October 22, 2016
Morning Worship
Text: Isaiah 53
Subject: The Promise of Healing
Title: What Hinders Your Healing – By His Stripes We Are Healed – Part 4
This is our 4th in the sermon series we are calling By His Stripes We Are Healed. Before we get started let’s hold up our bibles together…
I believe this is God’s word…
I believe it is for me…
I accept it as mine…
And I will appropriate it to my life today…
In Jesus’ name…
In Isaiah 53 and verse the prophet begins with these words…
1 Who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
In this chapter Isaiah was reporting what he had seen in the spirit about the coming Messiah and the things associated with His coming. And when he says, “Who has believed our report?” It seems that those around him were doubtful of the things that Isaiah had been reporting. “the arm of the Lord” refers to God’s mighty power and for us as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ it becomes obvious that is it to us that His power has been revealed and that we are the ones who can believe the report. Our faith in the report, the Word of God spoken through the prophets, releases the arm of God to work on our behalf.
Your faith is key in your believing the report. If you are depressed or sad or unsettled or fearful and you hear the report and nothing changes, then you didn’t believe the report. And if you don’t believe the report how can God’s power be revealed to you? If you are struggling financially but have heard the report that My God shall supply all my needs… and you don’t get happy about it then you haven’t believed the report. You know when you hear the report you ought to just get to shouting and praising God and dancing. When the doctor says, “there’s nothing we can do” and you have heard the report that He is the God who heals you… Oh, friends you ought to just get happy because you have a promise that the doctor can’t give… You have the report from God!
If you believe what the Psalmist said, Psalm 91:14-16 (NKJV)
14 "Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name.
15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation."
If you have heard that report and you still have doubt and fear then what does that tell us?
That you haven’t believed the report!
Hallelujah!
Isaiah goes on to give the good report of what he has seen in the spirit… how God has sent someone to take away your sin and your sickness and your pain… to carry them away so you don’t have to bear them any longer and even though you may feel the weight of sickness and pain in your body you don’t have to believe it in your spirit!
4 Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.
4 Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows…
Now we talked about how the words “griefs” and “sorrows” are translated as sickness and pain in other translations.
The Amplified bible says it this way…
verse 4, But [in fact] He has borne our griefs,
And He has carried our sorrows and pains;
Isaiah 53:4 (YLT)
4 Surely our sicknesses he hath borne, And our pains--he hath carried them…
Personalize it!
4 Surely He has borne MY sicknesses And carried MY pains…
You could just keep on repeating that – confessing it with your mouth – and it will help build your faith…
But, and I have to say this, many Christians think that they can use confession like some sort of magic incantation to get what they want from God. Oh but listen to me church, that’s not faith. Faith doesn’t come by what you say, but by what you know that He has already done. In Acts chapter 19 the seven sons of Sceva thought that they could use the name of Jesus as some sort of formula to cast out demons and it didn’t work too well for them.
Acts 19:13-16 (NKJV)
13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, "We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches."
14 Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so.
15 And the evil spirit answered and said, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?"
16 Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
Isaiah 53:5 (NKJV)
5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.
What Isaiah saw was different than what the Pharisees and the religious leaders and the Roman oppressors saw.
They saw Jesus being beaten and the life being drawn out of His physical body, Isaiah saw what the Father was doing in the Spirit. You see, if Jesus is receiving the punishment that was supposed to be on us it includes all three parts of the human being – body, soul and spirit…
Because of sin (iniquities) sickness and death came into the world – our bodies are affected.
Because of sin, our souls – minds, thoughts, emotions, our wills are distorted and confused…
Because of sin our spirit man is dormant and unable to function…
But when Jesus took all our punishment everything was restored to us…
Our bodies made whole…
Our souls restored – our minds made to think like He does
Our spirits are made alive, touched by the Holy Spirit…
So that in every aspect of our humanity we truly become a new creation!
Isaiah 53:7 (NKJV)
7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth.
Your adversary the devil will do everything he can to accuse you before the throne of God and if he can get you to agree with him about your sickness or your pain or your sin our your debt or your relationships, then you have given up your legal right to stand before the Lord and deny any guilt.
But when the devil brings accusations of sickness you can say, “is it legal for you to do that to a citizen of heaven? “
When financial stress comes… Is it legal?
When depression attacks… I am a citizen of the kingdom of heaven… and Jesus has already taken my griefs/pains, sorrows/sicknesses, my weaknesses, my sin… He has carried them away and I don’t have to carry them any longer…
Yes, I have missed it…
Yes, at times my faith has fallen short…
But now, I stand in the authority that has been given to me a s a child of the living God and I plead not guilty… Devil what right do you have to bring anything on me.
No court in the world will make somebody pay the price for a crime twice, and my penalty has already been paid for! I’ve already been punished for that crime… because I have died with Christ! I have been crucified with Christ… I died and was buried with Him and now I am raised to new life in Him and you don’t have any legal right to bring anything on me!
Revelation 12:11 (NKJV)
11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony…
Hallelujah!
But if you give in to the lies of the enemy and agree with what he says about your health, your salvation, your finances, your, relationships, your power, or your authority, then you have given up your right to plead innocent before the righteous judge because you have already confessed your guilt. And in doing so you give the enemy access to your life and there isn’t anything the righteous judge can do because you have already declared your guilt.
Do you understand this?
But the bible says that if you don’t want to be judged you are supposed to judge yourself.
Turn over to 1 Corinthians 11. In this passage that we always refer to in our communion services…
1 Corinthians 11:31 (NKJV)
31 For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.
How many of you believe that the devil is the enemy of your soul and that his desire is to destroy you? He is always trying to gather evidence against you to build a case against you to get you judged. But there is something that is a greater enemy than the devil. And it is sin. And that has to do with your own flesh. You see, as long as you walk in victory and in the will of God and in power and in love and faith in your relationship with the Father through His son Jesus, there isn’t anything he can legally do to you. Oh, he’ll try. But it’s not legal!
But if you walk in sin and condemnation and disobedience and rebellion against the Lord, you open the door for the enemy to build that case against you. The one you see in the mirror every morning is the one you have to keep the closest watch on.
You know people want to give the devil a lot of credit and you hear the devil did this and the devil did that and they never talk about themselves. And that is why deliverance ministries are so popular. You see, if you can blame things on the devil then it becomes a lot easier to try to cast out demons than to take responsibility for yourself.
Now I’m going to say something and you may or may not agree with me, but I believe I heard this directly from the Lord. When I first began mentoring middle school kids 14 years ago I quickly found that ADHD was a widespread problem. And the Lord said it was not a medical problem but that it was spiritual. Not that I am saying that there is a spirit in control of kids – though in some cases it may be so – but it was spiritual in the sense that the enemy has convinced our society that unruly students can’t be disciplined in the classroom so those students who are overactive have to be medicated in order to control them. We had overactive kids in the classroom when we were young but they always had an opportunity to get control of themselves. When the paddle came out, the cure was quick to follow. Funny, isn’t it, how quickly those kids were able to gain control of themselves?
We cannot blame the enemy for everything that comes into your life. Yes he may be the source of it, but you may have left a door open for him to get a foothold.
31 For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.
We have had folks in hear that we know had spirits with them and we prayed and they were delivered and walked away and fell right back into the same old habits… because they never took the time to judge themselves. And if you can get someone else to come and pray and lay hands on you and shout in authority over you and you may get temporary relief, but until you can take responsibility over your own flesh you will never get victory.
Do you know that if you are born again that one of the job descriptions for the Holy Spirit is to bring conviction when you sin? But even Christians can become immune to that correction if they ignore it often enough and their consciences become seared as with a hot iron.
But one of the biggest lies the devil wants to tell people is “I can’t”…
I just can’t help myself from overeating, not exercising…
I can’t keep from spreading gossip…
I can’t stop smoking, stop drinking, stop cussing, stop looking at pornography…
I can’t, I can’t, I can’t and it’s all a lie perpetuated by an enemy whose desire it is to keep you under condemnation because if he can, then there is no legal recourse for you…
Romans 8:31-34 (NKJV)
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?
33 Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies.
34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.
But if you stop and take the time to judge yourself the Lord will help you make corrections and the enemy no longer has a case against you.
Does anybody remember 1 John 1:9?
1 John 1:9 (NKJV)
9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Unconfessed sin keeps you out of victory and subject to punishment – not eternal punishment perhaps, but you open yourself to a guilty verdict and until you get right with the Lord you are hindered.
Disobedience is sin…
Are you in disobedience? Have you strayed from walking hand in hand with the Spirit of God? Have you judged yourself?
It is time to take responsibility for yourself and repent and gain the victory that is afforded you through the cross of Jesus by whose stripes you are healed!
