"Scandalous Healing"

Scandalous Healing

Illus. cured

A woman went to her doctor’s office. She was seen by one of the new doctors, but after about 4 minutes in the examination room, she burst out screaming and ran down the hall.

An older doctor stopped her and asked what the problem was, and she explained. He had her sit down and relax in another room.

The older doctor marched back to the first and demanded, "What’s the matter with you? Mrs. Terry is 63 years old, she has four grown children and seven grandchildren, and you told her she was pregnant?"

The new doctor smiled smugly as he continued to write on his clipboard.

"Cured her hiccups though, didn’t it?"

*Thanks to Pastor Tim for this joke! http://www.cybersalt.org/cleanlaugh

While we laugh at the impossibility of what the doctor told that woman...

What the doctor did...by some might have been considered

A little bit scandalous.

By that I mean...telling that woman whatever he had to tell her

to get the results that he thought she needed..

Politicians and businessman have been doing it for years...

Telling someone else whatever they have to, or doing

Whatever it takes to get the results your looking for...

Remember:

Watergate..from the 70's

Our healthcare system

Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme...

Some would argue against… Most would argue

that those were all and are scandalous things and events

That happened..right in front of our eyes

Whatever the motivation might've been…

Either Greed or power, or the well being of someone

It caused the participants to do some drastic things...

Even to the point of humiliation and dire consequences..

To get the outcome they were looking for.

And as I was thinking this week about today's word..

I wondered why aren't more people willing to go to the point

of something someone might consider scandalous...

to get the promises and the gifts that God has given

To each and everyone of us..

And while there are many… The one I want to talk about today

is the promise and the gift of healing.

For you see this gift and this promise cost God a great deal...

It cost Him the cross..

It cost Him His one and only Son..Jesus

Isaiah 53:1-5 NKJ

53 Who has believed our report?

And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,

And as a root out of dry ground.

He has no form or comeliness;

And when we see Him,

There is no beauty that we should desire Him.

3 He is despised and rejected by men,

A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;

He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

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.

Anyone who has ever seen the passion play, or seen the movie "the Passion of Christ" realizes the extent of the price that was paid for the grace that has been extended to us...

TBS He was beaten beyond recognition..so there is no doubt as to whether what he did was ever enough to be the guarantee to the promises the cross gave us...

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.

So I don't think there's any doubt in anyone's mind this morning

as to whether or not Jesus has the authority

and the power...or the will to heal.

The question is this morning… Why aren't more people Healed??

That in and of itself by some..is considered a scandalous statement

And some may say...Well that was for then, and this is now..

My bible says in Hebrews 13:7-9 NKJ

7 Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 9 Do not be carried about[c] with various and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace, not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them.

While men may have changed… Jesus has not changed, the grace He introduced on the cross has not changed either...nor the message of it

For the heart to be established by it

Others may say…"it's not Gods Will to heal"

Quote from Bill Johnson:

How can God choose not to heal someone when He already purchased their healing? Was His blood enough for all sin, or just certain sins?