At the conclusion of the service today, we are going to act upon the Word of God. Therefore, I appeal to you to listen and engage with me completely. In a few minutes, we are going to be part of God doing many miracles here today. We are going to be a part of many people:
*Being healed emotionally.
*Being healed physically.
*Being healed relationally.
*Being healed spiritually.
I want to appeal to you: do not miss your miracle.
Last week, I talked in great detail about the subject:
“Why Christians Get Sick.” Through deep study of
God’s Word and some key words in the Bible, we concluded the following about why Christians get sick:
(1) Imperfect world
(World is fallen, sinful, death, sickness)
(2) Poor choices
(Disobey God, Sinful Choices, Reap-Sow)
(3) Satanic attack
(CROSS has reversed the curse—Take authority)
(4) Demonstrate God’s glory
(Blind man healed—Through suffering-sickness)
Unquestionably, we elevated two guiding influences from God’s Word:
(1) God ALONE is our Healer.
(2) God can heal miraculously or medicinally
or through a combination of the two.
Now, with this background and with us having reviewed some of what we talked about, I want to speak to you today about: When Christians Get Sick.
People, including spiritual leaders and men and women with spiritual gifts of healing, can say all day long: “Christians don’t have to be sick.” Yet, everyone gets sick and dies, including those people. Hopefully, our lifestyles and convictions may result in “less” sickness and suffering that we bring on ourselves, but ultimately Christians do get sick. Therefore, let’s look at God’s Word, the Bible, says about, “When Christians Get Sick.”
Have you ever heard of a man named, “Trophimus”?
Paul writes these words in 2 Timothy 4:20, “Erastus has remained at Corinth; Trophimus I left sick at Miletus.”
Evidently, Erastus and Trophimus were Christ-followers and partners in ministry with the Apostle Paul. While this man Erastus remained in Corinth, one of his partners was Trophimus. God was using Paul to pray for and see many people healed physically. Yet, he had to leave one of his close associates in Miletus because he was sick. Why didn’t Paul heal him? Did Paul not have enough faith? Could he not heal whom he wanted?
Biblical Insight: Paul could only heal people according to the will of God; he could not heal whomever he wanted.
(Nor can anyone else - we are all subject to the will of God and His purpose.)
T.S.: This morning I want us to evaluate three passages of Scripture. The first one may not be familiar; the second one we talked about in great detail last week; and the third one most of you are familiar with. Once we look at these passages, we are going to lift up three commonalities in each of them. These three commonalities that will become glaring to us will become the three actions that all Christians need to take when we get sick.
For simplicity, let’s identify it this way:
Passage #1: Isaiah 38:1-5, 16, 21
*When Hezekiah found out he was going to die, the first thing he did was pray! By going to God, he exhibited faith in God alone—He knew who could heal and restore him.
THEN, in verse 21 Isaiah told him that they were going to take a lump of figs (FIGS have a healing influence—their nutrients are believed to have a healing power.) Isaiah understood this and scholars believe they took a lump of figs, which have a medicinal value, mixed them with olive oil, also used for healing, and applied it to the infected areas of Hezekiah’s body, making a soft mass and made some kind of medical dressing to keep it in place. They applied this medicinal influence to the inflamed areas of Hezekiah’s body. In time, Hezekiah was healed and then in verse 22, he asked Isaiah when he could go to the Temple to worship.
Passage #2: Acts 28:8-9
We talked about this passage in great detail last week.
Paul prayed to God and demonstrated faith in the Lord. Here is what I want us to lift out of this passage:
*We see in v. 8 that God used Paul to heal some people supernaturally and instantaneously. (Healed: “iaomai”)
God used the instantaneous miracle to draw others.
*We see in v. 9 that when the islanders heard of the miraculous healing, those who had diseases and were sick came to Paul and Luke and they cured.
(Cured: therapeuo) different Greek word used which means to serve, to do service, to treat, to care for, and restore to health. {Medicinal Value}
*Both resulted in healing: One was instantaneous, while the other was through treating people, probably since Luke was with Paul, with some kind of medicinal process. Luke was a physician.
Passage #3: James 5:13-16
*Suffering: Not physical illness, but a burden you carry,
emotional issue like depression-emotional sickness, an addiction or a problem. (Pray—Go to God.)
*Cheerful: Joyful, good spirits. (celebrate, singing)
*Sick: Weak, feeble, diseased, needy physically.
*Elders: Mature, advanced in faith; three words interchangeable in N.T. for church leaders: Elder, Bishop-Overseer, and Shepherd-Pastor. (Presbuteros, Episcopos, and Poimen) Over-arching meaning: Let him call for the Pastors of the church . . . NOTICE: the sick person takes the initiative here, not anyone else.
*Pray: Intercede, make supplication to God on his behalf.
{Prayer is primary here—it is the main verb.}
*After anointing him with olive oil: Administer, place olive oil outwardly upon the sick person: Olive oil had a medicinal value as it was often applied to and massaged into the place of pain or sickness. This would strengthen the believers and build their faith. Olive oil has healing influence and power.
{Anointing is a participle, meaning it is secondary.}
*In the name of the Lord: Jesus’ name is power!
*Prayer of faith: prayer offered on behalf of the elders for the sick person. (Not a magical prayer) (Prayer is faith.)
{Faith of the sick person summoning the pastors to pray and FAITH of the pastors and church to pray}
*Save the sick person: Heal, restore, rescue.
*Lord will RAISE him up: Raise him from the bed of sickness to health; raise him from weakness and being feeble to health; and restore him to health.
*If he has committed sins: indicating a sinful choice may have gotten the person sick or in trouble, but if confessed will be forgiven and cancelled out. If confession of sin has led to healing, then we can conclude sin caused it. The confession needs to be to God and to the elders if necessary, but mostly to the people who have been offended by the sin. Only God forgives! Regardless, if confession of sin has taken place and it always should, then you are prepared spiritually to see what God wants to do, heal you or not, regardless of what has caused the sickness.
*Confess to one another and pray for one another: this results in healing! SPIRITUAL HEALING SHOULD TAKE PRIORITY OVER PHYSICAL HEALING.
(Great PRESCRIPTION for the church.)
*Intense prayer: Urgent prayer of a godly person is very powerful in its operation. Elders should be godly, pray with intensity and urgency; the result is powerful in its operation.
T.S.: With this biblical understanding, what are the three actions Christians need to take WHEN CHRISTIANS GET SICK?
Action #1: Prioritize Prayer.
*When Hezekiah got sick - first thing, he prayed!
*When Paul saw Publius’ father - first thing, he prayed!
*When James speaks of Christians getting sick, he
urged strongly that the first thing was to pray!
(When we get sick, James calls for us to pray and to seek others to pray on our behalf, including the pastors.)
Listen: In verse 14, prayer is the main verb in the text. Verbs are action words. Prayer is to be your action! Your first action.
The Bible Booms: Prayer is THE most SIGNIFICANT factor in healing.
I am not convinced Christians believe this. Why? How many times when you get sick, even something you can manage easily, do you pray about it?
Question: How many times do you say, “Pray for me?”
(I am convinced the reason this rarely happens, if ever, is independence, self-centeredness, and human arrogance.)
*The thrust of all three passages: Prayer is the most significant factor in healing.
*When Christians get sick: we should pray personally, encourage others to pray for us, and summon the church to pray for us, including the pastors.
Action #2: Practice Faith.
*When Hezekiah prayed, he practiced faith in God; Scripture does not indicate he called his doctors first.
*When Paul prayed and laid his hands on Publius’ father, he practiced faith.
*When James talked to Christians who were sick: Summon the pastors of the church; Look to God through prayer, pray with faith in God the Healer, and trust the Lord.
*Faith is acting on the Word of God.
*Faith is trusting in Christ and Him alone.
Mark 2: Jesus was in Capernaum in a home. So many people wanted to hear him that people were everywhere in the home, including the doorway. Four men brought to the home a man who was paralyzed, carrying him physically. They could not get in the door because so many people were present. Mark 2 says they removed the roof of the home and they lowered down the stretcher of the paralytic man.
Mark 2:5, “Seeing their faith...”
*Jesus forgave the man’s sins.
*Jesus healed the man physically.
*We have never seen anything like this.
Listen: Praying with faith in God alone for healing will carry you. Praying with faith in God alone for healing in someone else’s life will help carry the sick person.
Ill: Our church’s hallways and Bible classrooms and our altar at each of our campuses during Worship Services need to be living illustrations of us praying with faith in God alone for healing on behalf of the sick and suffering.
When Christians Get Sick, We Must Take Three Actions:
1. Prioritize Prayer.
2. Practice Faith.
Action #3: Pursue Medical Care.
*Hezekiah was treated, after praying with faith in God for healing, with the figs and olive oil. God healed him.
*Paul and Luke, as they prayed with faith, served, administered treatment, cared for, and restored people to health using medicine and treatment of some kind. People were healed.
*James insists that when Christians get sick, they pray, summon the elders of the church to pray with faith for them, and then anoint them with oil (healing medicine)
in the name of the Lord. People were healed.
James 5:15 shows us while prayer is the main verb, anointing is the adverb.
Spiritual Principle: Prayer is primary and medicine is secondary.
*In emergency situations, prayer and pursuing medical care happen simultaneously.
Let me bring absolute clarity: Scripture does not minimize pursuing medical care, but it maximizes praying with faith.
Sadly, in the American culture, we have turned doctors, therapists, medicine, and counseling into gods.
Pastor Mark Driscoll says: Therapy cannot replace theology. (Does NOT discredit it, but puts in right order)
My theology related to healing (meaning what God says) is: Jesus is the Healer; We are to pray with faith; We are to involve the leaders of the church in this journey; and we are to pursue with all diligence the best medical care possible.
Ill: When Jeana had cancer, we did not say, “We are going to pray and it will go away.” When Josh was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, we did not say, “We are going to pray and it will go away.” Absolutely Not!
We prayed diligently and immediately and continually for God to heal, but we also did all we could to get them in the care of the best physicians and hospitals as possible, Jeana to Houston and Josh to Cleveland, both determined by their own specific disease. Jeana had surgery, received radiation treatments and strong, mean, aggressive chemotherapy, while we prayed and believed God for healing. She is healed! Josh is now giving himself an injection daily while we are begging God to heal him medically, medicinally, or through a combination of the two. All I know is this: God is the One who heals all our diseases and He alone is the One who healeth thee.
App: What concerns me is that Christians today are acting more like humanists who believe in the ultimate power of human beings, rather than acting like Christ-followers who know that they know that they know:
God Alone is the Healer!
Concluding Moments: We are NOW going to ACT on Scripture. How?
*Pastors of church: Come, Anointing oil, Ready to Pray
WHO NEEDS TO COME? (Scripture says?)
*Are you suffering in any way? Carrying a burden? Emotional issue like depression-emotional sickness, or an addiction, former sexual abuse, or a problem?
*Are you sick? Have a disease? Chronic challenge? Weak? Feeble? Needy?
*Are you saved? Sins forgiven? Converted? Changed? Heaven?
*Are you right with God as a Christian? Right with others?
Right with your church? Related to a church actively? (Relationships are critical, imperative.)
IF YOU ARE ANY ONE OF THESE FOUR, ACT ON GOD’S WORD!
*If you desire, gather members of your family.
*Come forward as an act of faith.
*When you get to one of our pastors or me, here is all I want you to do and NOTHING more:
*My name is Ronnie. (1st name only)
*I am suffering from (1 or 2 words)
*I am sick, I have (1 or 2 words)
*I need Jesus (Means you are lost without Christ)
*I am not right with (1 or 2 words)
*I want to become a part of Cross Church.
I will be here.
We will worship while praying for others.
Our pastors have been challenged to be ready spiritually.
Now, it is on you, no one else but you.
When you come: “Not my will, but Your will be done.”
