Exodus 15:26. And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee.
Exodus 23:25-26. And ye shall serve the Lord your God, and He shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.
26. There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil.
III John 2. Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.
Some say that was just John writing to his friend Gaius. Well then, if that is so, then Ephesians was just Paul writing to the Ephesians.
No! Every word in the Bible is for us; for our learning.
Now the first thing we notice is that God lets us know that he is a healer. He said, "I am the God that healeth thee."
Now the Bible says that God never changes. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
If he was the God that healeth and took sickness away then, he is the God that healeth and takes away sickness now. Is that right?
Matthew 8:17. Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.
Jesus healed all who came to him.
Hebrews 13:8 says Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever.
How many believe the Bible is true? Of course it is. It’s true whether you think so or not.
Let’s go back to our first scripture. I want to show you a connection between spiritual growth and physical wholeness.
Getting spiritual things in order will cause physical things to come to order.
God was telling Israel a way to avoid sickness, disease, and an early end.
We see that it is God’s will that his people prosper and be in health, and he is showing them how to get there.
Some people say, "I don’t know if it’s God’s will or not. Maybe he wants me to suffer."
I’ll tell you this, if I don’t want you to come to my house, I won’t give you directions on how to get there.
If God didn’t want us well, why would he tell us how to get there.
All through the Bible we find God giving directions on how to be in health and prosper.
James 5:14-15 shows us a double cure. 14. Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:
15. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
Prosperity begins with obedience. It begins in the Spirit.
Jesus said to seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you.
Many today are seeking the blessing not the blesser. We have been taught that way.
If we aren’t willing to walk in his statutes, can we expect the blessing?
Some people try to walk in his statutes long enough to get the blessing and then wonder what is wrong.
Do they think God doesn’t know what they are up to?
If we get hungry for God and follow his commands if we seek spiritual growth, physical blessing will follow.
Deuteronomy 28:1-2. 1. And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:
2. And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God.
Start trying to lie to God and the curse will find you. Deuteronomy 28:15. But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee. Read Acts chapter 5.
Sometimes to inherit the blessing we must obey the instructions.
Our first text said if thou will hearken, if thou will do. Be not only a hearer, but a doer of the word.
So many times our thinking is; God you bless me, then I’ll do my part.
Before we can get to the root of the problem we have to settle the fact in our heart that it is God’s will for us to prosper and be in health. God isn’t making us suffer to teach us a lesson. Is that how we raise our children?
Haggai 1:6-7. 6. Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.
7. Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways.
These people, by their ways, by their actions, stopped the flow of blessing their life, and the curse was overtaking them.
In the book of Malachi we find a people in trouble and the Lord told them: Your words have been stout against me, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee? (3:13)
Here some people by the words of their mouth had stopped the flow of blessing.
Let’s turn to Isaiah 58 where some people were fasting and accusing God of not taking notice. In this case they were committing religious acts for the wrong reasons. "Look at me I’m so religious." " I fast 3 days a week." A holy thing had become religion.
My point is put spiritual blessing first. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you.
It is God’s will that we prosper and be in health even as our soul prospers.
We need many times to get the horse in front of the cart, to obey whatever command that has already been given.
God told Naaman to dip in Jordan. He told 10 lepers to go and show themselves to the priest and as they went they were healed. He told Peter to go catch a fish and the money would be in it’s mouth. He sent Saul to Damascus to meet Ananias to receive his sight.
Obedience brings the blessing.
Maybe God has been dealing with you. Maybe he is calling you to repentance. Maybe you have been putting that call in your heart for a long time. Maybe God has spoken to each of us today in a different area of our lives and said, "Consider your ways. I want to bless. I want to heal. I want to save. Behold, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health even as thy soul prospereth.
