The God Who Heals!
Healing: Observations from the Bible
1. Healing is based on who God is! (Healer is one of His titles, Jehovah Rapha. Exodus 15:26 I am the LORD, who heals you. Also, Heb. Shalom means peace, completeness, soundness, health, safety, prosperous. Jesus came as the Prince of Shalom- completeness, soundness, peace, etc.)
2. Healing is one of His benefits: Psalm 103:2-3 2 Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits-- 3 who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,
3. Healing is based on what Jesus did! (His stripes- Isa. 53:4-5; Mt. 8:17; 1 Pet. 2:24)
Isaiah 53:4-5 4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. 5 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.
4. Healing confirms the truth of the Gospel: Acts 14:3 So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders.
Hebrews 2:3-4 3 how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. 4 God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.
5. Jesus healed all who came to Him. Matthew 8:16 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.
Matthew 12:15 Many followed him, and he healed all their sick,
Matthew 14:35-36 People brought all their sick to him 36 and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed.
Mark 6:56 And wherever he went-- into villages, towns or countryside-- they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed.
Acts 5:15-16 people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter's shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. 16 Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by evil spirits, and all of them were healed. (Peter and apostles – all of them healed)
6. Healing often happens in response to one’s faith: Mark 10:52 "Go," said Jesus, "your faith has healed you." Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.
Matthew 9:29-30 29 Then he touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith will it be done to you"; 30 and their sight was restored.
Acts 14:9-10 9 He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed 10 and called out, "Stand up on your feet!" At that, the man jumped up and began to walk.
7. Unbelief can interfere with healing. Matthew 17:16-20 16 I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him." 17 "O unbelieving and perverse generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me." 18 Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment. 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, "Why couldn't we drive it out?" 20 He replied, "Because you have so little faith.
Mark 6:4-6 4 Jesus said to them, "Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor." 5 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 And he was amazed at their lack of faith.
8. Healing is often administered through physical touch: Luke 4:40 When the sun was setting, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them.
Matthew 9:21 She said to herself, "If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed."
Matthew 14:36 all who touched him were healed.
Mark 3:10 For he had healed many, so that those with diseases were pushing forward to touch him.
Mark 5:22-23 Seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet 23 and pleaded earnestly with him, "My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live."
Luke 4:40 When the sun was setting, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them.
Luke 6:19 …the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.
Acts 3:7 Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong.
Acts 28:8 His father was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him and, after prayer, placed his hands on him and healed him.
9. Healing often came by anointing people with oil: Mark 6:13 They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.
James 5:14-15 14 Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up.
10. Jesus sent His followers out to heal people. Luke 9:2, 6 he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 6 So they set out and went from village to village, preaching the gospel and healing people everywhere. (The 12)
Luke 10:9 Heal the sick who are there and tell them, 'The kingdom of God is near you.' (The 72)
11. The Lord sometimes called for a physical step of faith. John 5:8-9 8 Then Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." 9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.
NIV Luke 17:14 When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed.
12. Healing comes by faith in the name (person) of Jesus: Acts 3:16 By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus' name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see.
Acts 4:29-30 29 Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. 30 Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus."
13. Healing can help turn people to the Lord. Acts 9:32-35 32 As Peter traveled about the country, he went to visit the saints in Lydda. 33 There he found a man named Aeneas, a paralytic who had been bedridden for eight years. 34 "Aeneas," Peter said to him, "Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and take care of your mat." Immediately Aeneas got up. 35 All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.
14. God gives gifts of healing as He sees fit: 1 Corinthians 12:9,28,30 to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit,
15. The Lord’s Power healed sick people. Acts 10:38 God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and … he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.
Luke 5:17 …the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick.
Luke 6:19 the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.
A Look at James 5:
-As we read about the healings in the Bible done by Jesus and even His disciples, we are confronted with a question: Does it still work that way today? Maybe Jesus and His followers only healed people to show that Jesus was the Messiah, and after that was made clear to all the world, healings were no longer needed. Clearly, I do not believe this, although I’ve met people who do. So, I’d like to look at another Scripture which clearly shows this was to be an ongoing thing for all believers.
-But before we do, I want to show a video clip of a few people who experienced healing in their bodies as people called out to God in faith on their behalf. [VIDEO CLIP]
James 5:14-15 14 Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up.
-James is writing mainly to Jews who have called on the Lord Jesus. They have been scattered all across the Middle East and the 1st Century Roman world mostly because of persecution from other Jews who rejected Jesus and b/c of the Jewish-Roman conflict. These followers of Jesus have formed into what the Bible calls an Ekklesia, or church. It means called out ones (from the world and to the Lord). As they are growing in their faith and learning to do life together as members of the body of Christ, James gives them direction on how to respond when one of them becomes sick. Call for the elders or leaders of the church to come and pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And as the elders pray in faith, the sick person will become well. The Lord will raise him up.
-Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Faith usually is. Simple faith believes that God is and that He does what He promised He would do. We don’t raise anybody up. Peter made that clear in Acts 3:12-16 12 “When Peter saw this, he said to them: "Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? [Jesus did it!] 16 By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus' name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see.”
-Now, what’s the olive oil all about? Well, olive oil was used for many things in Bible times. Cooking, medicine, and even anointing leaders and kings, showing that they had been consecrated to God. Since we do find a place in the gospels where the disciples anointed people with oil when they prayed for them, we can conclude that Jesus gave them directions to do so. Oil is often symbolic of the Holy Spirit in the Bible. So, it is likely that the early believers (including James’ readers) associated oil with healing and with the idea that they were handing the person they were praying for over to the power of the Holy Spirit. Only God can heal and give life! So when we use oil it isn’t magic or even some special blend of holy ointment. It is common olive oil to remind us that God still heals us when we put our trust in Him!
-So, in agreement with what we find in the Bible, that God is the Giver of life and is the Lord our Healer, Jehovah Rapha, that’s who He is… that healing is what He does (it’s one of His benefits for those who trust Him)… that Jesus provided for our healing in the atonement (by His stripes we were healed)…that God gave gifts of healing and gave us instructions through the writers of the NT about praying in faith… let’s give God room to work in our lives today. If you have a need for healing and truly believe that God will respond to your faith in Him, come to the front and we will pray together. God still works miracles today! There are friends and leaders who will gather around you and pray the prayer of faith, believing that God will bring the healing that you need.
-And if you don’t know this God who heals, He has been calling you to come to Him. All you need to do is answer Him, receive His forgiveness, and follow Him.
