Bible Teaching
Calvary Temple Teaching Library
I Wound And I Heal Pt.4
Pastor Scott
April 5, 2000 Wed PM
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Let’s turn to chapter 15 of Exodus this evening, as we’re on our way in this study to the great 53rd chapter of Isaiah. It’s amazing to me how many of the commentators (and I don’t want to get off course) when you read Isaiah 53 want to attribute those great prophetic words to spiritual sickness, to the sin problem that humanity has to confront on a daily basis. When you study the Scriptures closely without prejudice, there’s no way to see that truth that was spoken by the prophet as anything but total healing—spirit, soul, and body—and a great emphasis on the physical in that classic passage. I think as the days have gone on and we’ve become more educated, it’s been easier to dismiss this doctrine of divine healing. People have become so dependent upon the natural.
I was handed a couple of magazines this past week because of the subject that we’ve been dealing with. One of them was a Popular Science magazine. They were talking about the cloning that’s taking place. You’ll notice that even in the newspaper just recently in Great Britain there’s been a lot of discussion. In fact, it looks like the Parliament is going to allow cloning to take place to produce parts for individuals who are in need. Now, whatever parts, who knows? But they’re going to clone parts—I guess so that if somebody needs a hand, they’ll have a hand hanging around, and somebody can use that, and internal organs or whatever else they’re going to want to clone. And then, of course, they said that the need (and I love the way scientists can always justify this) exceeds the ethical problems that might arise. Then you go into the next phase, and this one magazine I was reading said the technology is already in place. In fact, they’ve already done it with mammals, to where they can actually do head transplants. (Now, looking out on this congregation, there may be a few candidates!) It’s an interesting thing to see that they’re already able to do that. They’ve done this with some monkeys, and they say that they’re very confident that they can now do this with a human being. (If any of you want to volunteer, I’m sure they’re looking for some guinea pigs!)
Think about that for just a moment. We’re living in a day when we’re trying to stir up our hearts and believe God to heal us of our allergies, and man is saying we can do a head transplant. Does it sound like the Tower of Babel to you? That time when humanity came together and began to erect that tower, and they said, "We’re going to build this into the heavens," and just like Lucifer of old when he said, "I’ll ascend above the throne of God," we saw that man was going to come into the heavens and be God. And God confounded man at the Tower of Babel and dispersed him so that there couldn’t be the communication. Because God Himself said that when man is unified, there’s nothing impossible to him. Now, why would that be? Because God made man in His own image. And so, God created us to be creators; this is where inventions come from and our ability to perceive and create. "If you can imagine it, you can do it," is what they tell us in the slogan of some of the great industries. We see it happening; it’s a phenomenal thing. Isn’t it interesting that, in the day that we’re living, there’s becoming a de-emphasis on the doctrine of divine healing and God’s ability to miraculously deliver and an emphasis on man’s ability to miraculously supply your needs? I don’t think it’s by coincidence, the hour that we’re in. I think we need to become jealous for God’s glory and begin to see Him move again in our midst—not only in this fellowship, but in our society—that they would know that there is a balm in Gilead, that Jesus is raised from the dead, and that He’s here to confirm His word and His name with signs following. It’s more than just about you. It’s more than just about you. It’s not just us getting well; it’s the glory of God; it’s the testimony and the integrity of the word of God that we’ve trusted in, and have placed our hope in, and based our very lives upon. And so, the God that we serve, as He’s alive, is able to confirm His word with signs following.
Exodus 15 begins to show us a little more about God’s desire to move in our midst. We’ve looked in this session and have seen that it was expected, that our God is a God of healing. We saw the importance of the human body in our first session. We’ve been studying through and looking at the different aspects of God’s involvement with man on a physical basis and His desire to confirm His word. Now we find the revelation of Himself as the covenant healer of man. Exodus 15—look down at verse 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." Jehovah Rapha’ begins to reveal Himself at this particular juncture. In this passage, we see one of these great redemptive names of God, and we’ve taught in the past of the great redemptive names of God—Jehovah Nissi, Jehovah Jireh, Jehovah Tsidkenu. We see that He is our provider, the God who is there; He is the Lord our righteousness; He is the victor (our banner), and all of these great revelations of who God is. One of them is this revelation here, that He is Jehovah Rapha’, the Lord our healer. He said, "I’ll allow (or put) none of these diseases upon you that came upon the Egyptians."
We don’t want to digress too far, but remember when we see these things coming—the sickness of Egypt-it’s because of the sin of Egypt—it has to do with the disobedience factor. We’re not going to talk now about God using or allowing sickness to be part of the chastisement process of His children. We saw that God will allow it to be part of the chastisement of His children, but that’s the exception and not the rule. When sickness comes and we have to deal with physical infirmity, we saw in our last sessions that who was the source? Satan. What was the cause? Sin. And so, we find the universal sin problem. Sickness exists because sin exists, and every one of us is going to be exposed to it on a continual basis. None of us, because we’re Christians, are immune to going out and drawing all of the pollen into our nostrils. There’s not a Christian filter! "Everybody out there has to breathe that stuff, but I’m a Christian, so I don’t have to." Yes, you are. We need to believe God to strengthen us and to deal with any one of the allergies that we might have. Our bodies respond to these things just like everybody else. But He does speak to us here and say that though we understand that there is the universal sin problem, that sickness is a result of that universal problem, that Satan is the primary agent to bring that sickness. Satan bound that woman who was a covenant child with that spirit of infirmity for eighteen years. Satan went from the presence of God and smote Job. We saw in our last session that it was the demonic powers that were even identifiable in the lives of others that were causing blindness, deafness, and different fits of epilepsy. They were demonic in nature, and they had to be addressed specifically by the authority of the name of Jesus. That’s all part of this covenant that Exodus is talking about here-that we have a right to believe that Jehovah Rapha’ has made this declaration and also made the provision through our faith in the name of Jesus, through the indwelling Holy Spirit, to see this covenant confirmed in each of our lives.
Go over to the 23rd chapter of Exodus for just a second. In chapter 23, as the Lord continues to show Himself mighty, Exodus 23, verse 25, as God is speaking and contextually you see in verse 20 that the angel of the Lord is being sent to keep those in safety and by His power to bring them into the place prepared. He says, Beware; don’t provoke him. You’ll notice that these covenants in 15 and also in this 23rd chapter have a lot to do with our obedience and our pursuit of God’s eternal purpose in our lives. These are not unconditional promises that we can just go around expecting divine health to always manifest itself. They’re going to work in direct correlation to our faith, because those that come to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him. And so it says that as the angel brings you in, be sure to hearken to him and let him order your steps.
God wants to direct our lives, even tonight as we’re sitting here. This message has to do with a re-direction and setting course in our lives and getting us back on line to trusting the supernatural and not having our confidence in the pharmaceuticals that are so readily available to us today, which is becoming one of the greatest industries and businesses in our nation. Ask yourself a question: why are there more sick people when science is improving supposedly at the rate that it is? I believe that it’s because of a trust in the arm of the flesh and the deifying of man. I want to tell you something; God will not be mocked. Those that are going to continue to trust in and rely on the natural are going to have to deal with the warfare of God Himself. Because if you resist Him, He will resist you. It’s very important, in our own attitudes and minds, that we’re seeking God, and we’re seeking His favor and desiring to glorify Him in our behavior. What are we looking for? Are we fearfully listening to the angel of the Lord, the Spirit of God, that’s speaking to us and directing us into this great land of promise and abundance that’s been promised us? Part of that promise is our health, as we saw in our last session. We saw in Deuteronomy 28 that there were blessings and cursings. Those great blessings told us that we’re going to eat of a land that flows with milk and honey, that our enemies would come in one way and flee from us in seven, that we’d blessed in our fields and in our storehouse, in the city and in the country. But it’s all in correlation to our pursuit and our ability to believe God.
He says in verse 24 of Exodus 23, "Thou shalt not bow down to their gods." Now, we’re possessing a land; we’re living in this world’s system; we’re in it, but we’re not of it. In the midst of this world’s system, they’re bowing down and worshiping these gods of humanism. And here we are in the midst of that, and God has blessed us; He’s brought us in to an abundance. But He said, "Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but you shall utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images." It’s not enough, beloved, just to tolerate those around us and seem to think, "Well, that’s just what they believe in." We need to be on the offensive in exposing their gods for what they are and letting individuals come up Mt. Carmel to personally understand whether God is the God of Israel or not, the God of the promise or not, whether they’re going to allow Him to be their God or not. Part of how we overthrow and break down the images is through our trust in letting God do a work in us. The Scripture says it this way: "Beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it." (Acts 4:14) because he was standing there in their midst whole. They could not deny that a notable miracle had been wrought. That’s exciting stuff!
That doesn’t mean that people are going to repent or accept the lordship of Jesus Christ in their lives. I’ve seen it personally too many times—hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of miracles that I’ve seen over the years that didn’t change anybody. In our own family, I’ve shared on a number of accounts. I can still remember when I was a student at Bethany Bible College, and I remember getting the call. We were in our little apartment there in Santa Cruz. We’d just moved; we were living in Scott’s Valley, and we’d just moved down to some apartments in downtown Santa Cruz. They had raised our rent $5.00 a month, and we couldn’t come up with it, so we had to move. Five dollars a month—that was all the money in the world. There was no way to come up with five bucks. And so, we moved, and God blessed us. Because as we moved down there, we actually ended up getting some free rent. It was kind of good. When we moved into this place, it was a little less, and I can’t remember what we were paying down there. I think it was going to be about $75 per month, or whatever. We moved into that apartment, and they said if we would collect the rent and clean up around there a little bit, we could get free rent. So, that was great. It didn’t take a lot of time; we were able to start managing those apartments. Janet was working there at the County; I was working full-time at Juvenile Hall, and taking 17 credits. I had a good job off and on. One of the jobs I had that really worked out well was as a night watchman, and so I got to study all night. All I had to do was once an hour walk around this warehouse and hit all the checkpoints on the little meter, and then study in between. So, that was pretty good. I got to study from midnight until seven, and then go to school where I went to classes from eight until two, and it worked out great. I got to pray and seek the Lord, and it was right around that time that I got this phone call. I was in our bedroom. (The apartment only had about two-and-a-half rooms, so it was not hard to remember what room I was in!) I was in the bedroom praying, and I got the call and found out that my mother had cancer. She said that they wanted to do an operation on her. They were going to remove her vocal cords and cut her tongue out, and have to do some other surgery on her. Now, she’s a pagan you’ve got to remember. They wanted to do this right away, and she said, "No, wait. I want to call my son and my daughter-in-law, because they believe in God." And he said, "Well, I wouldn’t advise waiting long, but whatever." So they called. We were able to go to prayer and ask Father to show Himself mighty in their lives. I was praying for their salvation, praying for my father and mother’s souls, saying, "Lord, in some way reach these people!" I don’t know what got them so turned off in their lives. Both of them had been raised in church and hated God—not raised in church, but experienced a consistent attendance as children in church. My dad had (I think he told me) a three-year Sunday School pin—never missed a Sunday for three years of Sunday School as a little boy. And something really turned him against God, and he never would say until his dying day. But they called, and we prayed. She went back in for her pre-surgical check-up, and there wasn’t a trace of cancer to be found. We’re talking about something radical here; we’re not talking about just a few little cancer cells. They were going to cut her vocal cords out, cut her tongue out, remove part of her jaw. And she’s perfectly healed—Jehovah Rapha’, the Lord that heals, the pulling down of their images, the mocking of their gods.
When they say there’s no hope, then God comes on the scene and shows Himself mighty. I’ve told the story numerous times, so I won’t tell it again about the miraculous healing in my father’s body, and how God showed Himself mighty just to confound the greatest surgeons of that time as they were getting ready to do the heart bypasses. They said, "We’ve never known a heart to come back to life, the dead tissue to rejuvenate and to be alive." God showed Himself mighty as Jehovah Rapha’ and, again, their idols fell. But when they do, you still have a choice. I’ll never forget my dad, as he lay there in that bed after experiencing the miracle power of God, and he sat there with tears in his eyes, and he said, "Bob, I know, I know the miracle that’s just occurred, but I still have to let them operate. I’m afraid; I just don’t believe that it can last." Tragically, he turned back, as Asa did, to the physicians and trusting in the arm of the flesh. God again, after showing His miraculous power, was mocked and rejected.
He said, "[Be careful when you come into their land,] (verse 25) and ye shall serve the Lord your God. [If you do in their midst, and pull down their idols, and refuse their methods, He] shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and [He] shall take sickness away from the midst of thee." Look at that promise! If you’ll come into the midst of all of these, and not be in awe of their great technology—now, I’m not saying that you can’t go to a doctor, or take a pill, or whatever else. We’re talking about trusting in, relying on, or in some way making that your hope. Beloved, I want to tell you something. These people are still practicing! That’s the term: they’re "practicing" medicine. And any of you who’ve been to a doctor recently, know they’re practicing. It’s amazing what they don’t know. I was talking to a surgeon just the other day, and he talked about the farce of all of the medical exams. Their ability to hold medical boards, and licensures, and all this stuff—all it is is a way of keeping them elite, so they can get the money and you can’t. They have their own little rules and clubs, and that’s who they let in, and that’s part of it. You think that these people are really smart because they’ve been to eight years of school. I want you to understand something. They may have been to eight years of school, but they only remember about the last eight days! They don’t remember everything they’ve studied! Do you remember everything you’ve studied and learned in school? Some of you can’t remember how to get to your car out in the parking lot! These people aren’t a whole lot sharper than you. They’re really not. And that’s scary! Yet, we put our hope, and our trust, and our lives in them. We assume that what they say is gospel. Not me! You’re going to have to prove it to me. I want you to know something. I have faith toward God, but I’m skeptical of these guys. I’m pretty much a skeptic anyway. Unless it’s the Lord, I’m not believing it! I guess I’m weird; I’m backwards. I can believe what I can’t see, but you’re going to have to prove to me what I’m seeing.
Our ability to trust and rely in God, the person of the Holy Spirit in us, is what he’s talking about here. When the world is so enamored by all of the scientific ability—and they have great ability; I’m not denying that. But they’re knowledge is fragmented; it’s not all coming together. They do have a lot of the pieces, but they think they’re God. And He said, "You’d better be careful that you don’t get caught up in this. You’d better utterly overthrow them in your life and break down their images." Have you freed yourself of trust in the arm of the flesh—man’s technology? I’m not talking about not in some way partaking. Do you understand that man’s method is in opposition to God, that they in fact see themselves (and I’m not talking about every physician or every person that works in the scientific arena) as being instead of God? That’s how they perceive themselves. They laugh and mock your belief that you can lay hands on somebody in the name of Jesus, a carpenter’s son of two thousand years ago who was crucified on a Roman cross, whose disciples created some kind of spoof and lie that He had raised from the dead but everybody knows that they stole His body. And you expect me to believe that in that name you can lay hands on somebody, and they’re going to be made well? Oh, beloved, we’d better come back to believing that, because it’s the foundation of redemption’s plan. If you can’t believe in the healing of our bodies, then we can’t believe in the saving of our souls, because it was the same work that accomplished it.
And so, when we begin to look at the Scriptures, we have to understand the great covenant God who reveals Himself as Jehovah Rapha’, the Lord our Healer. When I say that you can’t believe and hope in salvation if you can’t believe in healing, I’m not talking about the fact that you have to get healed instantly every time you pray, or that you may not even have some type of chronic illness. Every one of us has to deal with besetting sins, and we all stumble and realize that we have to confess our sin, and He’s faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from our unrighteousness. But, beloved, our trust, our hope, our assurance is in that finished work of Jesus. You don’t look to some psychiatrist for your salvation, to cause your mind to come to peace and ease that you’re free from sin’s power and dominance. We shouldn’t, then, trust in any medical doctor as being the final authority as it pertains to our bodies. And so, you begin to see that this is His revelation of Himself.
Psalm 103—the great passage as the covenant is established and the Lord is revealing Himself as Jehovah Rapha’, the Lord our Healer. What a great passage! "Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases [verses 1-3]." In this 103rd Psalm, the psalmist is speaking forth, and we see the great covenant God revealed to us again. Look at this, verse 3: "Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases." How many? All your diseases. The psalmist wants us to see that it’s one work that was accomplished. That great finished work of redemption that Jesus afforded us makes Him Jehovah Rapha’ in our lives on a daily basis. And just as He forgives our sins, beloved, He heals all of our diseases.
For those of us tonight who may be battling with physical problems, the work is finished; the price has been paid. God’s purpose for whatever it is in your life that may or may not be lingering is not the issue. The understood truth is this: He is Jehovah Rapha’. He’s come to heal you. The Scripture says that by His stripes, we are healed. And the Scripture says that by His stripes we were (past tense) healed. Receive it tonight. Receive right now, even this moment as we’re sitting here in the midst of the teaching, just receive the unction of the word of God that speaks—Psalm 107 says He sent His word and He healed them. As the word of God begins to become real to you—we’re looking at these scriptural passages. What are they doing to you tonight? Are you looking at these things, saying, "Yeah, I’ve read that before," or is the word life to those who find it, is it health to your flesh? Is this word that you’re looking at right now creating faith to rise in your heart, or is it paper and ink? Is this word alive to you? Is Jehovah Rapha’ alive to you in your spirit tonight? Then you can stand here and say, "This is true, and I’m not taking anything less. Lord, I just thank You right now for the finished work. I rejoice in the great healing power that’s mine through the finished work of Jesus. I believe that Jesus became sin with my sin, and He was made sick with my sicknesses, and He bore it on His own body on the tree, praise God, so I don’t have to! I give it up, Lord. I give up all of the desire to try to understand, the desire to try to "work up" faith, all of the doubt that’s held me down, and the frustration, and the heaviness because of the continual warfare. I’m just laying it down and believing that You bore it on Your own body, and I don’t have to anymore. I’m too tired to try to believe anymore. But the one thing I can believe in this: that the work is finished and that Your word has been sent to heal me, and I receive it, Father, in Jesus’ name. It’s that simplicity that He wants us to walk in. It’s not some kind of systematic healing doctrine; it’s the trust in the finished work of Jesus. Are you relying on that tonight, or have you been relying on your knowledge? "Do I know enough Scriptures? Let me see; what do I know? Okay, I know those on the Lord that healeth thee, and I’ll take sickness out of the midst of you, and He sent His word and healed me, and He forgives all of our iniquities and heals all our diseases, and by His stripes we’re healed, and the prayer of faith will save the sick and the Lord will raise them up, and maybe I can find a couple more good ones!" That’s not what it’s all about. It’s believing in the God who did those things and said, "It’s finished." It’s a trust and reliance in the ability of Father in us that makes this begin to work.
Whether or not we like to think it or not, beloved, the thing that is robbing us today is that second thought that says, "And if the Lord doesn’t, there’s always Johnson & Johnson, Bayer." Are there any other gods in our lives? I’m not talking about a practical approach; I’m talking about really knowing where your heart is and trusting God. The one thing you’ll find out is that if you’re trusting in the medical, if you’re trusting in the natural, it’s not going to just manifest itself in the physical. The rest of your life is going to be out of order. You will be trusting in the gods of the world’s system in every other area—your pursuit, your ambitions, your appetites. You will be controlled by the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. And so, the problem isn’t a healing problem at all. The problem is a lordship problem. And so, we can examine ourselves and allow the Lord to speak to us as it pertains to these things.
As we study the Scriptures and begin to look at these promises, turn over to Isaiah 53 for just a moment. It’ll help you understand the work that was done and the appreciation that we’re to have continually for the finished work. As I was in prayer this afternoon and this morning going over these passages, reading down into this 53rd chapter of Isaiah again, I was just rejoicing in the great work and the promises to us. The prophet speaks concerning the rejection of Jesus, and verse 1 says, "Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?" In other words, they’re not receiving it; the children that He was sent to are rejecting Him. Tragically, many of us who’ve known the Lord and have known these doctrines have somehow strayed. We’ve lost sight of the fact that there’s not always a lot of glory and glamour in it. "For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him." There’s nothing in this pursuit of the kingdom and in God’s methodology that’s going to attract the world. It’s simplicity. It’s for people that are simple, not those who trust in their own intellects. It’s foolishness to the Greeks, a stumbling block to the Jews.
The Scripture says in verse 3 that, "He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not." He’s talking about the Jewish people and their inability to recognize the Messiah. When it talks about Him not having comeliness or beauty that any would desire Him, it’s saying there was no majesty. He didn’t come on a white stallion; He came riding on a lowly donkey—all of God’s dealings understated. He was a man of sorrows (pain), and acquainted with grief (sickness). He never sinned a day in His life and, to our knowledge, Jesus was never sick a day in His life. But He was made sin with our sin, and He was made sick with our sicknesses. On that cross, the horror that manifested is beyond description. As I was studying and meditating on this this morning, I was trying to imagine what could Jesus have looked like, and was there some type of physical reaction to bearing the sins of the world? The prophets tell us that He was not recognizable even as a man. Was it from the flailing in Pilate’s judgment hall—those two-inch thorns that were pressed into His brow? Was it the mocking and the smiting in the face and saying, "Prophesy to us; tell us who hit You?" Or was it the sickness that so distorted His body, the sin that made Him become a man beyond recognition, this weight that He was bearing? We’ve seen the deformities that sickness can cause in a person’s body, and He bore every sickness known to man in His body on the tree. It’s beyond imagination. We could somehow in our minds create this into a situation that really theatrically would be understated, in reality may be overstated. I don’t know what the physical reaction was, but trying to imagine… [end of side 1 of tape]
[beginning of side 2] ...of humanity. Have any of you hurt today? Are any of you hurting? He bore every pain that every man ever felt at one time. It’s beyond our comprehension; the natural mind is incapable of receiving what’s known as "substitution" as a theological term. It’s beyond man’s ability to understand the substitutionary work. How could He become one with our sin and our sickness? And yet, the Scripture specifically—the language of the word of God—doesn’t allow anything else to happen. He didn’t pay a price that was accepted "in lieu of." He became; He took onto Himself; He replaced; He was made one with our sin and our sickness. That’s what the Scripture says. Look at verse 4. "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows..." As we talk about the word "borne" here, it’s really an interesting word in the Scriptures. In this particular passage, when we’re looking at the phrase "borne our griefs," it’s not just talking about the fact that He was "instead of." He was one with; He contracted the guilt; He took it upon Himself. This substitutionary work of Jesus isn’t something that we can just leave in our theology classes. Once you begin to understand what verse 4 is all about, it’ll begin to free you from carrying this in your own body—the guilt, the pain, the disease, or whatever else it might be.
So, we look at the word "borne," and I want you to see it and remember that this particular word—nasa’ is the Hebrew—is really talking about "the sin bearer." He bore upon Himself; the sin bearer, the object of that sin, the one who carried it away upon Himself. He literally placed it upon Himself in obedience to Father. What was it that He took upon Himself? The first word here is interesting (and we’ll end with this for tonight)—the word "griefs." The word "griefs" here is an interesting word in the King James, but literally in the Hebrew language, it’s the word for sicknesses, weaknesses, or infirmities. Now, stop and listen to what this is saying. He didn’t just pay a price so that somehow we could get that reckoned to our account somewhere down the line and get rid of these things. He literally took it off of us and put it upon Himself. That’s what that word "borne" means. Therefore, the sickness, the weakness, the pain in ourselves has no right to be there.
That’s pretty simple. How is it so hard for us, then, to release these things? Maybe we’ve just gotten so used to it that, instead of the doctrine of biblical faith, we’ve come into the humanistic doctrine of grin and bear it. "I can put up with this; it’s been there all along and there are other people who have a lot worse things than I do; it could be worse. I prayed and it didn’t go away, so it must be the will of God that I’m like this." What we’re seeing right now, beloved, is the answer to that. No, it is not the will of God that you’re like that. It’s God’s will that you be healed. That’s what this is all about. And until we begin to see it, and have no other expectation, and will settle for nothing less than what the blood of Jesus paid for, and the declaration of God in the word that, "I am the Lord that healeth thee," we’re going to stay this way. As long as Satan can make you think that it’s inevitable, we’re going to stay this way. "You’ve prayed before, and it didn’t work." Well then, pray again, praise God! "You believed before; how long are you going to believe?" "I’m going to believe one more day; that’s how long I’m going to believe! Because my God is not a God that can lie. His word and His promises are yea and amen, and I don’t believe that this is how God wants me as His child. The price has been paid. Jesus bore it away on His body—our griefs and our sorrows."
It’s interesting that the word "sorrows" here is coming back and restating one of the words that the word grief covers, and that’s the word "pain." Twice God addresses pain. Over the years, the one thing I’ve found about pain is that it hurts! Did you ever find that out? Pain wouldn’t be so bad if it didn’t hurt. That’s what really makes things bad a lot of times. One of the physical problems I’ve been dealing with is this thing in my leg. The big problem is not that my right calf is an inch-and-a-half bigger than my left one. That only presents a problem, for example, when I was going out skiing and my ski boot wouldn’t fit. I figured, "Well, I can solve that; I’ll get a bigger boot. Those snowboard boots aren’t nearly as tight fitting as the ski boots, so I’ll go snowboarding. I’ve never done that before." (That was a trip!) And so, you can deal with an inch-and-a-half difference in circumference. But the pain—when I put that ski boot on—the pain said, "No, you’re not doing this." And I said, "Yeah, I’m going!" And the pain said, "You’re not going." And I said, "You’re right!" I couldn’t even walk across the room! And the Lord has borne that for each one of us. You get so used to the different pains. Do you all know what I mean? I know many of you are hurting out there like myself. Right now, I’ve got a headache; I’ve got pain in my neck; I have pain all in my back; and my right shoulder is really sore, and both my knees, and my right calf and foot. But everything else is okay! And I’m sure that’s how most of us here tonight are; it’s not unique. And so, we all have them, so we all sit there and say, "Well, everybody feels like this, so what’s the big deal?" But the Lord doesn’t want us to bear this; He’s borne it. We must begin to be thankful for the price paid, and by faith allow Him to take this upon His own body. We must see that He is so willing and desires that, and that there’s no merit in enduring it; there’s no prize to be won for how much pain you endure. The crown that we’re going to receive is a crown of righteousness, of right standing, of dependence upon His ability. And so, we can come and be able to trust and rely on His finished promise and just finally let Him finish the work.
In many of our lives, as I said, there are chronic things that we deal with. If Father has an eternal plan that He’s working in us through that, then so be it. But our first thought should always be, "Jehovah Rapha’, the Lord that heals us." Our first thought should always be, "By His stripes, we’re healed. He bore my sickness. He bore my pain, praise God! I don’t have to take this." If that’s not our first response, then we need to stir our hearts up, and we need to get another understanding of what Father is wanting to do in our lives. If you don’t see the manifestation right away, or if you don’t see it for a year, then don’t panic. God’s word is the same; the Lord is the same; His desire is the same. If we’re learning something through this, if God is teaching us, if there are things that are going to be able to affect others’ lives, then that’s going to come out in the eternal revelation of God’s purposes. But we can’t get caught up with that. And so, this 53rd chapter of Isaiah tells us very clearly that He came for the purpose of bearing our griefs and our sorrows, and yet His people esteemed Him smitten of God and afflicted.
None of us, I think, are in that condition right now. None of us are saying, "You know, the reason Jesus was crucified, the reason why all this was put upon Him was because He was blaspheming, called Himself God; therefore God judged Him on the tree." None of us here who are professed believers would even begin to imagine that. But the Jewish people thought that. He was sent for their deliverance and they saw Him, not as Savior, but as blasphemer. I’m saying that because though we don’t see Him that way, a lot of professed Christians are going to see you that way as you begin to declare Him as Healer, that His work was a substitutionary work. They’re going to see that as blasphemous and say your trust in that as blasphemous. They’ll say you shouldn’t even begin to think that God is going to be involved in your life in a physical way and in a personal and practical way. But, beloved, we need to identify with Him though we’ll be mocked by the religious realm and by the world’s system. The Scripture says why He came (and we’ll end with this one). He wasn’t smitten and afflicted of God. "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace [soteria, salvation, wholeness] was upon him; and with his stripes [say it] we are healed." (verse 5)
Father, we thank You for the word of God tonight and Your word declaring that You are Jehovah Rapha’, and with Your stripes we are healed, praise God! This is a fact. This is a historical fact; this is a biblical fact; this is a supernatural decree; it is a law; it is irrefutable; it is truth, and everything that opposes it is a lie. And so, Lord, we just boast in You and in Your great work tonight. Father, we look back no longer at all of our trials and failures, but we now stir up in us and allow to be stirred up that spirit of faith, and trust, and understanding that this is a work finished, and it is a gift freely given and received. And, Father, in the name of Jesus, we want You glorified in our lives. Lord, help us somehow to become vessels that You could use to bring glory to Your name. Break down the idols that stand in our midst, Lord. Help us to be able to stand today and say, "Hey, I want you to know something, man. I used to be hurting in this way; I used to be afflicted; I used to have allergies; I used to have arthritis; I used to have cancer. But Jehovah Rapha’, the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ, His name and faith in His name has made me whole, praise God!" and just boast in the majesty of our God. Oh Father, be glorified! It’s not about us, Lord. It’s about Your glory; it’s about Your majesty and a people who trust in the finished work. Oh Father, stir our hearts! Lord, cause us again to be jealous for this work done in Your name. Make us bold as we proclaim it—not only for ourselves—but for all who would believe. Father, help it to become part of our evangelism; Lord, that we would find those who are hurting in the world, and as the unction of the Holy Spirit would move us, that we would say, "Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have, I give thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk." (Acts 3:6) Praise God!"
How many times did they walk by that guy? The question was asked in one of the home fellowship groups, "Haven’t we been given promises—the prayer of faith will save the sick; we’ll lay hands on the sick and they’ll recover; in the name of Jesus we’ll cast out devils, etc.?" You’ve got to understand something. This isn’t something that you go around and just arbitrarily do whenever you feel like it. These are things that are done by the unction of the Holy Spirit. We can’t do anything except the Lord is doing it through us. This guy sat there year, after year, after year. They went to the temple daily; they had to have passed him numerous times, and now the unction of the Holy Ghost rises up. We go out and make a fool of ourselves and the gospel message by thinking we can grab people, and pull them out of wheelchairs, and drag them down the street, saying, "Walk, walk in the name of Jesus!" And all you’re doing is causing sparks. We need to be very aware that God wants to show Himself mighty and very conscious of what’s going on around us. And at the right moment, when the Holy Spirit says it, you fasten your eyes on him and say, "Look on us." If there was something we could do in our own doing, I want you to know, beloved, I wouldn’t have all this pain in my body. My wife wouldn’t have gone through what she’s going through. But I want to tell you something. I’ve reached down and pulled people out of wheelchairs that haven’t walked for thirty-one years. I’ve prayed and seen the dead rise. I’ve seen the blind see, and I’ve watched the deaf receive their hearing. I’ve watched growths and large goiters instantly disappear off people’s bodies, such as in that meeting in Korea. And the people throng you as though you’re some kind of god (the way they did Paul and Barnabas), and you realize there’s nothing in you. But we’re messengers of Jehovah Rapha’, and we’re epistles that are read of men. We need to expect that to manifest so that someone (just one!) could hear the testimony, "All I know is that once I was blind, and now I see." Be glorified in our midst, Father, in the name of Jesus.
Let’s stand and worship Him tonight and just praise Him for His goodness.
Oh, Lord, we honor You, and we just want to boast in Your greatness! Father, we ask that, again, we would become very conscious of what You desire to do in our midst and in our bodies; Father, that we’d begin to be very conscious, as we go out into the workplace, of those that are around us, and that we can become vessels, Father. We’re not trying to show ourselves anything. We’re just going into the temple to worship, and we say, "There’s one right there; pray for him in the name of Jesus." Oh, Lord, that You would be glorified!
As Gary plays for a moment, we’ll just allow the Holy Spirit’s presence to continue in our bodies. Receive the refreshing tonight that the Lord has for you.
Lord, we just thank You that You will show Yourself mighty among us. Lord, we desire to see You lifted up among us. Lord God, we ask You to show Yourself mighty. We know that Your word declares that You are enthroned, Lord, in the praise, the adoration, of your people, Lord. And we come, and we make You big, Lord, in our hearts. We declare Your majesty, Lord, and we come believing to receive the gifts that You have for us. Lord, we come desiring the hand of God to come upon us, and that You would mock the gods of this world-those who have mocked You and blasphemed Your name—that You would show Yourself mighty among us, Lord. You said You’ll laugh at their calamity. These are not things, Father, that You take lightly. These are not things that do not offend You. We ask to become Your servants and agents that might bring You glory and honor, a people that will hold sacred the name of Jesus, and let that be our hope, our trust, and our strength. Jesus, salvation, that name that drives out demons, that makes right disease. Oh, Lord, that our eyes would be on You, and our hope in the covenant, Jehovah Rapha’, the Lord that heals us. For that we’re going to praise You, Father, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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