10-The Gift of Healing
11/3/13
INTRO:
I.
II.
III.
==> James 5:13-16
If healing is a perfect gift, then why does it not happen every time?
Three reactions:
A. Deny that the healing did not occur
B. Turn away from the idea altogether
C. Blame the victim for lack of faith
OR we can rediscover what the Bible promises about healing
BODY:
I.
The Nature of Healing
A.
Everything biological goes through cycles of life and death.
1) 1 Peter 1:24-25 (Isaiah 40:6-8)
2)
B.
CELLS ARE CONSTANTLY DYING, DIVIDING, AND REGENERATING:
a) Cells in your stomach lining last about 5 days, outer skin about
7 days, red blood cells 4 months, liver cells 5 months, bones
about 10 years, muscles 15 years, and the heart takes 150
years. Two things that never regenerate: teeth and cerebral
cortex.
b) Of the 10 trillion cells, on average about 11 to 15 years old
c) The longer we live, the slower the process becomes
In this life we are both spiritual and biological beings.
1) Romans 8:20-21
2)
II.
For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of
the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the
Lord endures forever.”
For the creation was subjected to frustration . . . in hope that the
creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and
brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.
THE FRUSTRATION OF HAVING ONE FOOT IN BOTH WORLDS
The Miracle of Healing
A.
Even the greatest healing is intended to be a temporary blessing.
1) JESUS RAISING LAZARUS FROM THE DEAD
2) John 11:25-26
2)
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who
believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by
believing in me will never die.”
EVEN THE GREATEST HEALING IS INTENDED TO BE TEMPORARY
B.
Miraculous healing is not a right, it is a gift of God’s grace.
1) John 9:3
2)
3)
III.
“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this
happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.”
If it happened every time it would not be a miracle.
If it could be deserved then it would not be by grace.
The Ultimate Healing
A.
Extreme doctrines turn healing into a formula that can be controlled.
1) Ecclesiastes 8:8
2)
3)
B.
As no one has power over the wind to contain it, so no one has
power over the time of their death.
Technology giving us the illusion of control
DAD TELLING MOM—“NOBODY GETS TO RING THAT BELL”
If healing was permanent we would never enjoy eternity.
1) Revelation 21:4
“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death
or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed
away.”
OTHER SCRIPTURES:
Genesis 3:19
“By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since
from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”
Joshua 23:14
“Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul
that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed.”
Job 14:1-2
“Mortals, born of woman, are of few days and full of trouble. They spring up like
flowers and wither away; like fleeting shadows, they do not endure.”
Job 14:5
A person’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months
and have set limits he cannot exceed.
Psalms 89:48
Who can live and not see death, or who can escape the power of the grave?
Psalms 103:15-17
The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows
over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. But from everlasting to
everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him.
1 Corinthians 15:54
“When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with
immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed
up in victory.”
Romans 8:10-11
But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin,
the Spirit gives life because of righteousness.
Revelation 22:2-3
On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its
fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.