Healing & Wholeness - Signs & Wonders Isaiah 35:6 Isaiah 53
This month In our series on Fresh Fire, we are looking at the work of the Spirit in the Writing of the Old Testament Prophets.
And as this is a Healing and Wholeness Service it is a wonderful opportunity for us to consider a few verses from the book of Isaiah that speak prophetically about the Messiah that would come to bring healing and wholeness.
Let me give you a little background first....
The OLD TESTAMENT covers a period of around 4000 years and there are only a few specific accounts of healing recorded.
In fact if you added up all of the accounts of specific healing in the Old Testament and compared that to the New Testament accounts of healing -
you would discover that Jesus actually healed more people in a single day than are recorded in the whole of the Old Testament.
(The Old Testament records 12 specific occasions for individual healing and 3 occasions of corporate healing).
There are miracles and signs and wonders recorded throughout the Old Testament.
Healing is one of the many ways in which God,
in His mercy, was active in the lives of His people.
From the book of Genesis to the book of Malachi there is evidence of God’s active involvement with His people.
Israel’s history is full of angelic visitations, divine revelations, acts of mercy, acts of judgement, supernatural manifestations and miraculous deliverances -- All of which are recorded as evidence of God’s interaction with His people.
Miraculous occurrences that provided Israel with blessing and confidence in their God.
When we read the Old Testament we discover that there is a wonderful interweaving of prophetic activity and real-time events.
Throughout the Old Testament God worked Miracles and Signs and Wonders to underscore the fact that God was God and was actively involved with his people.
God is always at work in the world and God is always working amongst His people, but there are special times when God seems to intensify His activity -- ‘times of refreshing from the Lord.’ as Acts 3:19 describes it.
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In the Bible there are many names that are used to describe God.
Names that reveal His nature and activities.
‘Almighty God,’ ‘the Sovereign Lord,’ ‘the God who provides’ and ‘the Lord our Shepherd’ are a few of the many names that describe His magnificent and multi-facetted nature.
One of the names given early in Israel’s history, soon after they had been delivered from their Egyptian bondage – was Jehovah Rapha, the Lord your healer.
Jehovah Rapha ‘the healing God’ or ‘God who heals’ conveys something of the very heart and nature of God.
In the same way that ‘God is love’ describes something that God is (not just does).
God is Healer by name and Healer by nature.
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The Old Testament is full of prophetic words and pronouncements that reveal God’s sovereignty.
One prophetic theme majors on the Messiah and another on the Messianic age and people.
The coming of the Messiah is the focal point of Old Testament prophecy.
The Old Testament gives a detailed picture of the Messiah - Jesus birth and His suffering and meticulously detailed.
But it is his supernatural ministry, empowered by the Spirit, that proclaims the hope of mankind.
Isaiah 35:1-7 says:
Even the wilderness and desert will be glad in those days. The wasteland will rejoice and blossom with spring crocuses.
2 Yes, there will be an abundance of flowers and singing and joy!
The deserts will become as green as the mountains of Lebanon, as lovely as Mount Carmel or the plain of Sharon.
There the Lord will display his glory, the splendor of our God.
3 With this news, strengthen those who have tired hands, and encourage those who have weak knees.
4 Say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, and do not fear, for your God is coming to destroy your enemies. He is coming to save you.”
5 And when he comes, he will open the eyes of the blind and unplug the ears of the deaf.
6 The lame will leap like a deer, and those who cannot speak will sing for joy!
Springs will gush forth in the wilderness, and streams will water the wasteland.
7 The parched ground will become a pool, and springs of water will satisfy the thirsty land.
The opening of blind eyes, the hearing of deaf ears, the leaping of the lame and the joyful shouting of the mute are all possible because Jesus has come!
Remember when Jesus read from the Book of Isaiah 61:1-3 and said today this scripture is fulfilled - Let me remind you of what He read?
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me,
for the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted
and to proclaim that captives will be
released and prisoners will be freed.
2 He has sent me to tell those who mourn
that the time of the Lord’s favor has come,
and with it, the day of God’s anger against
their enemies.
3 To all who mourn in Israel,
he will give a crown of beauty for ashes,
a joyous blessing instead of mourning,
festive praise instead of despair.
In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for his own glory.
The Spirit of the Lord will be upon him to heal and deliver.
But the promise of the Bible is clear it’s not only Jesus that will carry this anointing for ministry.
The Spirit of the Lord will empower God’s people. There will be Deliverance and Salvation.
Acts 2:17-22 quotes Joel 2:28-32 -
God’s Promise of His Spirit -
This is the platform the New Testament church was launched on:
28 ‘In the last days,’ God says,
‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy.
Your young men will see visions,
and your old men will dream dreams.
18 In those days I will pour out my Spirit
even on my servants—men and women alike—
and they will prophesy.
19 And I will cause wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below—
blood and fire and clouds of smoke.
20 The sun will become dark,
and the moon will turn blood red
before that great and glorious day of the Lord arrives.
21 But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord
will be saved.’
The New Testament contains a wonderful record of the signs, wonders, healing, conversion, supernatural blessing that was to be continually released through the Holy Spirit empowered church.
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You know as well as I do that the main purpose of Jesus, was to deal with the spiritual consequences of our sin.
He paid for our sin with His own life.
His substitutionary death makes salvation available to everyone that will trust Him as Lord and Saviour.
This is central to the Christian faith.
This is the focal point of the New Testament .
But do you realise that His great act of atonement for our sin also includes provision for healing.
Matthew 8:16-17 When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. This was to fulfil what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases.”
The prophetic Spirt inspired words of Isaiah 53:4-5
Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
Friends, Whatever circumstance has brought you here this morning.
Whatever situation is in your life.
Surely he HAS taken up your infirmities.
He IS carrying your sorrows.
He WAS pierced for your transgressions,
He WAS crushed for your iniquities;
the punishment that brought YOU peace WAS upon him, and by his wounds YOU ARE healed.
What a blessing! What a Saviour! What a promise!
Do you need to claim the promise of healing for yourself? For your family? For your friend?
God is able to heal today.
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In a moment we will pray for individuals - if you want prayer there will be an opportunity for you to come forward.
But right now where you are I want everybody to stand.
Sometimes we are too proud to come forward, sometimes we are too worried about what will happen - sometimes in our pride we don’t want anyone to know we are hurting.
Is everybody standing...
Ok now if there is nothing wrong in your life right now, nothing wrong in the life of someone dear to you,
nothing wrong in the life of a neighbour, friend or family.
If there is nothing that needs healing in your life,
if there is nothing that needs to be changed,
if there is nothing that can be made whole
if there is nothing you want Jesus to do you can sit.
Thought so, every one of us needs to be healed from something
every one of us wants Jesus to make something whole
I want you to close your eyes and pray a simple prayer with me.....
PRAYER
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An opportunity for INDIVIDUAL PRAYER
