[2] Life can really hurt sometimes, can’t it? Whether it’s something we bring on ourselves or it’s something that just happens, theirs times when life really hurts.
[Lucy’s hand, Kenny’s business, dad’s daughters stories.]
At times, life can really hurt. But even though we know that life can sometimes be a painful struggle, we also know that there is help for the pain. [3] Life can hurt but God can heal! He can! God can do amazing things in our lives and heal us from our hurts.
All through the Scriptures we see example after example of God miraculously healing someone from their physical ailments. And probably most of us here could attest to seeing someone we know and care about who’s been miraculously healed from their physical ailment. We’ve read about healings and we’ve seen them with our own eyes.
But you know what? I think that many times we miss the point of the miracles that God has done. We seem to think that the miracle was just about freeing someone of their physical discomfort. But we need to understand that when God works a miracle of physical healing it’s mostly to present a picture of spiritual healing. When God works a miracle of physical healing it’s mostly to present a picture of spiritual healing.
We know this to be true for several reasons. First of all physical healings are selective. Not everyone gets healed of their physical problems. The Apostle Paul himself said that several times he asked the Lord to heal him of his disease but the Lord kept saying “no”. Obviously there was a bigger purpose for his pain other than immediate healing.
Also, physical healings are temporary. Every person in the Bible who was miraculously healed in some way eventually died. People throughout history who have been miraculously healed by the Lord have eventually died. Physical healings are temporary.
But when the Lord does choose to physically heal someone, the reaction of everyone who saw it or experienced it shows us that when God works a miracle of physical healing it’s mostly to present a picture of spiritual healing.
Too often we focus on the miracle while we should be focused on the message of the miracle – the message that spiritual healing is available to us.
Now, we should pray for miracles to relieve the suffering of the sick. It’s biblical, it’s right, and many times the Lord works as a result of our prayers. But when He does work a miraculous healing of the body, let’s make sure we see it as a picture of how He can heal our souls. If God can heal the sick, if God can raise the dead, then God can surely help me!
Some of us here this morning need a physical healing of our bodies. We do. But even more so, some of us here this morning need a spiritual healing. Our souls, our spirit, our lives are plagued with sickness and even death. Life can hurt, but God can heal.
Go with me to Acts 9 where we’ll continue to learn how we can truly [4] be the church in this world. Here we’re going to see that since God can heal the body from sickness, He can heal the soul’s diseases as well.
[Read Acts 9:32-35.]
The apostle Peter is traveling throughout the region visiting and encouraging the different groups of Christians that were spreading out all over. He came across this man who had been paralyzed and bedridden for eight years. By the power of the Lord Peter spoke healing into this man’s legs and he got up and walked.
This miracle is much like the one that’s talked about in chapter three where Peter spoke healing into a cripple’s legs at the entrance of the Temple.
In both cases when the people recognized that a true miracle had taken place, they turned to the Lord who was the source of the miracle. You see the miracle validated Peter’s message that Jesus was the Christ and so when he preached the people listened and believed. When God works a miracle of physical healing it’s mostly to present a picture of spiritual healing.
You know when you are sick, your life isn’t what it could be. Pain changes our perspective. Ailments slow us down. Injuries can even paralyze us and prevent us from living like we should be.
[Lisette’s favorite story – breaking my foot 3 days before we were moving.]
Injuries can paralyze us and prevent us from living like we should be. The man in the passage, Aeneas, his life was put on hold for eight years because of his disease. But once he was healed he was free to live as he was born to live.
You might be here this morning and you are in perfect physical health – but you’ve got some spiritual sickness that’s keeping you from living as you were born to live. Maybe you’ve allowed sin to take over in some area of your life and because of it you have a spiritual sickness that you just can’t shake on your own.
- Your thought life is sick with impurity
- Your attitude is sick with negativity
- Your self-discipline is sick with weakness
- Your relationships are sick with unforgiveness
Whatever the sickness is, God wants to heal you of it today. If God can heal the body He can heal the soul and help you become spiritually healthy today so you can live out your faith in an incredible way.
But maybe the sickness you have is in the form of a trial of life. It’s not really your fault, it’s just one of those things that happen, but you need some healing from the Lord.
- Maybe your finances seem sick and you continue to struggle
- Maybe your social life is sick and loneliness has crept in
- Maybe you’ve recently lost a loved one and grief won’t turn you loose
If God can heal the body He can heal the soul and help you become spiritually healthy today. But God’s power isn’t limited to just sickness, God has power over death as well. [5]
[Read Acts 9:36-42.]
Another amazing miracle done by the power of God. This wonderful saint had suddenly died and the entire Christian community there were shook. So instead of burying Tabitha after she died they washed her body and placed her in an upper room. They knew Peter was in the vicinity and that God worked mightily through him so they sent word and had Peter come down to bring this great lady back to life. When he gets there the grief-stricken widows were showing Peter all that Tabitha used to do for the poor. It was as if they were making the case that if anyone needed to be brought back to life it was her. Peter agreed and sent them away so he could focus on working this great miracle. He went into the room where Tabitha was laid, he knelt down and prayed, and then spoke healing into her dead body. News spread fast in that little town and before long many had come to believe in the Lord. When God works a miracle of physical healing it’s mostly to present a picture of spiritual healing.
Now if you ask me, this is one bold move by Peter. I mean healing a crippled guy is one thing – but to bring someone back to life? Who would attempt such a thing?
Well, Jesus would.
[Read Mark 5:35-42.]
Peter was there when Jesus rose the dead. He knew the power of God. He knew it wasn’t his power that was working miracles – it was God’s power! That’s what gave him the courage to believe in God to do the impossible. And just like when Jesus rose the little girl from the dead, when Peter rose Tabitha from the dead the people there got the message of a spiritual resurrection by the power of God.
If there’s a dead area of your life today, I’ve got good news for ya’ – God is in the resurrection business. There’s some area of your life that once was alive but now is dead – God can bring back that area back to life.
Sometimes we don’t deal with the spiritual sicknesses in our lives. And if we let them go untreated for too long then that sickness kills the area of your life that it was infecting.
[Smoking, heart disease, blood pressure examples.]
Untreated illness can lead to death – physically and spiritually. If there’s an area of your life that seems to be dead, trust the Lord for a spiritual resurrection.
- If your personal devotion life is dead
- If your marriage relationship is dead
- If your heart for evangelism is dead
- If your joy is dead
Listen, God can resurrect the dead areas of your life. You must simply trust Him.
Even if it’s your entire life that’s dead! Maybe you’ve never come to faith in Christ and
you know that you’re going to have to answer for your sins all on your own. You know that because of your sins you are completely, spiritually dead and headed for Hell. [6] But God can and will heal your entire soul through His Son Jesus if you will simply trust Him today.
[Read II Timothy 1:8-10.]
Paul is saying that from eternity past the plan of God was always that He would bring life and eternal life to the world through Jesus Christ who would abolish the power of death. Of course He did this when He Himself got up from the grave victorious.
[Read I Corinthians 15:55-57.]
Because of Jesus Christ’s victory over the grave, our spiritual sicknesses can be healed. Because of Jesus Christ’s victory over the grave, our dead lives can be resurrected. We don’t have to live out a sickly, dead existence. If God can heal a cripple, if God can raise the dead, He can heal the hurt in my life!
[Move to communion table.]
[7] Jesus went to the cross for your sins and mine. He did this out of love for us… He loves you…He wants to heal you…He wants to resurrect you…will you believe Him for a miracle?
[Show of hands for a miracle invitation.]
[Prayer.]
[Communion, Matthew 26:26-28.] [8]
