I. EXORDIUM:
Are you healed?
Yes. My heart, ears and eyes are healed by the stripes and wounds of JESUS CHRIST.
II. AUDIENCE PROFILE:
Believers/unbelievers
III. OBJECTIVES:
To show that GOD heals our hearts, ears and eyes, the very first part of our bodies that He will use for His own glory.
IV. TEXT:
Acts 28:27 (Amplified Bible)
For the heart (the understanding, the soul) of this people has grown dull (stupid, hardened, and calloused), and their ears are heavy and hard of hearing and they have shut tight their eyes, so that they may not perceive and have knowledge and become acquainted with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their souls and turn [to Me and be converted], that I may heal them.
V. THESIS:
Praise, worship, glorify, adore, bless, honor, acknowledge and thank You very much LORD JESUS for You healed and are continually healing my heart, ears and eyes for Your glory alone.
VI. TITLE:
Healing for the unbelievers
VII. EXPLICATION:
A. Main theme: Missionary Campaigns in the Early Church
B. Author: Dr. Luke, the beloved physician
C. Date written: uncertain, probably 62 A.D.
D. Purpose: To document the growth of the early church.
E. To whom written: Specifically, Theophilus
Acts 1:1 (New Living Translation, Second Edition)
In my first book I told you, Theophilus, about everything Jesus began to do and teach
F. Key words: Holy Spirit and the Church
G. Key verses: Acts 1:8, Acts 2:42-47
VIII. MAIN BODY:
Acts 28:27 (Amplified Bible)
For the heart (the understanding, the soul) of this people has grown dull (stupid, hardened, and calloused), and their ears are heavy and hard of hearing and they have shut tight their eyes, so that they may not perceive and have knowledge and become acquainted with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their souls and turn [to Me and be converted], that I may heal them.
Acts 28:27 (New King James Version)
For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them." '
A. GOD will heal our hearts, ears and eyes
"For the heart (the understanding, the soul) of this people has grown dull (stupid, hardened, and calloused), and their ears are heavy and hard of hearing and they have shut tight their eyes, so that they may not perceive and have knowledge and become acquainted with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their souls and"
JESUS CHRIST is the Healer and all healing flows from Him.
Where does our healing come from?
1. Healing comes from CHRIST JESUS's wounds:
Isaiah 53:5 (Amplified Bible)
But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement [needful to obtain] peace and well-being for us was upon Him, and with the stripes [that wounded] Him we are healed and made whole.
1 Peter 2:24 (Amplified Bible)
He personally bore our sins in His [own] body on the tree [as on an altar and offered Himself on it], that we might die (cease to exist) to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed.
2. Healing comes from CHRIST JESUS's words:
Exodus 15:26 (Amplified Bible)
Saying, If you will diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord your God and will do what is right in His sight, and will listen to and obey His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases upon you which I brought upon the Egyptians, for I am the Lord Who heals you.
3. Healing comes from CHRIST JESUS's Presence inside of us:
Jeremiah 8:22 (Amplified Bible)
Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people restored? [Because Zion no longer enjoyed the presence of the Great Physician!]
GOD will heal our 3 parts: hearts, ears and eyes.
1. Hearts - it's deceitful above all things, and is sick. It needs to be healed by the LORD.
Isaiah 6:10 (Amplified Bible)
Make the heart of this people fat; and make their ears heavy and shut their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts and turn again and be healed.
Deuteronomy 7:17 (Amplified Bible)
If you say in your [minds and] hearts, These nations are greater than we are; how can we dispossess them?
1 John 3:20 (Amplified Bible)
Whenever our hearts in [tormenting] self-accusation make us feel guilty and condemn us. [For we are in God’s hands.] For He is above and greater than our consciences (our hearts), and He knows (perceives and understands) everything [nothing is hidden from Him].
Jeremiah 17:9 (Amplified Bible)
The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly perverse and corrupt and severely, mortally sick! Who can know it [perceive, understand, be acquainted with his own heart and mind]?
Matthew 13:15-17 (Amplified Bible)
For this nation’s heart has grown gross (fat and dull), and their ears heavy and difficult of hearing, and their eyes they have tightly closed, lest they see and perceive with their eyes, and hear and comprehend the sense with their ears, and grasp and understand with their heart, and turn and I should heal them.
But blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied) are your eyes because they do see, and your ears because they do hear.
Truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous men [men who were upright and in right standing with God] yearned to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
Mark 7:21-23 (Amplified Bible)
For from within, [that is] out of the hearts of men, come base and wicked thoughts, sexual immorality, stealing, murder, adultery,
Coveting (a greedy desire to have more wealth), dangerous and destructive wickedness, deceit; unrestrained (indecent) conduct; an evil eye (envy), slander (evil speaking, malicious misrepresentation, abusiveness), pride (the sin of an uplifted heart against God and man), foolishness (folly, lack of sense, recklessness, thoughtlessness).
All these evil [purposes and desires] come from within, and they make the man unclean and render him unhallowed.
Ephesians 4:20-24 (Amplified Bible)
But you did not so learn Christ!
Assuming that you have really heard Him and been taught by Him, as [all] Truth is in Jesus [embodied and personified in Him],
Strip yourselves of your former nature [put off and discard your old unrenewed self] which characterized your previous manner of life and becomes corrupt through lusts and desires that spring from delusion;
And be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind [having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude],
And put on the new nature (the regenerate self) created in God’s image, [Godlike] in true righteousness and holiness.
2. Ears - it rejects GOD'S knowledge and refuses to hear GOD'S WORDS.
Matthew 13:15 (Amplified Bible)
For this nation’s heart has grown gross (fat and dull), and their ears heavy and difficult of hearing, and their eyes they have tightly closed, lest they see and perceive with their eyes, and hear and comprehend the sense with their ears, and grasp and understand with their heart, and turn and I should heal them.
ILLUSTRATION: I just posted my verse and it's implication for me explaining Ephesians 2:8-9 from my heart, and I know it's easy to be grasped if you will understand it by your heart and hear with your ears, that GOD intended for us to be saved by His Grace not by good works or religion. So after I posted, someone commented and he understood by going to a religious sect. So I bowed my head in sadness because he "heard" it wrong. His ears need healing from the LORD.
Isaiah 6:9-10 (Amplified Bible)
And He said, Go and tell this people, Hear and hear continually, but understand not; and see and see continually, but do not apprehend with your mind.
Make the heart of this people fat; and make their ears heavy and shut their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts and turn again and be healed.
Matthew 11:15 (Amplified Bible)
He who has ears to hear, let him be listening and let him consider and perceive and comprehend by hearing.
Proverbs 20:12 (Amplified Bible)
The hearing ear and the seeing eye—the Lord has made both of them.
Proverbs 28:9 (Amplified Bible)
He who turns away his ear from hearing the law [of God and man], even his prayer is an abomination, hateful and revolting [to God].
Zechariah 7:11 (Amplified Bible)
But they refused to listen and turned a rebellious and stubborn shoulder and made heavy and dull their ears that they might not hear.
I use my ears to glorify GOD and hear only GOD'S WORDS and gospel/CHRISTian songs/music. They feed me with love songs, rock, metallic, hip-hop, sexual music and the like; but I turn all these around with emotions I worship my GOD in singing and praying in tongues to protect my ears. I want my Last Song Syndrome to be GOD'S WORDS and worship songs. I always claim Proverbs 20:12 when I pray before we go to church services so that GOD will open our spiritual ears and spiritual eyes to listen to Him attentively.
3. Eyes
Mark 8:18 (Amplified Bible)
Having eyes, do you not see [with them], and having ears, do you not hear and perceive and understand the sense of what is said? And do you not remember?
Matthew 26:43 (Amplified Bible)
And again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were weighed down with sleep.
Luke 10:23 (Amplified Bible)
Then turning to His disciples, He said privately, Blessed (happy, to be envied) are those whose eyes see what you see!
GOD, the Great Physician and the Balm in Gilead, whose Presence we enjoy and celebrate in our lives (not the healing that we have) has made us perfect in our health, restoring us to our original condition.
Jeremiah 8:22 (Amplified Bible)
Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people restored? [Because Zion no longer enjoyed the presence of the Great Physician!]
JESUS is the Great Physician who have healed and perfected our facets of learning: (1) our hearts, (2) ears and (3) eyes so that we can come to the full knowledge of Him in our lives.
2 Peter 1:3 (Amplified Bible)
For His divine power has bestowed upon us all things that [are requisite and suited] to life and godliness, through the [full, personal] knowledge of Him Who called us by and to His own glory and excellence (virtue).
B. Just turn to GOD through JESUS and we will receive healing from GOD.
"turn [to Me and be converted], that I may heal them"
Turning to GOD means accepting the LORD JESUS CHRIST as our own LORD and PERSONAL SAVIOR, getting saved from hell, death and corruption from this world and in the world to come, having a right relationship (not good works, not religion) with GOD while here on this earth, living in eternal life.
John 17:3 (Amplified Bible)
And this is eternal life: [it means] to know (to perceive, recognize, become acquainted with, and understand) You, the only true and real God, and [likewise] to know Him, Jesus [as the] Christ (the Anointed One, the Messiah), Whom You have sent.
Romans 10:9-10 (Amplified Bible)
Because if you acknowledge and confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and in your heart believe (adhere to, trust in, and rely on the truth) that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
For with the heart a person believes (adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Christ) and so is justified (declared righteous, acceptable to God), and with the mouth he confesses (declares openly and speaks out freely his faith) and confirms [his] salvation.
Years ago, I gave my heart to the LORD JESUS CHRIST, I got born again June 15, 1984, my turning point in my life where I left my sinful life and served the LORD GOD, and the LORD JESUS with all my heart, ears and eyes.
IX. CONCLUSION:
Praise, worship, glorify, adore, bless, honor, acknowledge and thank You very much LORD JESUS for You healed and are continually healing my heart, ears and eyes for Your glory alone.
