All Who Touch Him Are Healed

ALL WHO TOUCH HIM ARE HEALED

Mt. 14:36

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR

I thought I broke my ankle the other night when I tripped over a Kleenex box, but the doctor said it was only tissue damage.

B. TEXT

“And when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding country. People brought all their sick to him and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed” Mt. 14:36.

C. THESIS

1. Healing was a significant part of our Lord Jesus’ ministry. Of the 3,779 verses of the Four Gospels, 727 (1/5) of them are devoted to Jesus’ healing ministry!

2. Not only did He heal people, but He trained and empowered His disciples to heal people also, and gave that same commission to the Church to fulfill for all time (James 5:14-16; Mark 16:17-18; John 14:12; 1 Cor. 12:9,30; etc.).

3. Further, we shall see that part of Jesus’ atoning work was for the purpose of making a provision of grace so that sickness and disease could be overcome.

4. Therefore, we’re going to study the origins of sickness, look at two aspects of Christ’s healing ministry, and conclude with the precious promises of the Word concerning this great gift.

I. SICKNESS IS FROM THE DEVIL

A. GOD DOES NOT AFFLICT WITH SICKNESS

1. If it was God who afflicted people with sickness, then it would automatically NOT be His will to heal some people.

2. If God directly afflict people, then Christ would NOT have healed "ALL", for certainly in the great multitudes there would have been some people whom God had willed to be sick (if such were true). But Jesus healed them ALL!

3. The sources of sickness can therefore be limited to the Original Sin and its consequences, or to attacks of Satan. It was Satan who tempted Adam & Eve to sin, and brought sickness & death on them.

4. If it were God's will for you to be sick, then it would be wrong to seek healing by any means, whether physical or spiritual. If sickness were God's will, then it would be wrong to go to the doctor! But sickness is NOT God's will.

B. SATAN IS THE AUTHOR OF SICKNESS

1. In Job 2:7 tells us that "Satan went forth and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot into his crown."

2. In Luke 13:16, the Lord Jesus declared that the bent woman couldn't stand upright because she’d been bound by Satan for 18 years and ought to be loosed.

3. In Mark 9:17-21, a demon was the cause of a boy being deaf and dumb and also the cause of his convulsions. When the demon was cast out, the boy was healed.

4. Acts 10:38, Peter preached "Jesus of Nazareth... went about... healing ALL that were oppressed of the devil." This Scripture shows that sickness is Satan's oppression.

5. In 1 John 3:8, we are told that "the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil." Sickness is part of Satan's work. Christ, in his earthly ministry, always viewed sin, diseases, and demons the same -- he rebuked them and drove them out, because they were destructive to those they had afflicted.

6. In John 10:10, Jesus said "the thief (speaking of Satan) comes but for to steal, to kill, and to destroy; but I have come that you might have life, and life abundantly."

C. SIMILAR TO TEMPTATION

1. James 1:13 says, “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.” So who does the tempting? Satan does. God ALLOWS Satan to tempt us for one of two reasons: either we have wandered from His protection OR He has a higher purpose in allowing it.

2. The same is true of sickness. God’s protection may be lifted if we’re disobedient or because God has some higher good purpose. When His protection is withdraw, our adversary the devil is able to get at us and bring a set amount of trouble to us.

3. 1 Cor. 10:13 says, “but God is faithful, who will not ALLOW you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” NKJV The same is true about sickness.

II. JESUS HEALED ALL WHO CAME TO HIM

A. NEW TESTAMENT

1. “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them” Matt. 4:23-24.