal became alive again and his lost spiritual condition changed upon turning from all those sins and humbly coming back to the Father to serve him. Compare to 1 Thess. 1:9b.
The only time in the Bible that we read where the Father ran is in this teaching and it was to welcome the repentant backslider back home!
The Father was so happy to have the backslider home he hugged and kissed him as well as celebrated.
Some Christians who correctly reject the teaching of eternal security wrongly think that no one who ever falls away can come back to salvation. That is clearly refuted by Jesus' teaching here, as well as other passages (Rom. 11:19-23 and James 5:19,20).
This teaching proves that a spiritually lost and dead person could be a person that was once saved. That truth and the following explain the phrase, God is married to the backslider, but few know God gave her a certificate of divorce and sent her away:
I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries. Yet I saw that her unfaithful sister Judah had no fear; she also went out and committed adultery. (Jer 3:8)
Mercy to the Repentant Backslider
The fact that God delights to show mercy to the repentant backslider is illustrated in Jesus' teaching, but also candidly declared in the following passage:
Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea (Micah 7:18,19).
Another relevant passage is:
He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy (Prov 28:13).
Did you notice that the returned prodigal (backslider) confessed his sins and wicked actions to the Father (and not to any man, including a priest). This is the Lord's teaching on this:
The son said to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son" (Luke 15:21).
The Bible also says about those who sin after getting saved:
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).
Prayer Of a Backslider
David's prayer as a backslider returning to God and asking God for forgiveness shows the pain and misery, he and others like him, are in. When the devil is tempting the righteous to sin, he will never accurately portray sin in this manner:
For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place. Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me (Psa 51:1-11).
Backsliders Prayer
The context of the following for Israel was their idolatry. Notice the prayer of a backslider that is recorded:
Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God. Your sins have been your downfall! Take words with you and return to the LORD. Say to him: "Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips. Assyria cannot save us; we will not mount war-horses. We will never again say 'Our gods' to what our own hands have made, for in you the fatherless find compassion." (Hosea 14:1-3)
NOTE: Had the prodigal (or King David) died physically when in their backslidden condition, they would have gone to fiery torment.We can all rejoice that those backsliders came back to the Father, but this is not always the case. God's discipline doesn't always bring thebackslider home (Jer. 32:33). Many turn away and die physically in that lost condition, such as the Apostle Judas Iscariot. Don't be deceived by those who would say that Judas was never saved.(Please see our book, "The Believer's Conditional Security," pages 279-286.)
Similar to the fact that there are two types of lost people, there are also two types of wicked people - one being a backslider. This is reasonable since the spiritually lost are also wickedin God's eyes. But many in our day would wrongly consider the backslidden, who were previously saved, carnal Christians or elect people in grievous sin and not unsaved (wicked) at all. Such has been produced by the pernicious theology of eternal securityas embraced by multitudes of religiously deceived people. We have noticed that eternal security proponents don't usually repent of their sins until they first learn that there is no such thing as eternal security, once saved always saved or theperseverance of the saints, that is, there is no such thing as security in sin.
Backsliders are Wicked
Scripture shows that the backslider is wicked:
For the director of music. Of David the servant of the LORD. An oracle is within my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked:There is no fear of God before his eyes. For in his own eyes he flatters himself too much to detect or hate his sin. The words of his mouth are wicked and deceitful; he has ceased to be wise and to do good. Even on his bed he plots evil; he commits himself to a sinful course and does not reject what is wrong (Psa 36:1-4).
Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse, who leave the straight paths to walk in dark ways (Prov 2:12,13).
That fact is also a deathblow to the Charles Stanley eternal security teaching because the wicked are always unsaved people on the road to the fiery furnace:
Salvation is far from the wicked, for they do not seek out your decrees (Psa 119:155).This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Mat 13:49,50).
You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil; with you the wicked cannot dwell. (Psa 5:4)
NOTE: The wicked of Psa. 5:4 will not dwell with God. That is the same exact Hebrew term for the wicked in Prov. 2:12,13 showing backsliders are lost and dead, as the prodigal was before he repented and became alive again (Lk. 15:24).
How To Help A Backslider
To help a backslider, show him how to become Biblically wise. To be a Biblically wise person, one must put into practice the word of Godand by doing such he is identified as a member of Jesus' spiritual family. Dear backslider, take to heart Jesus' teaching on this:
Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash (Mt. 7:24-27).
He replied, "My mother and brothers are those who hear God's word and put it into practice" (Luke 8:21).
Getting back to Psalm 36:3, to cease to be wise and to do good shows that such a person was once God's child at a prior point in time, but since (as a backslider) has lost that spiritual identity and taken on a new identity - wicked. In other words, when one turns to this degree he loses his salvation. The backslider is no longer saved. This is taught other times in the Bible:
But those who turn to crooked ways the LORD will banish with the evildoers (Psa 125:5).But rebels and sinners will both be broken, and those who forsake the LORD will perish (Isa 1:28).
Eternal Sin and The Backslider
Jesus was the only one who ever mentioned eternal sin and at the same time told us clearly what it is:
But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin. He said this because they were saying, "He has an evil spirit" (Mark 3:29,30).
If you read Mark 3:22 you will learn more about those who committed such a form of blasphemy. They were saying that Jesus had a demon and by the power of the devil he was casting them out and performing his miracles. This is what Jesus identified as eternal sin. It is not adultery, murder, disowning Jesus, or any other kind of sin. All of the latter can be forgiven, but not blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, also known as eternal sin. Another sin that can't be forgiven is taking the mark of the beast,Rev. 14:9-12. (Eternal sin is apparently the type of sin those mentioned in Heb. 6:4-6 committed and, therefore, they could not be renewed again by repentance.)
So, backslider return to God. Backsliders come back to Christ. Almighty God wants you back. It is the devil that is tormenting your mind and trying to make you think you cannot repent and return to God. Remember also all the good that Peter did after he returned to God from his backslidden condition.God used him mightily and can do the same with you. Yes, returned backsliders can do great things for the kingdom of God. If you have been a backslider, but since have sincerely repented to return to God, he has accepted you home as he did the Prodigal and others. Believe it. That is the truth. May God use these eternal truths to enlighten backsliders, who are in desperate need and earnestly desire to return to God.
“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25–26)
A few days ago we laid the body of my wife’s grandfather in the ground outside the little brick church in the cornfields where he attended all 97 years of his life. I was given the profound honor of preaching at his funeral. And the words of John 11:25–26 were my text.
I chose them because Jesus said them to Martha when Lazarus lay dead in his tomb. And I was to stand behind the old pulpit in front of a full casket.
A corpse is a fierce reality. It demands that we explain these claims of Jesus — perhaps the most incredible ever spoken by a credible human being in all of history.
What does Jesus mean that he is “the resurrection and the life”? Why is it only for those who believe? And how can one die and never die?
“I am the resurrection and the life.”
To understand why Jesus gave himself this strange name, we must go back to the horror that occurred in Eden.
God had warned Adam and Eve that if they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they would die (Genesis 2:17). But the devil-serpent told Eve that God was a liar. They would not die. They would become like God (Genesis 3:4–5)! And they believed him and ate (Genesis 3:6–7).
Do you see what happened? As long as Adam and Eve believed God, they would have life — abundant life, full of the joy of sweet fellowship with their Father. Trusting God with all their heart would have protected them.
But when they listened to a deceiver and trusted in their own understanding (Proverbs 3:5), it opened to them a world of horror. Their eyes, and the eyes of all of us descendants, were opened to evil and blinding complexities that none of us have the capacity to grasp. Fear and self-worship turned us pathologically selfish. We became susceptible to all sorts of deception.
And God pronounced a curse on them that we who sin like them have inherited (Genesis 3:17–19). Death entered the human experience and with it all sorts of affliction and trouble.
When Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life,” what he meant was that he had come to reverse this curse. “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22). Jesus came to bear “our sins in his body on the tree that we might live to righteousness” (1 Peter 2:24). “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
But Jesus only reverses the curse for all who will believe in him. That’s why he says…
“Whoever believes in me, though he dies, yet shall he live.”
Why is believing so crucial to Jesus? Because the fall of Adam and Eve was the failure to believe in God. “They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever” (Romans 1:25). This is a dishonoring, a treason of such magnitude that a holy God cannot tolerate and be righteous. Such guilt must receive its just penalty.
But “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Jesus pays the penalty for this treason by bearing the curse (Galatians 3:13) for everyone who will trust his word over Satan’s or their own understanding. And everyone who believes in him will be raised from the dead just as Jesus was resurrected (1 Corinthians 15:52–53). And more than that…
“Whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.”
Now wait. Isn’t this just double-talk? How can you die and never die?
Here’s what I believe Jesus means. Everything that has been subject to the curse of the fall will die. The old must pass away (2 Corinthians 5:17). “That which is born of the flesh is flesh” (John 3:6). Our bodies and the sinful nature woven into them will die (except for those who are alive at Jesus’s return [1 Corinthians 15:51]) because Jesus is delivering us from sin as well as death (Romans 8:2). “Who will deliver me from the body of this death?” Jesus (Romans 7:24–25)!
But “that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” When a person believes in Jesus they are “born again” (John 3:3). To this believer he says I am in you and you are in me (John 14:20). And nothing that is united to the Resurrection and the Life can die. The newborn spirit, what Paul calls the “inner self” (2 Corinthians 4:16) does not die when the outer self dies. This is why Paul says that to “be away from the body” is to be “at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8).
That which is born of the Spirit does not die when that which is born of the flesh dies.
“Do you believe this?”
This was the question Jesus asked Martha in the face of Lazarus’s death. It rang in our ears as we buried Grandpa Wally.
It is the most important question you will ever answer. For John the Baptist said,“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:36).
Jesus has come to reverse the curse of death. And this free gift is yours if you will believe in him. You will live though you die, you will be raised, and you will never die.
1 Peter 2:24, "...by whose stripes ye were healed."
Your healing was paid for by the Blood of Jesus!
Just because Jesus paid for our healing, doesn't mean you will automatically manifest the benefits. You need to reach out and receive what Jesus did for you by faith! Jesus died for the sins of the world, but that doesn't mean that the world will be saved, because they didn't reach out with faith and receive what Jesus did for them!
The source of sickness and disease
Sickness didn't come until the fall of man. Therefore, sickness and disease is a result of sin. It also says that if God's people will turn from their wicked ways, He will take sickness from their midst (Deuteronomy 7:15). Sickness is a result of a curse (Deuteronomy 28:59-61). Generational curses (Exodus 20:5) are evident when diseases such as cancer run from right down a family tree.
I'm not saying that EVERY sickness is spiritual, but many are. Food poisoning is usually one that isn't, but it's still covered in the atonement!
Payment for our healing
Isaiah 53:5, "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."
It is said that Jesus went through 39 lashings on His back JUST for your healing. In those days, 40 lashings was the point where most people died, because the torture was too unbearable for any person to handle. This wasn't for your sins, this time He shed His blood it was solely for your healing! Your healing means an awfully lot to God for Jesus to go through near death torture JUST for your healing! Your healing has been paid for with the Blood of Jesus! Don't let the devil tell you otherwise!
Legal right verses manifestation
The Bible is clear that by Jesus' stripes, we are healed (1 Peter 2:24), but why are there so many Christians who are still sick? The same reason that the world won't be saved, even though Jesus died for their sins! We must reach out and take what Jesus gave us through faith! We, as believers, are entitled to our healing, but if we don't reach out in faith and accept what was given to us, it won't be manifested in our lives!
It's entitled to every believer
There are number of reasons why I believe that healing is for every believer. For one, it was paid for as part of the new covenant package, which every believer is entitled to, but there are a few other good reasons to believe that healing is for every believer and here are some of them:
- Jesus said that all things are possible to him who believes, when confronted with a deliverance (which is very similar to a healing) in Mark 9:23.
- Sickness didn't come until the fall of man. Therefore, sickness and disease is a result of sin. It also says that if God's people will turn from their wicked ways, He will take sickness from their midst (Deuteronomy 7:15). Sickness is a result of a curse (Deuteronomy 28:59-61). Generational curses (Exodus 20:5) are evident when diseases such as cancer run from right down a family tree. Obviously, sickness had a lot to do with the fallen state of mankind. And if Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8) and redeem us from the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13), then why would the sickness remain (the result of a curse), when a person has been washed by the blood of Jesus? It makes no sense.
- If it's God's will for us to be sick, then aren't we rebelling against His will when we go to the doctor?
- There is not ONE story in the NT, where a Christian was sick or diseased and never received their healing!
- Jesus said to go out and cast out demons, heal the sick, etc. (Matthew 10:8), so when Peter and John came upto a man whom was lame, they said "raise and walk in Jesus' name!" (Acts 3:6). Why would they do such a thing unless they KNEW it was God's will to heal that person? That would be embarrassing to walk upto him, and try to heal him and nothing happens! Did they say, "Lord, if it is thy will, heal this man."? No! They spoke out the word, and the man was healed! Just like Jesus instructed them to do!
- Since sickness and diseases are known symptoms of a curse (Deuteronomy 28:59-61), and since Jesus paid the price on the cross to set us free from all curses (Galatians 3:13), why would there be any reason for a child of God to still be living under a curse?
- EVERY single person who came to Jesus for a healing, was healed! Just take a look at some of these verses:
Acts 10:38, "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."
Matthew 8:16, "When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick:"
Matthew 12:15, "But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all;"
Matthew 4:24, "And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them."
Luke 6:19, "And the whole multitude sought to touch him: for there went virtue out of him, and healed them all."
Now, can you show me any scriptures that tell us that somebody went to Jesus for a healing, and DIDN'T receive it? :)
Divine healing is for us today!
The scriptures are very clear that those who believe upon Jesus are automatically entitled to the promises of the new covenant. The Bible never says that this would end before the return of Christ, and therefore there is no Biblical reason to believe that healing is not for today.
Matthew 8:16-17, "When the even was come, they brought unto 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 Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses."
Jesus hasn't changed either! Hebrews 13:8, "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever."
Spirits of infirmity (demonic health problems)
Luke 13:11-16, "And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself. And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day. The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?"
Matthew 12:22, "Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw."
This is more common then most Christians would care to admit. Roughly half of all the healings Jesus did in the book of Matthew were actually deliverances from evil spirits. There were spirits which caused blindness, deafness, and other physical infirmities. If seeking a healing doesn't seem to work, I would definitely look into a possible deliverance. What some people can pray for months over, can be dealt with in a single deliverance counseling session. I've heard many sicknesses and diseases are almost always demonic. Cancer and arthritis are some of the popular ones. Cancer is known to enter through bitterness in a person's spirit. Which turns the person over to the tormenters (Matthew 18:23-35), and those tormenters are evil spirits. Depending on the bondage at hand, and if there are any legal grounds (such as unconfessed sins or unforgiveness), there may need to be a couple steps taken to remove any legal grounds before actually rebuking the unclean spirits. This subject is beyond the scope of this teaching, but there are many teachings on this Web site that cover various aspects of the deliverance process.
Authority to heal
Jesus said to, "Heal the sick"! Matthew 10:8, "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give." I think it's interesting how Jesus didn't tell us to pray and ask God to heal the sick, He told US to heal the sick! Mark 16:17-18 makes it clear that all believers have the authority to lay hands on people and heal them!
I have never seen where Jesus prayed, "Father, please heal this person!" Instead, we see that Jesus healed people with His spoken Word! In John 5:8, Jesus told the man to, "...Rise, take up thy bed, and walk."
The early church healed people in this same manner. In Acts 3:6, "...Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk."
Notice in Luke 9:1 that He not only gave His disciples authority over all devils, but also to cure diseases: "Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases."
Authority is exercised when there is a RIGHT to exercise it. They weren't praying and asking God to heal people, they had the authority to heal, and they were exercising it with a spoken word, just as Jesus did!
I want to clarify that I'm not saying that prayer can't heal people... because it can (James 5:14-15)... I'm just saying that we are taught to heal the sick using the authority that Jesus gave us! I have seen and heard of many healings that took place through prayer, so I'm not saying not to pray, or that prayer doesn't work. I'm simply saying that we have authority over sickness, and therefore we can exercise our authority to bring about healing in another person's life!
I also think it's interesting how Mark 16:17-18 tells us that healing can come through the laying on of hands: "And these signs shall follow them that believe... they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover." The laying on of hands can encourage the transferring of power from us into the person and heal them, just like the woman who felt power flow from Jesus when she touched the hem of His garment (Mark 5:30)! Jesus said that those who believe will have the Holy Ghost flowing out of their innermost being (John 7:38-39), and even Peter's shadow healed people (Acts 5:15)!
Paul's thorn explained
Paul's thorn is often used by Satan to get God's people to question if it's really God's will to heal them. Satan wants God's people to feel that God has them sick for a reason. One of the vital elements in the healing ministry is a solid understanding of Paul's thorn.
2 Corinthians 12:7-10, "And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong."
It's not a sickness: Pauls thorn was clearly not a sickness, because it refers to this thorn as a 'messenger of Satan'.
It's not a demonic bondage: God clearly wants His people delivered from all demonic bondages, so it's not that Paul needed a deliverance. After all, Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil, did He not? (1 John 3:8)
What Paul's thorn actually is: Paul's thorn was the enemy going around causing persecutions for Paul for Christ's sake (see verse 10). Persecutions were one thing that Jesus said His people would have to face (John 15:20), and that perfectly explains why God would not take it away. God's will for our healing and deliverance is made very evident, but we are not guaranteed to be delivered from all persecutions.
How to receive your healing
Know what is rightfully yours: You need to understand that you, as a child of God, are fully entitled to your healing through the blood that Jesus shed when He was whipped ("By His stripes!"). If you don't know it's God's will to heal you, then you're going to lack faith, and faith is how you receive what Christ did for you. Just like when you were saved, it was by faith you received Christ into your heart and life. Same is true with healing, it is by faith that we receive the promises of God.
Repent of unconfessed sins: 1 John 1:9 tells us to confess our sins. Unconfessed sins can be sins lingering in our lives, and need to be addressed. We need to confess and forsake our sins, and when we do that, God graciously forgives us, and those sins can no longer hinder or block your healing. Once you confess and repent of your sin, your heavenly Father welcomes you with open arms (Luke 15)!
Release unforgiveness from your heart: If there's somebody who you are holding grudges or bitterness against, then you need to release that hurt and bitterness from your heart. If somebody has wronged you, and you still think about their wrong whenever you think of them, then it's time to give those feelings the Lord, and leave them there. Release the hurt from your heart that they have caused you, for unforgiveness can come between you and God and prevent your own sins from being forgiven (Matthew 6:15), and can give the enemy a legal ground to bring trouble upon you (Matthew 18:23-35), such as spirits of infirmity, sickness, diseases, etc. Make the choice today to release those hurt feelings, and pray something like this out loud, "Father, I have been holding bitterness in my heart against _______ because they did _________ to me, and I regret not forgiving them as you have asked of me. Forgive me for not forgiving them as I should have. I now release those hurt feelings to you in Jesus' name, Amen." (Repeat prayer for different people and situations if necessary.) Forgiveness is a choice, and when you make that choice, God can help you heal and release those hurt feelings in your heart against that person(s).
Laying on of hands: Something that can help encourage a healing to come, is when another believer, who is strong in faith, lays his or her hands on you and heals you (it's not 'them' healing you, it's God working 'through' them!). Mark 16:17-18, "And these signs shall follow them that believe... they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."
Speak a word in faith: Jesus gave you authority to heal and be healed, therefore speak to the part of your body that needs a healing, and command it to BE HEALED IN JESUS' NAME! Just like Jesus and the early church did: John 5:8, "Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk." And in the early church: Acts 3:6, "Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk."
Common blockages to healing
Lack of Faith: This is one of the most common of blockages that can prevent a healing. Jesus made it clear in many healings, that faith is important for you to use in receiving your healing. Matthew 9:29, "Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you." Also look at Matthew 9:22, "Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole." Jesus also made it clear that, "...If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth." (Mark 9:23). Mark 11:24, "Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." Lack of faith can block us from receiving (James 1:6-7).
Unforgiveness in the heart: If there's somebody who you are holding grudges or bitterness against, then you need to release that hurt and bitterness from your heart. If somebody has wronged you, and you still think about their wrong whenever you think of them, then it's time to give those feelings the Lord, and leave them there. Release the hurt from your heart that they have caused you, for unforgiveness can come between you and God and prevent your own sins from being forgiven (Matthew 6:15), and can give the enemy a legal ground to bring trouble upon you (Matthew 18:23-35), such as spirits of infirmity, sickness, diseases, etc.
Unconfessed sin: 1 John 1:9 tells us that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness. If we don't confess our sins, they can remain lingering around in our lives. Different times Jesus would say to the person "your sins are forgiven" instead of saying "rise and walk". In other words, Him forgiving their sins, opened them up to be healed as well. Pray and ask God to reveal to you any sins that you need to take before Him. Once you confess and repent of your sin, your heavenly Father welcomes you with open arms (Luke 15)! Sometimes a believer has walked away from God, and God is saying, "Come to me and forsake your sins and I'll heal you!" 2 Chronicles 7:14, "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."
Wrong battle plan: Sometimes a healing is not what the person needs. There are many times when a person is being prayed over for a healing and yet the person doesn't need a healing at all; they need a deliverance. A spirit of infirmity has attached itself to them, and is causing some sort of health problem. In Matthew, roughly half of all the 'healings' Jesus did were actually deliverances! Spirits were known to cause physical infirmities, blindness, deafness, etc.
Not knowing it's God's will to heal us: Our Christian faith is based upon God's Word, and therefore if we don't know that it's God's will to heal us, then we will doubt when we ask for a healing, or beg for a healing, instead of confidently receiving it in the name of Jesus. How are you supposed to ask in faith, and receive, if you aren't really sure that God will heal you? What kind of faith is that? It's not Biblical faith, because Jesus said that faith cometh by hearing and hearing of God's Word!
These are some of the common things that can block a healing. This spiritual realm is not a one-shot deal in every situation. There can be many reasons why a person is where they are. I know the deliverance ministry has brought healing to many many people, because so many sickness and diseases are not really physical problems at all, but spiritual ones manifesting in the physical realm.
Some people hold bitterness in their heart, and then when they seek a healing, they may not receive it, because in reality, that sickness or disease is there because of their bitterness, and if they don't deal with the root of the problem, it's likely they aren't going to receive a healing at all. Then they rush out and tell all their friends that God doesn't heal everybody, or that God wanted them to have their sickness. What a mess! All because they didn't understand the reason behind their 'blocked healing'. Don't let this happen to you!
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