[Ed Dowd] I would like to begin today with a survey. I would like to see the hands of how many have ever been sick with some sort of short-term illness – cold, flu, broken arm, that sort of thing – something short-term. Pretty much everybody. How many have ever been sick with something more serious – something long-term – cancer, major disease, some sort of chronic ongoing pain or issue? Ok, 25% or so. How many believe that you were cured or healed of at least one medical issue at some point in your life? Again, almost everybody.

Here are some staggering statistics on illnesses and sicknesses, as of January 19th of this year. A little more than 83% of adults had contact with a healthcare professional in the last year. 922 million visited physician offices in the last year. And as a subset of that, 18% of adults are believed to have some sort of anxiety disorder. There are obviously a lot of different medical conditions – this is just one very broad area. Worldwide though, according to the WHO, back in 2012, they say that on an annual basis, 17 million people die of some sort of infectious disease, 18 million die from some form of cancer, and 17 ½ million die from some sort of cardio vascular disease. That totals almost 53 million who die between those three categories each and every year. If we talk, just for a minute, about the average cold and the average flu, the Centers for Disease Control estimate that as much as 20% of Americans will get the flu on any average given year. 200,000 of those individuals – 200,000 of that 20% – will be hospitalized. Certain situations within their body or environment will make it so severe that they will end up having to be hospitalized.

How many of you have been sick over the last year – some, maybe, feeling icky, called off work, fever, visited the doctor perhaps? I think over the last year – if we look at 2016 – over the last year, a lot of us have been sick at one point or another. Knowing that we all get sick from time to time, the question on the table today is, do you want to be healed? Do you want to be healed? Today, in this sermon, I would like to review God’s promise of healing.

As we begin, I would like to first discuss, two different ways we become sick – two ways we become sick. When I speak of being sick, I would like for us to keep in mind this is a very broad term – anything from serious diseases to broken bones to colds to various…whatever you might catch or encounter – so very broad use of the term sick here. Two ways we become sick. We will look at each of these in a little bit of detail. The first one is to break some sort of law – gravity, some sort of law that functions within your body. Secondarily, you can get sick in order to reveal God’s glory and His purpose. So, let’s look at these – just here in a few minutes.

We can get sick – number one – by breaking a law. God set in motion certain laws that cover this universe and that function within and around our bodies. Has anyone ever fallen off of a roof? Anybody been up on a roof? There was a gentleman – he has since died – died a couple years ago – but he attended our Mead, Kansas congregation, way out in southwest Kansas. He was in his early nineties and for whatever reason, he decided he needed some roof repairs done. Now this was not uncommon – his name was Abraham Lincoln – it was’t uncommon for Mr. Lincoln to be up on his roof, working or doing something on a ladder well into his 80s, and even into his 90s. But this particular time, he was up on the roof and ended up falling down.  God protected him, but there are certain laws that God has put in place that govern this universe and that function within and around our bodies. There’s the law of gravity. How many have ever come in contact with the law that says objects in motion tend to stay in motion? Anybody have an automobile accident or collide on some sporting event or something? There are sanitary laws that God gives to us. Deuteronomy, chapter 23 talks about those. Sometimes we get sick because we fail to properly cleanse ourselves. We forget to wash hands or dispose of things. There are food laws which the book of Leviticus talks about. Then there is also environmental conditions that can have a tremendous impact on our body’s systems – an impact in such a way that our body was not designed to handle it, and so there, sometimes, are these environmental conditions and situations that affect us.

Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong wrote in the late 1970’s a booklet titled, The Plain Truth About Healing. He writes and makes this statement: “When a person is sick or has contracted a disease, he is simply paying the penalty of some transgressed law within his body.” 1 John, chapter 3, and verse 4 tells us that sin is the transgression of the law. I had an interesting conversation with a couple of individuals in Tulsa last week when I gave this sermon. We were talking about this concept of, is it a sin when we fall off a roof and break our leg? Is that a sin? Well, in a generic sense, I would say, “Yes.” It is a law that God established – the law of gravity. While we didn’t break the Sabbath or something specifically mentioned in the Bible, there is a certain portion of that we did break. We failed to acknowledge that law that governs the space that we live in. When law is transgressed, a penalty is incurred. When it is incurred, it has to be paid. God never suspends the penalty. In these cases, sicknesses and diseases sometimes are simply the penalty being paid for broken laws – not washing our hands or such – cause and effect.

Number two: We can also get sick for God’s glory. We can also get sick for God’s glory and for His purpose. It is important to understand that, maybe a particular person is sick, but hasn’t broken any law – be it some law recorded for us in the Bible or some law that governs the universe. Have you considered Job? Job became sick because of Satan’s direct attention – but only, obviously, with God’s permission. Job, chapter 2, verses 6 through 7:

Job 2:6-7 – And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand but spare his life.” So, Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his feet to the crown of his head. There is no law that Job broke, but yet, it ended up being for God’s glory and for the character development of Job.

What about Hezekiah? What was King Hezekiah’s sin? We know him to be a righteous king. The Bible records for us: He was a righteous king and God prospered him because of his good works. What was his sin? The apostle Paul also speaks of a physical ailment that plagued him. 2 Corinthians, chapter 12, and verses 7 through10 describe that a little bit. Was that ailment a result of some sin that he committed? Paul records for us – in that section of scripture there in 2 Corinthians, chapter 12 – he says, “I take pleasure in this for Christ’s sake.”

Let’s turn over to the book of John. Let’s read of another individual that seemingly didn’t necessarily break any laws – wasn’t the result of any sin, from that perspective. John, chapter 9, and beginning in verse 1:

John 9:1 – As Jesus passed by He saw a man who was blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” So, even the understanding, at this point, was that you get sick as a result of a sin. So they posed the question to Jesus. “Okay, well, based on this level of understanding that we have, who sinned? This man is blind from birth, so did his parents sin and it got passed on to him? Or did he do something in the womb or how does all this work? Who sinned? His parents? This man? Jesus answered in verse 3:

V-3 – Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. Sometimes people are sick, seemingly, for no reason at all – like Job, perhaps Paul, but certainly like this blind man here in John, chapter 3. It was for the glorying of God.

Healing from God is a promise. Maybe you’ve heard the short story before. I will recount it here for you. Back in the late 1920’s, Americans and Europeans were still crossing the Atlantic in what they called transatlantic steamships. Here is the story. A man was sailing to Europe in a transatlantic steamship. He felt the meals aboard ship would be too expensive, so he packed in a suitcase a full supply of crackers and cheese. After 3 days of sailing, he was becoming truly fed up with crackers and cheese. A steward had noticed that this passenger never went to the ship’s dining room, and one day asked him about it. “Oh, I can’t afford to eat in there,” replied the passenger. The steward then informed him that meals were included at no extra charge. So let’s ask our question again. Do you want to be healed? Do you want to be healed? I submit to you today that we should get off our crackers and cheese diets, and realize, as part of our calling and choosing by God, and as part of our relationship with God the Father through Jesus Christ, and as part of our baptism, and as part of the very Passover service that we solemnly observe every spring, that healing is included. Healing is included. It is time to get off the crackers and cheese diet. Jesus Christ paid for your healing.

So, do we claim this promise of healing? Or do we simply enjoy crackers and cheese? Let’s talk about our promise. Let’s define the word promise. WordNet Princeton simply says that “a promise is a commitment by one person to another, agreeing to do something in the future.” God has made a promise to heal you. It is an agreement between two parties - one saying, “At a future date, I will do something for you.” It is a promise. God has made such a promise to heal you. Let’s go back to the book of Psalms. Let’s read a verse here in Psalms, chapter 103 – Psalm, chapter 103, and let’s begin in verse 1.

Psalm 103:1 – Bless the Lord, O my soul, and bless all that is within me bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits. Don’t forget His benefits. The Hebrew word here means treatment or action – some service that is being provided. Don’t forget the services that God provides. Verse 3: who forgives all your iniquities – we understand this to be sins, transgression – that forgiveness through Christ’s shed blood allows for the remission of our sins, allows for our forgiveness of our sins. Don’t forget His benefits, who forgives all your iniquities, and notice, what comes next – who heals all your diseases. This is a benefit of following God’s way of life – of being called by Him, of acknowledging that calling, God choosing you, working with you, and you being obedient. Part of that process is that not only does He forgive our iniquities, He forgives our sins when we take those before Him and ask for forgiveness. But there is a healing that goes on as well. The word diseases here is a malady or some sort of sickness.

Verse 4: who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagles. These are some of the benefits of – if you want to say it like this – of following God’s way of life. Certainly, there is a calling. There is an answer of that call. God is working with you and has given you His Holy Spirit. There is an active change you are trying to do each and every day to become more and more like God. As a result, these are some of the things He gives to us. He forgives us of our sins. He heals our diseases. He crowns us with lovingkindness. He provides tender mercies. He does these things for us. This is our promise. This is our promise we can take and acknowledge that God promises to heal us. Again, I want you to take special note that it is right next to the forgiveness of sins. It is not way down the list – forgive sins – most important – and healing way down in last place. No, they are right next to each other. God wants to heal you. God can heal you. God will heal you.

Let’s notice how God describes this particular aspect of who He is. Let’s just turn to the first one here. Let’s go back to the book of Exodus. I have a number of verses here that I’ll just cite and read them to you. But let’s notice the first one together – Exodus, chapter 15, and verse 26.

Exodus 15:26 – If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. There is this if/then clause here. If you are obedient, if you do what I say, if you are mindful of My commands and My statutes, then I will do thus. Then I won’t put these diseases on you. Notice the last part of verse 26: For I am the LORD who heals you. I am the LORD who heals you. Other translations say, “I am your healing God,” or “I am your God healer.” This is one of God’s names. God is our Healer. We know that God has many names and this is one of them. He is our Healer.

You can write down in your notes, and take a look at them in detail later, these next four references: Exodus 23, verse 25, where it says, “I will take sicknesses away from the midst of you.” There’s Deuteronomy 7, verse 15: “and the Eternal will take away from you all sicknesses.” In Deuteronomy 32, verse 39, He says, “I heal.” And finally here, Psalm 30, verse 2: O Eternal my God, I cried out to You and You healed me. These are statements from God and about God, in regards to a promise of healing that we have access to. There is a promise of healing. Individuals in the Bible have written about it, noted Psalms about it. God has recorded these things about His own character for us. We have access to a promise of healing. But there are conditions. There is something we have to do as well, as these verses have pointed out.

How often have you said these following words? “I know God can heal me, if it is His will.” “I know God can heal me, if it is His will.” So, let’s address this question. Is it God’s will to heal you? Is it His will to heal you? We know He can, but does He want to? Does He enjoy us going through various things that we go through to try to take care of ourselves? Does He enjoy watching that process? Is He content with not healing? “Oh yeah, I know that so and so is sick down there, but let’s just see how he gets through this, shall we?” Not today, maybe sometime. Does He want to heal you? Let’s notice the book of Matthew, chapter 8 – Matthew, chapter 8. “I know God can heal me, if it is His will.” There is a leper here in Matthew, chapter 8, that essentially, asks this very question.
Matthew 8:1 – When Jesus had come down from the mountain great multitudes followed Him. And behold a leper came and worshipped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” The word for willing, in the New King James, is a word that means to be inclined or to choose. So, he is essentially asking, “Lord, if you choose, You can make me clean – or, if You are so inclined – if You prefer.” This is what this Greek word means here for willing – if you are so inclined. “I know God can heal me, if it is His will.” Verse 3 - notice the response: Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing.” The same Greek word – “I am inclined. I choose to. I prefer to.” I am willing, be cleansed. Be cleansed.

So is it God’s will to heal us? Does He want to heal us? As Paul would say, “Most certainly!” Absolutely He does! YES! – in capital letters. God wants to heal us! We will read a little bit more about this in a bit, but we have to realize that God’s promise to heal us is right next to the promise to forgive our sins. Sometimes we separate the two. We are very comfortable with God forgiving our sins, but we are less comfortable with God healing us, and we kind of put it in this if clause - if You want to, if You decide to. Does God want to heal us? Absolutely! We have to realize healing is included as part of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice. We will look at those scriptures a little later.

Let’s go over to the book of Hebrews, chapter 11 – Hebrews, chapter 11, and verse 13:

Hebrew 11:13 – These all died in faith not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, were assured of them, embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. These all dies before they received it – having confidence of receiving it – just not having received it before they died. They didn’t say, “If it is God’s will,” or “If You are able to,” or “If You want to, I sure would like to have eternal life.” Sometimes we treat God’s promises in different ways. We know there is a promise for eternal life, but how often have we said, “If it is your will God, sure would like to see if You can help me to be in your Kingdom.” That is never a concept that we really utter, is it? We are confident that if we overcome sins – our sins – if we do what God expects of us, then He will reward us with eternal life. We are all very confident of that, right? We all understand our part to play in that process. There is a certain level of confidence we have as far as being in God’s kingdom. But then we take other promises, like healing, and it is a little bit more wishy washy. “Well, maybe if it is Your will…,” “If You decide….” These individuals had faith in the promises of God and they knew that one day they would receive them – maybe not today, maybe tomorrow, maybe not until the resurrections, but they knew that God would come true on His promises.

Sometimes, we also put the screws to God – in a bad way. We say things like, “If we are not healed, then God must not want me to be healed.” Let’s be careful we don’t utter those words either, because that puts God in a position that He never intended to be put in. Does God want to heal us? Absolutely! Absolutely He wants to heal us! So if God choses a different timing than what we want for our healing, let’s make sure not to blame God, and say, “He did not heal me in my timeframe, so therefore, He must not want me to be healed.” Let’s be careful that we don’t put the screws to God from that perspective.

So what are the conditions for healing? There are a couple conditions. Let’s take the next few minutes and talk about the conditions for healing. There are two of them. Condition number one is, we have to have faith. We have to have faith. Notice Hebrews, chapter 11 – we’re already here. Let’s go up to verse 1.

Hebrews 11:1 – Now faith is a substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Faith is the substance of things hoped for. Faith comes before possession. Right? Faith comes before possession. I have faith that in the family meal tonight there will be some delicious desserts that I most certainly will enjoy. I have faith in that. I don’t have those desserts yet. Right? There are no desserts sitting here. There is nothing underneath either, but I have faith that someone has brought some yummy desserts out there, and I look forward to enjoying them. Faith comes before possession. Before you have something, you have faith in the delivery of that something. Once you receive it, faith is no longer needed is it?  Hope is no longer needed, because you have it. We have the faith of a future resurrection, but when that resurrection occurs, do we have to have faith in it anymore? We don’t, because it has already come and gone. But before you receive it – we have it in substance in the assurance that we will in some point possess it – is faith. We have faith in the resurrections. We have faith in the soon coming Kingdom of God. We have faith in the return of Jesus Christ. Notice the second half of verse 1 here: It is the evidence of things not seen. Faith precedes the actual receiving of whatever it is that you are asking for. Faith is the evidence that you will have it before you receive it. You don’t have it, can’t see it, can’t feel it. And that is what makes faith such an interesting concept to us as humans, because we like to be able to touch things – to have the dessert brought in here before services so I can sit here – stand here – and stare at it. That changes the whole concept, doesn’t it? But I can’t see it. I haven’t been out there. I don’t know what was brought – if anything was brought. Faith is our evidence that we will have it, though. Faith is the assurance of one day receiving it.

I would like for you to read at home sometime this next week, Romans, chapter 4, verses 13 through 25. It talks about the faith of Abraham. This is the kind of faith that we should be having – the kind of faith that Abraham had – certainly the faith that many other individuals and bible characters practiced and showed. Consider later this week Romans 4, verses 13 through 25.  

So, in terms of healing, what does faith have to do with it? In terms of healing, we have to have unwavering faith that we will be healed before we are healed. We have to have faith we will be healed before we are healed. Remember, because once we are healed, we no longer have to have faith in that healing – until we get sick again. We should not have the attitude, “Well, I’ve tried everything else, I might as well try healing – might as well try asking God. Nothing else is working, maybe I should call the minister.” Remember, the assurance that you will be healed is faith. We can’t touch that assurance. We can’t see it. We can’t feel it, but we know that God will heal us.

So how confident are you in your faith of healing? How confident are you in your faith of healing? God has promised that healing. So, when we are sick, we need to boldly tell God that He has promised this, and we would like to claim that promise. Hebrews 4, verse 16, gives us some guidelines on that. It talks about coming boldly before the throne of God. It is not in a demanding way – “God I am sick again and I require a healing – by tomorrow.” It is not that we demand it. We are not coming before God’s throne demanding a healing or anything from an arrogant type perspective. But the promise is there. So, with confidence – with humble confidence – we should go and claim that promise. We should trust that God will then keep His promise. Then the next step is hard for us, which is, stop worrying about. Relax. Leave it to God. Let Him do it. Let Him take care of the healing when He wants to. Our responsibility is to exercise faith, to acknowledge the promise, and leave it in God’s hands. So condition number one – the first thing we have to do for healing – is to have faith.

Number two – the second condition. The second condition we’ll read about over in 1 John – 1 John, chapter 3, and in verse 22, we read about the importance of obedience. The second condition is obedience. We have to have faith, but then we have to have the obedience as well. 1John, chapter 3, and in verse 22, John writes:

1John 3:22 – Whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.

So in the context of healing here, what are we asking from Him in the first part of this verse? We are asking for the healing, aren’t we? Whatever we ask from Him…because we keep His commandments and do what is pleasing in His sight. We’re receiving those things, because we are asking Him, but we are asking through the obedience. We’re not out just being lawless – from a spiritual perspective. We’re not out being lawless citizens and yet expecting God to do something for us. Again, in this verse, we ask Him for the healing. We receive the healing – not because God is blind and He doesn’t care about our behavior. It’s because there is obedience embedded in who we are and what we are trying to become. We have to obey God and keep His commandments.

Here are some other scriptures for you to consider. Revelation, chapter 22, and verse 14 – I’ll just read these next four references off for you. Revelation 22, verse 14, says:

Revelation 22:14 – Oh, how extremely blessed are those who do His commandments that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter through the gates into the city.

Acts, chapter 5, verse 32:

Acts 5:32 – God gives the Holy Spirit to those who obey Him.

Matthew, chapter 19,  verses 16 and 17 – the story of the rich young ruler here.

Matthew 19:16-17 – What shall I do to have eternal life? he poses. And Jesus Christ response is, essentially, keep the commandments.

Mark, chapter 7, verse 7 and 8:

Mark 7:7-8 – ...teaching as doctrine the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men. Obedience is important, but not the obedience to a man or to a set of man’s rules. It is obedience to God and what God has ordained and established. Obedience to God is vitally important and that obedience has to be there.
So if we are sick, what should we do? What should we do if we’re sick? The first step is to realize that we can’t do it alone. The first thing that we have to realize is we can’t do it alone – that we need God’s help. We have to God working in us, helping us, fulfilling His purpose in us. God created our bodies and He created them beautifully. He knows how our bodies work. He knows how the muscles, and tendons, and ligaments, and bones, and organs talk to each otherm and send and receive communication back and forth from the brain and the nervous system. He understands everything about our bodies – the various systems, and functions, and organs and such. God can and will heal our physical sicknesses, as well as our spiritual sins and transgressions, but we first must recognize and acknowledge that we need help – that we need help.

So, once we make that acknowledgement, then what? Let’s go back to the book of James. James tells us what we are to do next. James, chapter 5, and verse 13:

James 5:13 – Is anyone among you suffering? The word for suffering, here in the Greek, is to undergo hardship or to endure affliction. If anyone here is suffering, or if you are enduring hardship and affliction – according to these Greek words – then the response is, to let him pray. Prayer is the solution to that. If we are undergoing hardship, if we are suffering – verse 13 – we are to pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. I love making happy announcements in church. So and so just graduated from this, or so and so just got this award. They are happy about it. They are cheerful about it. They made some major accomplishment. Let’s be happy right alongside of them. Let them sing psalms. Verse 14:

V-14 – Is anyone among you sick? The word sick, here in the Greek, means to be feeble, to be diseased, to be weak without strength – and it can also mean just to be sick. So is anyone among you sick? If so, then the answer here is – the response, then, is: 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. Elders here is a term referencing a rank or an office. It’s not the most important elder. It’s not the youngest elder. It’s not the oldest elder. It’s not the best looking elder. We are to call on the elders of the church – Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Nun, Mr. Redline, myself – the four elders here. Call one of us. Talk to one of us. Ask for this verse to be applied. If we extrapolate out this command here – if anyone is sick, let him call for the elders of the church – the office here is important. It is not a friend. “I’ll just call my friend. He or she will anoint me.” It is not a friend. It is not your dad, unless your dad is an elder. It is not your own self. “Oh, I am not feeling well. I guess I will go to the kitchen, and get some olive oil, and pour it on me, and put my own hands…and ask God to heal me.” It doesn’t work. It doesn’t support the scriptures here. The command is, if you are sick, you call the elders. You call the ministry. Notice verse 15:

V-15 – ...and the prayer of faith will save the sick. Faith, here, is an important component. I mentioned before the phrase I have heard too many times to count, “Well, I’ve tried everything else. I guess it’s time to call the ministry.” I am sad by that phrase when I hear it. “I have tried everything else, might as well try the elders. Maybe I should get an anointing.” It is a very sad statement. I will still pray for the individual, and I will still do the anointing, but this verse comes to mind. Will that person really be healed in what they want? Because the faith seems to be a little lacking. It is the prayer of faith that will save the sick. Faith, again, as I mentioned before, is a requirement for healing. It is the prayer of faith – verse 15 – that will save the sick. And the Lord will raise him up – notice – and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Again, we have this concept of having our sins forgiven being connected with the physical healing. It is not…to a degree, it’s two separate things, but they are so connected. They are not distant from each other – to the point that James even talks about this in the same verse – The prayer of the faithful saves the sick, and if he has sinned, then he will also be forgiven. What a beautiful blessing we have! What a beautiful promise that God has given to us.

So, when we call upon the elders, they will usually have a little bottle of oil, like this, that has extra virgin olive oil in it. The oil is symbolic of God’s Holy Spirit. We’ll put a little dollop on our fingers, and we’ll lay our hands on your head, and we’ll ask God to intervene in your life. But the key with this process is, we can’t go it alone. We can’t go it alone. Do we have faith and trust in God? If we do, then acknowledging the anointing – calling the elders and contacting them – is an expression of faith.

I had an interesting conversation about this sermon last week with a gentleman. And we were talking about how our bodies, to a certain degree, self-heal. If you cut yourself, within hours, certainly by the end of the day, you have a light scab. That scab continues to harden and thicken. And at some point – unless you are like me, and you have this thing with scabs – if you let it be, at some point it will fall off and that part of your skin has healed, right? So, we were having this conversation about, “Well,  if I just get that, do I need to call for the anointing? Do I need to do that, because, in a matter of days or weeks, the scab will be gone and I won’t even be able to tell exactly where that cut was.” My response back to him was, “God designed our bodies, didn’t He? He designed it with abilities to – if you want to call it – self-heal. I don’t really like that phrase, but, hopefully, you understand what I mean by that.  I don’t know what other phrase to use. God designed our bodies to have the ability to repair itself. But who put that ability there? God did, didn’t He? He designed that within our bodies. So is it wrong to acknowledge those things before God, and say, “Without that ability – without You having designed that ability into my body, this cut would be there until the day I died. But, You, God, are a great God, and you have designed this within me.” Do we thank Him for that? Do we thank Him for this promise? Do we thank Him for the ability to call upon the elders – to publicly – not publicly in this setting, but publicly to another human being – express our faith in God. I think, often times, we don’t. We don’t do that. We don’t express that faith to the point we say, “I need God to heal me, so will you anoint me? Will you pray for me?” What a tremendous opportunity we have to go before God with that request.

Let’s go back to John, chapter 9, again. John, chapter 9 – this is the story of the blind man that we read earlier.

John 9:2 – Who sinned this man or his parents that he was born blind? And Jesus responds – verse 3 – …so that the works of God should be revealed in him. Notice verse 6:  When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with clay. And He said to him, “Go wash in the pool of Siloam.” So he went and washed and came back seeing. After the anointing, it’s not time for the faith to end. After the anointing, the faith has to continue. This man was anointed. Jesus Christ spat on the ground. He made some clay put it on the eyes. Christ Himself anointed the eyes. And then the guy had to go off. We don’t know how much time elapsed here, but there was some amount of time that elapsed. From the time the clay was put on, he was anointed, and Jesus Christ gave him the instruction to go and wash in the pool of Siloam, there was a period of time that transpired. That faith had to continue – to the point when he went and did those things, he came back seeing – verse 7. After the anointing, our faith can’t waiver. After we say, “Amen,” and we stand up from that prayer with the minister, and we look at ourselves, and say, “I’m still sick,” “My arm still hurts,” “My knee doesn’t’ bend right. What is going on? Did God not hear your prayer, minister?” let’s remember this man. The faith has to continue past the anointing.

Don’t think, though, that your ailment is too small. You shouldn’t be saying you don’t want to bother God. “Oh, it is just this thing. I have never been anointed for it, but it comes and goes. I just know how to deal with it. I won’t bother with the anointing. Don’t want to bother God with our health problems. He has other things that He is working on.” Does God know how many hairs are on your head, though? He does. For some of us it is a bigger number than others. If God knows the number of hairs on your head, do you think that our health worries are too small for Him?

1 Peter, chapter 5, and verses 6 and 7:

1 Peter 5:6-7 – Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, casting all of your care – this is the word that means distraction or anxiety or worries – casting all of your cares upon Him, for He cares – the Greek word means to show interest or concern – for you.

1 Peter 5:6-7 – Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, casting all of your cares – your , your anxieties, your worries – upon Him for He cares – He has interest in you, He has concern – for you.

Let’s go over to the book of Acts, chapter 19. There are times and situations where maybe the elder is not available immediately. That should not dissuade us from making the request or exercising our faith in that way. It is not a modern issue of the elder not always being available. Paul dealt with this as well, and the apostles, back in the early church days. Let’s read about that here – Acts, chapter 19, verses 11 and 12.

Acts 19:11-12 – Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them, and the evil spirits went out from them.

Sometimes we will mail you a cloth, if we are not able to get to you. Or, if you just want a cloth mailed, you can call and request an anointed cloth. And we’ll send you a little piece of linen, like this, and we will have put that oil on the cloth and we will have prayed over the cloth. And we’ll put it in the mail and we’ll mail it to you. We take this practice from this example here, in Acts chapter 19.

It is important, though, to realize that healing will occur in God’s time. If He chooses not to heal us in this physical life, then we can look forward to being made whole and complete at Jesus Christ’s return. God will decide when to heal. There’s no need to repeat an anointing. “I know I was anointed last week for this for this elbow, but it is still hurting me. I think I will go ask a different elder this week and see if he can anoint me. Maybe God will hear his prayer more than the other one. Or, can two elders anoint me and both of you put your hands on me? Maybe, then, God will heal me. Maybe I’ll request an anointed cloth from all the elders, and I’ll apply all of them at the same time. Maybe I will be healed quicker then.” We kind of make light of these things, but they are real scenarios. We don’t need to go to God and appeal to Him in those types of methods, because, in essence, we’re demanding of God. “You’re not doing it on my time frame. You’re not doing it when I want, so I am going to go a different route. I am going to ask someone else. I am going to ask another elder or multiple elders. Can you put two drops of oil on it?” These are real requests.

Let’s go back to the book of Matthew. My point, though, is, we exercise our faith to the elder once. We make the request once, and then we continue having that living faith to the point of healing – to the time God deems we are ready for that healing. Matthew, chapter 8 – this is another story we read earlier. I just want to pick up a couple of phrases here. At the end of verse 3:

Matthew 8:3 – Jesus put out His hands and touched him, saying, “I am willing. Be cleansed. Notice: And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. Immediately. I have had people tell me that as soon as they picked up the phone and called me, even though I wasn’t there – they left a message – and immediately, they started feeling better. It is the exercise of faith that God wants to see in us. In this individual, it was immediately – his leprosy was cleansed – some horrible disease and immediately it was gone.

Go across the page – chapter 9, verse 18:

Matthew 9:18 – While He spoke these things to them behold a ruler came and worshipped Him saying, “My daughter has just died. But come and lay Your hand on her and she will live.” What faith! “All you have to do is come and touch her, and I know she will live again.”

V-19 – Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples. And suddenly a woman that had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment. How many people do you think had touched Jesus Christ? If there is small group of people moving. We have been in groups, right? You just kind of bump and bang into people as you’re kind of walking along. This woman, though, touches the hem of his garment. In verse 21: For she said to herself, “If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well.” Jesus turned around when He say her, and said, “Be of good cheer, daughter, your faith has made you well.” And the woman was well from that hour. Sometimes, we see it immediately. In this case, it took an hour. She still had to have faith for that hour, right? She had tremendous faith. “If only I could touch His garment, I’ll be made well.” She touched it. He makes that statement. And then she turns and her faith continued. Her faith continued, and within an hour she was healed.

Let’s look at one more – 2 Timothy, chapter 4, and verse 19:

2 Timothy 4:19 – Greet Prisca and Aquila and the household of Onesiphorus. Erastus stayed in Corinth, but Trophimus I have left in Miletus sick. Now, if you are a church member at this time you have all these apostles roaming around visiting different congregations – not that we would ever pick which elder would anoint us, but let us play this hypothetical concept here for a minute – who would you ask, in this time period, to anoint you. You would go right to Paul, wouldn’t you? Perhaps. Again, I’m not elevating Paul. I’m just saying…we just read the verse earlier where God did amazing things through the hand of Paul. Here we have one of Paul’s friends – someone Paul knew. Do you think this individual, Trophimus, do you think he asked Paul for an anointing? I would venture, and almost guarantee, yes, he asked Paul to anoint him. But was he healed then? Either immediately or within the hour? Evidently not, because Paul had to continue his trip, and Trophimus, he ended up leaving behind in Miletus – left him behind, because he was still sick.

The point is that we don’t need to repeat the anointing if we are not healed. God will chose when the time is. We are to exercise the faith. We’re to make the call, send the email, shoot the text, whatever it is – we’re to contact one of the elders. Anointing is one of the duties and responsibilities of the ministry, but you have to make the request. We might notice you walking with a new limp, or we might notice that you are looking a little peaked, but you must make the request. None of the four of us will ever come up, and say, “Hey, noticed you aren’t doing well. Would you like me to anoint you?” We’re never going to ask that question, okay, because it is not necessarily our faith that has to be exercised. It is your faith that has to be exercised with God. We are just, by means, this human component that God has put in the process. You have to come and as us. We anoint you, but God is the one who does the healing. It’s your faith in God. We won’t come and ask if you want to be anointed. You have to make that request. You have to exercise your faith.

So, what if you are not sick? Let’s not raise our hands, but how many of you are not sick today? Hopefully, all of you. To a certain degree or another, hopefully, we’re all not sick. Don’t think that just because you don’t have some issue in your body – I’ll say that broadly – some sickness in your body, don’t think you get a pass on this next section. None of us are alone. We’re all in this together. Godly love is about a deliberate applied concern for others. So, even though our elbow may feel just fine, and we don’t have a cough or some tickle in our throat, there is still a responsibility that we have in this healing process. Go over with me to the book of John. Turn back, please, to John, chapter 5, and verse 2:

John 5:2 – Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had. Just as a footnote here, is it the angel here that is doing the healing? It is not the angel. It’s not the angel. The angel is going down and stirring the water, but it’s God that is providing the healing. Verse 5:

V-5 – Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” How many have ever had this – a little slow to get up, a little slow to start walking? My days are coming, I know. This individual experienced just that. He started seeing the stirring of the water, and he was a little slow to get up, a little slow making it down the steps. And here is this other guy that buzzes by him, so to speak, and gets into the pool and receives a healing. And now he has to go back up the steps, sit back down, and wait for the next stirring of the water. So, he is relating this to Christ. Verse 8:

V-8 – Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” And immediately the man was made well. He took up his bed and he walked. And that day was the Sabbath. There is no one there – my point with this section is – there was no one to help him. He didn’t have a friend to help him more quickly get up and down those steps. There was no friend to assist him.

By contrast, let’s go over to Mark, chapter 2, and in verse 1, we’ll contrast the man trying to get into the pool with this individual.

Mark 2:1 – And again He entered Capernaum after some days and it was heard that He was in the house. Capernaum seemed to be the place where Jesus Christ operated a lot from – maybe like His base camp or his centralized place He made various trips to and from. Some theologians believe that maybe this was Jesus Christ’s own home. Maybe He owned this home. We don’t know for sure. Nonetheless, He was in Capernaum. He was in the house. Verse 2:

V-2 – Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door and He preached the word to them. So, this house, where He is in, is filled, literally, to capacity – to the point they were even flowing out the door as well. There wasn’t even room at the door. Verse 3: Then they came to Him bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. They didn’t literally tear down the roof. We have roofs on our houses, and they are very much permanently affixed – or, hopefully, they are. In these times it was not uncommon for the roof to be removable. They simply pulled back the roof – the  covering that typically there over the inner courtyard. So, they uncovered the roof where He was. And when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying. So, they opened the roof and this infirmed individual was let down by four of his friends. Notice verse 5, though:

V-5 – When Jesus saw their faith. Whose faith? Not just the paralytic man’s faith. He saw their faith – all five of them. He saw all five of their faiths – not just the guy that was sick, but his four friends too. When Jesus say their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.” Whatever it takes to gain the presence of Jesus Christ and God the Father, we should do it. If it is through prayer, do it. Through fasting, do it. We should be bearing one another’s burdens. We should be asking others to pray with us and for us. Now it shouldn’t be the prayer type concept that, “Maybe, if I get X number of people to pray for me, then maybe God will hear me. If I can get a hundred people to pray for me, maybe He will hear me more clearly than if me and only a couple of my friends are praying.” That is not the concept we should be working toward. This individual, though, couldn’t gain the presence of Jesus Christ by himself. He had to have help. He had his friends. His friends were there, helping him, supporting him – literally, lowering him gently down through the roof of the house.

Brethren, we should be getting our minds off ourselves and praying for others. There is plenty of sickness in the church to go around. There is plenty of sickness. Let’s be praying for one another. We have cards most weeks on the back table. We have prayer requests galore. Those are important and those provide a wonderful service to those individuals who live outside our area. We should continue doing that, but especially our brothers and sisters here, the ones in our sister congregations that we know are sick, we should be praying for them. We should be beseeching God on their behalf.
 
Let’s turn back to Matthew chapter 8. Passover is a short eight weeks away. I’ve made mention of this Passover connection with healing. I just want to take a little bit of time, and go through some verses that connect different aspects of Jesus Christ sacrifice together. One of those aspects of Christ sacrifice is our physical healing. So, I want to take a few minutes and look at some key scriptures in this regard. Matthew, chapter 8, and verse 16:

Matthew 8:16 – When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed, and He cast out the spirits with the word, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, “He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses.” A direct connection here is made between Christ’s beaten body and healing. He took our infirmities. He bore our sicknesses. He did those things for us. Through that sacrifice, we are very familiar with the concept that He forgives our sins through that shed blood. But there is also a healing component of that sacrifice as well. Let’s go back and read this quotation – back to Isaiah. We’re going to chapter 53 – Isaiah, chapter 53, and we’re going to read verses 4, 5 and 6. Isaiah 53, verse 4:

Isaiah 53:4-6 – Surely, He has borne our griefs – it’s a Hebrew word that means sicknesses. Surely, He has born our griefs – our sicknesses – and carried our sorrows or pain, yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon Him and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way. And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

I would like to read a quote from United Church of God’s study paper on Divine Healing. The church writes this on the top of page 4: “For this prophecy to be cited in connection with physical healing is significant. While there is no doubt a spiritual connection and “spiritual healing” is the primary focus in this prophecy, we cannot ignore the physical implication of what Isaiah prophesied and Christ fulfilled. He paid the price for sin, that we may be made whole in every sense of the word.” The connection here between Isaiah 53 and Matthew 8 is tremendous. There is a spiritual component – the forgiveness of our sins – but there is also a very strong physical healing component as well.

Let’s notice 1 Peter, chapter 2, verse 21:

1 Peter2:21 – For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow in His steps – who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth – who when He as reviled, He did not revile in return. When He suffered, He did not threaten but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously. Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness – by whose stipes you were healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. The spiritual application of Christ’s sacrifice here is clearly noted. Our sins are forgiven, but it also does not exclude the physical healing of our sicknesses, our illnesses.
 
I’ll give you some other citations about His crucifixion – you can read them later: Matthew, chapter 27, verses 24 through 26; Mark, chapter 15:15, and John, chapter 19, verse 1 – Matthew 27:24-26, Mark 15:15 and John 19:1. Severe scourging occurred prior to the crucifixion. It is the scourging and the physical beating that Jesus Christ went through that allows for our physical healing. Let’s always remember the tremendous price that God the Father Himself, through Jesus Christ, paid for us in order to be whole. Our healing is truly a miracle. God gave His only Son, our Creator, to be beaten, scourged, bruised – who didn’t break any law and lived a sinless life so we could be healed.

It is important to remember that God never compromised on His laws or the penalties. Satan wants us to think that. He wants us to think that God abolished the law, or minimized it in some way, or removed the penalty – not to have to deal with cause and effect. But since we are talking about these two aspects of Christ’s sacrifice, let’s just clarify something quickly here. There is only one sacrifice. There is only one sacrifice. I mentioned the scourging separate from the crucifixion, but there is one sacrifice. Again, quoting from the church’s study paper on Divine Healing: “There is only one sacrifice for sin. We should emphasize that the suffering and death of Christ constitutes one sacrifice. Yet we read in 1 Corinthians 11 that proper discernment of the body and blood of Christ is essential. Paul discusses judgment and illness in the church and relates them to an improper understanding of the Passover symbols or an unworthy manner of participating. This does not divide the sacrifice of Christ into two parts, but it does connect the body of Christ with the physical healing of our bodies.”

Let’s go ahead and go over to 1 Corinthians 11. Let’s read about this – what Paul, here, is writing in his first letter to the church of Corinth. 1 Corinthians 11, verse 23, gives us the timing of when the Passover is to occur. It is to occur on the same night, verse 23, in which He was betrayed. So, we have this key here to know which day or which evening to keep the Passover on. Verses 24 and 25 talk about the body and the blood. Notice though verse 26:

1 Corinthians 11:26 – For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes. Therefore, whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner, eats and drinks judgment to himself not discerning the Lord’s body. For this reason, many are weak and sick among you and many sleep. The Revised Standard Version says, “that is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.” Paul refers to the sacrifice of Christ here in terms of the body and the blood. It relates to those who are weak and sick as not having discerned the Lord’s body – body only. There’s a connection here between the beaten body of Christ, symbolized by the bread, on the Passover night and the healing of our body. Let’s be careful that we are not guilty of ignoring the principle of healing, which is embedded in the sacrifice of Christ and symbolized each year through the Passover symbols. In this context, let’s remember what we read earlier in Psalm 103, verse 3:

Psalms 103:3 – Who forgives all your iniquities – your sins. Jesus Christ’s death – the pouring out of His blood – who forgives all of your iniquities – and in the second part of Psalm 103, verse 3 – who heals all your diseases – your sicknesses. That is made possible through the scourging – through the beating – that Jesus Christ went through.

We have touched on this next question before, but let’s just wrap up with this. When? When? That is always the question on our mind, right? You might say, “I’ve been anointed and I am in the same condition. It still hurts when I do this.” Healing is in God’s time. Don’t forget the verses we read about healing. Some were immediate, some were within an hour, and some Paul had to go on and leave that sick person behind, and some not even in this life. We might also say, “If I am not healed, does that mean I don’t have enough faith?” If I am not healed does that mean I don’t have enough faith? Only you and God can know the answer to that question. But realize that healing is in God’s time. It is our job to let that faith continue – to acknowledge the promise of healing, to acknowledge sacrifice of Jesus when it comes to our physical healing. Don’t lose your faith in God’s promise of healing if He doesn’t answer your prayer in your time. We all have our time. “I’m sick. I need to be back at work on this day. I have to be healed by this day.” And then God lets it go a few days later

Don’t lose faith because God doesn’t heal when we want Him to heal. Continue to build that faith. Pray that God will increase your faith. Luke 17, verse 5, is our command there. Pray that God will increase your faith. Continue to practice obedience to God’s laws statutes and commands. Something else that is a good practice to get into is, to ask God what you can learn by going through that trial and sickness. Ask God to teach you and continue to refine your character through this process until He does heal you. What lesson needs to be learned? We can consider that as well. But above all, remember that God has never, can’t, won’t, never will break a promise. John chapter 11, verses 25 through 26 says:

John 11:25-26 – ...whoever lives and believes in Me will never die. Ultimate healing will occur in God’s time.

So, in conclusion, keep in mind the most important healing. The healing of the mind, and turning away from our own nature, and turning to God for our own source of life, is most important. Pray for others. Get your mind off yourself and on to exercising godly love toward others. Pray for them. Let’s take these marching orders and let’s build faith. Let’s persevere through obedience. Let’s call upon the promise of healing. Keep looking forward. Press toward the Kingdom of God and build godly righteousness. Let’s conclude over in the book of Colossians. Let’s look at Colossians for our final scripture here this afternoon – Colossians, chapter 3, and verse 1 – Paul writes here:

Colossians 3:1 – If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

Healing is coming. It is the prayer of faith that save the sick. We believe that divine healing is a promise from God and we should claim that promise through faith. So again, our question: Do you want to be healed? Thanks to God’s promise, you can and you will be healed.