Today we start a new message series called “Jesus Our Healer.” We’re going to talking about the topic of healing. Sickness is a universal need. Everyone is sick from time to time and we all know others who are battling various kinds of illnesses. The latest figures show that 18% of all expenditures in the United States are spent on healthcare, $2.7 trillion dollars worth. So as much a blessing as modern medicine is, it certainly has not eliminated sickness and disease.
People have all kinds of opinions about healing, but in this series, we’re going to using the Bible as our guide to the topic.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NIV) All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Let’s look carefully at this verse, for many believers don’t understand the purpose of God’s Word. The purpose of the Bible is not for you to memorize it, to understand everything about it, to win at Bible Trivia or to attend all kinds of Bible studies. The purpose of Scripture is so that you “may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” The purpose of the Bible is not for you to understand ancient history, the purpose of the Bible is to equip you to do God’s work in the world. Or to put it another way, the purpose of the Bible is to equip you to say the things that Jesus said and do the things that Jesus did. Radical? No, not really, it’s what a follower of Jesus is supposed to do. So, what did Jesus do? Here’s Matthew’s summary of Jesus’ ministry.
Matthew 4:23 (NIV) Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.
So, Matthew tells us that Jesus did two main things, he taught God’s Word and He healed sick people. He taught and He healed. As we’ll see today, those two activities are directly related. The supernatural healing that Jesus did confirmed or authenticated the words He taught. Likewise, the words that Jesus taught built faith in His listeners to believe for healing. So, what was the effect of Jesus’ healing disease and sickness?
Matthew 4:24 (NIV) News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them.
The news reports went viral and all kinds of sick people were brought to Jesus and He healed them.
Matthew 4:25 (NIV) Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.
Many people began to follow Jesus, both for words that He taught and for the supernatural healing power that He demonstrated. So, how does this apply to us here in St. Louis in the 21st century? God calls us individually and as a church to follow Jesus. That means to be like Jesus, to talk like Jesus and to do the things that Jesus did, bring healing to people. Some would say, you can’t be serious, how could we possibly do any of the things Jesus did? He was one of a kind, He was the son of God.
John 14:12 (NIV) I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing [miracles]. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
So, Jesus says that any believer is supposed to be doing the things that He did. Our church, full of believers is supposed to be a supernatural church, bringing healing to those who need it. The healing that Jesus brought was both physical healing and spiritual healing and the same should be true with us.
So, today may message is entitled “Is Healing God’s Will?” Some would say, well, we don’t see many people healed, so it must not be God’s will to heal today. Others would say, let’s not get carried away with this faith healing nonsense, you know there are a lot of faith healing wackos on late night television. I say, let’s just look at God’s Word and see if we can find the answer to the question “Is Healing God’s Will?”