Bible Teaching
Calvary Temple Teaching Library
I Wound And I Heal Pt.11
Pastor Scott
April 26, 2000 Wed PM
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One other thing. Pray concerning the ministry in Baltimore. The Lord is blessing—some outstanding things have been going on in these last years since Jim's been up there, and we're really excited about the way the Lord's directing us in that ministry. We're in the process right now—some of you have been up to the facilities in Baltimore—we're selling that building; it probably went on the market today. Jim has said that he really believes the Lord is leading them more out into the suburbs and that this is the direction of the Lord, and it is the wisdom of God. We don't want to train our young people up, another generation, to live there. Those people are important—they're souls—but that's not where God has called us as a community to live—in some of the inner city, the downtrodden areas. God's people are not the downtrodden of the earth. So we're going to reach back into there, not forsaking those, but realize that God is ordering these steps. There's some property that we've already put a contract on, and we're believing the Lord to cause that to come to pass. So be in prayer about that. There are a number of things that could become obstacles that we're really believing Father to minister to us in. So those are a couple of things you can be praying about.
Great testimony from the fellowship there in Baltimore—a healing manifesting. One of the ladies in the fellowship—she's been there a good period of time, Mrs. Robinson ("Jesus loves you more..." And He does, praise God!). Mrs. Robinson was touched by the Lord Jesus. Her mother and her sister are both blind with glaucoma, and she was diagnosed with glaucoma. Her eyes were continually getting worse, and she was on the verge of some real difficulties. Then all of a sudden, it took a reversal, and then her eyes gradually got better instead of getting worse. The last report is she came to church without any glasses. The doctor said there's no sign of glaucoma, and she has 20/20 vision, praise God! So we praise God for that, amen? Hallelujah! Father, we just thank You for the hand of God in the lives of Your people. We thank You for touching Your children, our sister, Lord, and manifesting in our midst in a way that You would be glorified. Hallelujah! Just continue to show Yourself mighty, Father, and we will glorify Your name. We will glorify Your name. Hallelujah! Glory to God! And so, it's an exciting time and the word of the Lord going forth in power. We just want to continue to stir up the gifts as in their midst they're excited about what the Lord is doing and this word going forth, and we're going to continue to see some great things.
Let's turn back again to the twenty-first chapter of Numbers. As you remember, we dealt with this as we were looking at Isaiah 53 and out of the Matthew 8 confirmation of that prophecy. We saw also in John 3 the revelation of the Lord pertaining to the great work of redemption in Jesus' crucifixion. We saw in chapter 3 of John, verses 14-18, "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
What does it mean to believe upon the name of the Son of God? In Jesus' name, the Scripture says, we can lay hands upon the sick, and they will recover. What is the name? It's one with the person and the purpose of the Lord Jesus. The name cannot be separated from the person. You can't magically use the name and not have a relationship with Him. You can't magically use the name in prayer and not be an ambassador that's ordained of Him. He sent us forth as His ambassadors. He said we could take His name. We've studied that out in the power of attorney, and we understand how that works. It's very similar to what we're talking about in praying in the name of Jesus: a legal right to go make the transaction. The legal right is based upon our relationship with the Lord, not just what we're professing to believe, but what we're living out. Are we living in trust and reliance in the power of God in our lives? When we are, we can then transfer that literally, legally, because of that expectation. And Jesus said that those who believe on Him, as He's lifted up, as Moses lifted up the serpent, those who believe in that same way would be able to move in the authority and the power of the proper usage of His name.
He was referring back in John 3, of course, to this 21st chapter in Numbers. In the utterance this evening, there was a reference to this. We see in verse 5, it says "the people spake against God, and against Moses." In their murmuring, they were complaining that there was no bread or water and that their soul loathed what God was providing for them. They just were not satisfied and content with how God was choosing to sustain them. God wasn't supporting them in the manner of living that they were accustomed to, and so they were murmuring among themselves. I believe that in most of our lives here, we're going to come into a manner of living that we're not accustomed to. I firmly believe that we as a people will see that day of living again in the caves and the animal skins—and I'm not necessarily talking about sables and minks! It's not that far off when you look around and see what's happening in our society today. I don't want to drift off too far, but you look at what's going on in the U.N. today, the establishing of the one-world government. Antichrist is knocking at the door. It's got all of the momentum that it needs right now, this New Age movement as it's referred to, all of the philosophy today of the New Agers and the tree huggers and the need to educate our children. Already in place, as some of you are aware, in Oregon is a U.N.-mandated core curriculum for all public education in America and around the world. We're going to teach the same thing to all the kids around the world. Won't that be great? Then there'll be peace and unity, and we'll be able to respect one another and honor one another and, as the humanists desire, worship man instead of God. That's the age we're living in. I believe the time is coming when there's going to be a hatred for the gospel with an intensity that we've never imagined, and we're going to have to know how to walk in faith and trust God on a daily basis. We're going to have to know at that time what it means to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread." We're going to need to understand the supernatural provisions of gathering manna if necessary, or God supplying the increase of the meal and the oil—the supernatural abundance of God, where it never runs out daily. God did not give them a 500,000-gallon vat. You just trusted daily. That walk in the spirit and in faith is what this life is all about. The thing I want to show us this evening is this: it's going to be an individual experience that each of us is to have. You're not going to be able to live off of mom and dad's faith or the deacon's faith or one of the pastor's faith. You're going to have to establish your own belief system and reliance upon the Lord.
And the Scripture says that as the trial came upon them in verse 6 and the fiery serpents came because of their murmuring and their fears and their doubts and their rebellion, they'd realized their sin, and they cried out and confessed, "We have sinned." (Verse 7) And the Lord said, I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll make a provision for you. "And the Lord said to Moses, [verse 8] Make a fiery serpent, and set it upon the pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live." When he looks, he shall live. The thing we need to begin to come to realize tonight is this: every one of us is going to have to do our own looking. We can train our children, but we can't look for them. We can encourage our households, but we can't look for them. Everyone has to do their own looking. It's God provision; it's His way of each of us having that relationship with Him. When it comes into healing, it's the same principle that's necessary.
Do you remember we left off, Sunday morning I think it was, out of Luke 5? Let's turn back over there. As we were in Luke 5, we were talking about the man that was borne of the four, you remember, into the presence of Jesus, and he was healed there. There were some very interesting things that were addressed, and I want to look at it again and see what the Lord is speaking to us. Luke chapter 5, verse 17, "And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judaea, and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was present to heal them." The power of the Lord was present to heal them.
Keep your finger right there, and turn to Matthew 9 for just a second. Here's a condensed version of what's going on here, and the condensed version reads this way. "And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee. And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth. And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. And he arose, and departed to his house. But when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men." (Verses 2-8)
Two things we're going to want to look at: The resident power that was in Jesus and they marveled that power had been given unto men in this way. You're going to see that they marveled many times at the Master's life and His provision—the comments that are made that we referred to, "Never man spake like this man." It says they marveled at Him that even the winds and the waves obeyed His command. Jesus moved in such confidence, as we read in John. He said, Father, I know that when I pray, You hear Me. Aren't you glad to have that kind of assurance when you pray, to know that you're in communion with Father and that as you speak, His ears are open to the cry of the righteous, the assurance to know that whatever is spoken for the purpose and the glory of God, He confirms it with power, signs and wonders following this simple belief? They were marveling that God had giving such power to men.
Well, the question isn't, Does Jesus have the power? The question is, How do we appropriate it and how much of that power is actually resident within us, and then what's our responsibility for appropriating that which resides in Him? Because the Luke passage—remember, go back to Luke—it says, "...and the power of the Lord was present to heal them." The power was present to heal them. Can I share something with you tonight? The power is always present to heal you. The power is always present; it's never absent from you. Jesus said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. He's our healing; He's the source. So now we have to realize He's never apart from us. We abide in Him; His words abide in us. We can ask what we will, and it's done unto us, the Scripture says. Without Him we can do what? Nothing. And so He's our source, and we have to draw everything from Him. What I want us to see tonight is this: you have to do the personal drawing. Now, there are times when others will assist you, and there are the instances when the vessel itself, whether it be Jesus or someone else, provides the power necessary. But primarily, it's required that you believe. And we've got to be careful that as we're talking about stirring up the gifts and recognizing gifts of the Spirit that operate, authority that comes, and the fact that there are certain individuals who, because of their call and their office, will know an anointing that others wouldn't know. How do I know that? What does the Scripture say? "Is any sick among you? let him call for [the brethren?] the elders…" Wait a minute. "These signs shall follow them that believe." "Let him call for the [Who? The believers? Who do they call for?] the elders…" So we know, then, that because of an office, because of a responsibility, God will impart through these that He has ordained, at His discretion, because of His spiritual economy, His purposes, He will minister through those that He has placed for His glory. Now, what happens is a lot of people will make that exclusive: "Well, you know, we've got to call for the elders." No. "These signs shall follow them that believe." And so, every believer is to have signs following. We don't have to get to an elder, but the Bible makes it clear that if we do, what will happen? They anoint us with oil and do what? Pray the prayer of faith, or another way of saying that is they pray the prayer of obedience. They pray because they know they are representing God. I'm an elder; God placed me here; you call; He said I pray. If I pray believing that I'm representing Him, and you come believing that I represent Him—He, in fact, has sent me as a representative—we have then the right to expect healing. It's simple; it's God's method; it's His economy. So we can expect that, but it's not limited to that. So every one of us then can experience the anointing and the need to pray for one another, but the common denominator that runs through all of this is individual faith of the individual in need. Specific faith, individual faith, of the needy party is the rule. There are other methods, but it's the rule.
We see that the Scripture goes on in this fifth chapter, and it even refers to that. The power was present to heal. No one was getting healed, that we're aware of, at this point, either chapter 9 of Matthew or here. But both Matthew 9 and Luke 5 give us a little more insight I into Jesus' observation. We saw the story (verse 19) when they couldn't get him into the house because of the crowd. They went up on the housetop, and they lowered him down on this couch into the midst of Jesus—cool story! This is a man of faith. You've got to realize now, this guy is crippled. His buddies come by and say, Look, man, we're going to take you down to the healing meeting. Jesus is down there, and we're believing God that He'll heal you, man! The guy says, Really? Let's go! So they get their faith all together, and they're expecting a visitation of the Lord. So they're hauling this guy on down there, he's borne of four; they've got this cot, and they're running down there. They get there, and he's not able to get in, so they go up to the top, and they're going to lower him down. Here's the crippled guy, and they say, We're going to rip the tiles off, and we're going to lower you down in there. Now this guy is having to trust his buddies, because if they get that thing off, here he is: Jesus is teaching and plop—the guy falls down in the middle of the group! It's kind of embarrassing to drop in that way unannounced. So, here's a guy that's having to trust not only the presence of God, but he's having to trust brothers and sisters that are carrying him along on their faith.
Thank God for brothers and sisters who'll carry us along on their faith, who will encourage us and help us as we're coming into the presence of God. We need, in times like this, people to assist us. So when I'm talking about your individual faith, I'm not talking about you isolating and saying, I don't need anybody; it's just me and Jesus! When I'm talking about our personal faith, there are still times, beloved, that we have to, with the assistance of others, come into the presence of the Lord. But yet it's something external; it's something that's being initiated externally from the presence of God, from Jesus, by one or more. Because the response to this thing was—look at verse 20)—as they lowered the couch into the midst of Jesus, "And when he saw [plural] their faith, [not his, but their faith] he said unto him, Man, [individually] thy sins are forgiven thee." Jesus saw their faith.
Now, this speaks volumes to us, especially as we go through some other passages you're going to see here—faith is tangible. When the woman touched the hem of Jesus' garment, He said, "Who touched me?" What do You mean, who touched You? People are thronging you! He said, Virtue went out of Me; somebody touched Me in faith—I have perceived belief—expectation has drawn on My power—somebody in My midst is believing. Faith is a tangible force. Faith gives substance to things hoped for; it's the evidence, the proof, of things not naturally seen. Faith goes beyond intellectual acceptance. Faith is an expectation, a reliance, a trust, that what God has spoken, He's going to perform. That's why He said those who come to Him must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him. Biblical faith is an expression of diligence; it's settling for nothing less. It's that study, and we won't get into it now, on prayer that we've done so many times as we've looked at the heart of expectation to where there is no shame in importunity—that assurance that what God has promised, He's going to perform.
That's where these guys were, and Jesus saw that in them. This isn't any little lightweight thing. These guys made an effort. What kind of effort are we making for the visitation of God? His power is present to heal. "Oh, well; praise God! Let's just jump in!" It's more than just jumping in a pool. There's some effort involved here of pushing down all of the unbelief and the fears. There are all of the natural doubts. What we're going to see, as we go on, is that this belief really hinges on whether or not we believe His power is present, which is contingent upon whether we believe Jesus is, in fact, raised from the dead. When we talk about the doctrine of healing, we're talking about belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. When we talk about belief in the resurrection of Jesus, we're talking about the foundation of Christianity. Without it, there is no Christianity. Without the resurrection of Jesus, we of all men are most miserable. You're going to see, as we go into the book of Acts in just a moment, what's being dealt with here—your sins be forgiven. What do You mean, your sins be forgiven? Who is this that forgives sins? The same one that heals bodies is the one that forgives sins. He's the Lord of glory; He's the Son of God. Healing and the expression of the miraculous are the proof of that. But where's your personal expectation? We can say we believe intellectually in the resurrection—I believe in the resurrection of Jesus. Do we? If Jesus is risen, then He's present still to manifest the purpose of God on our behalf, which is, in this study that we're in now, our healing and our supernatural provision.
When I talk about provision, I'm not talking about just our providential care of food and raiment. I'm talking about our provision of God protecting us supernaturally, putting that hedge up around us so the enemy can't hurt us. Aren't you excited about that when you go out on a daily basis? Do you know how dangerous it is out there? I was talking to Janet today; we were driving down the road. I can't remember what triggered it, but I thought it was kind of humorous—all of this uproar about handguns that they're trying to outlaw, which is one of our rights. But the biggest problem we're facing over the years that's killed more people than our wars are traffic accidents—a lot of it drunk drivers—and cigarettes. So, you have alcohol and cigarettes, which are legal. You combine those two things and put them behind the wheel with some lady drinking alcohol, smoking a cigarette, talking on a cell phone, and putting her make-up on at 75 miles per hour, and it's scary! (I only used a woman driver because I like the part about putting make-up on! It could be a guy putting make-up on, I guess!) Are you really believing God to protect you? It's a miracle you get home! We need to believe and understand God's provision for us, but are we taking it for granted, or are we individually believing God for our protection? Now, you don't have to go through and—and I've known people over the years that have a formula, and they'd almost go around the house saying, I'm believing, Lord, that the blood of Jesus is over this window and over this door; Jesus, we're believing that you'll do this and that. You can do that every night and make a ritual out of it, or you can just really believe God in toto. I like to believe Him for the whole house at one time and not have to go to every window.
But it's an active belief that we're trying to talk about tonight. Are you believing? Are you expressing faith? Faith without works is dead. If there's not something being done—and I don't mean necessarily that we're having to go and paint blood over the door posts—I'm talking about something being done actively, whether it's active in your mind, your consciousness, within your being, but there's an awareness that something is being done to believe. God will see that, and there will be a response to that.
Go back to Matthew for just a second and look at chapter 9 if you would. Matthew 9 is full of all kinds of cool stuff. In Matthew 9, verse 27, we see another reference here. "And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou son of David, have mercy on us. And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord. Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you." I believe that this incident here with these two blind men is one of the foundational truths in all of our walk of faith. The question asked: Do you believe that I am able? The answer: Yes, Lord. And then the real issue is: Well, what can we expect? And what does He say? "According to your faith be it unto you." What can you believe God for? Where are we in our expression of faith? Thirty, sixty, one hundredfold?
I was sharing some things just in our personal experience the other night—things that we just really believe belong to us. People would say, That's not necessary; that seems ridiculous. But, beloved, God honored our faith. It doesn't matter how small, how ridiculous, it may seem to someone else? Do you believe I am able? Yes. According to your faith it'll be unto you. I've shared many of the miracles we've experienced over the years. We were talking about some of the things the other day, and some of the guys were reminding me of different incidents I hadn't even remembered, hadn't thought of for years—just the power of God. I remember one time being called up on the carpet by the officials of the Assemblies of God. I was sitting in their board meeting; they had all of the elders from all over the area in there. They were questioning me on my doctrine and asking certain questions. I've learned from my Teacher that sometimes it's better not to answer questions but to ask them. So they asked me, What do you believe? And I said, I'd be happy to answer that. But before I answer that, I really would appreciate some help from you gentlemen. I'm a young man, and I want to do the will of God; I'm teachable. You gentlemen here around this table have hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years of ministerial experience, and I'm just a young fellow. I'd like to ask you to help me. Could you interpret something for me? They said, Well, what would that be? And I said, You know, the Scripture says—and I'd like you to turn there. What does it mean when the Scripture says, "According to your faith be it unto you"? They kind of looked around the table at each other, and they kept waiting for someone else to answer. Finally, the head of the committee just kind of cleared his throat a little bit and said, Well, Brother Scott, really what that means is—well, according to your faith be it unto you! I said, That's what I believe. That's all I believe! If God said it, I believe it, praise God! You come and say, Lord, if Thou will, Thou canst heal me, and He says, "I will," and I say, Okay, as I believe it's unto me, praise God!
The simplicity of being able to move in this expectation! What can you believe God for? You can make the mistake of going through the Bible and trying to find promises, or you can do it biblically and just fall in love with Jesus, hang out with Him, and find out what He wants you to have, amen? And not be ready to take anything that He doesn't have for you and don't give up anything He said is yours and that assurance of just walking in His presence—the expectation. Don't get so carried away with this position and the power that you do like Moses, where he says, You rebels, must I fetch you this water—and supernaturally acts out and smites the rock, and the water comes forth, and God says, It cost you the Promised Land. I didn't ask you to do that. There is certain power that we have because of who we are—sons of God—but are we using it properly?
What was the whole problem there? Turn back to Numbers and look at that again. I wasn't expecting to go there, but we'll look at it real quickly. Numbers, chapter 20, verse 12—take a look at it. "And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, [Believed Him not? That takes faith to get water out of a rock, doesn't it? That looks like faith to me!] to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel..." Is what we're doing for the glory of God? You see, it's not faith when God's not being glorified in it and honored. It's not faith when it's not birthed in the heart of God and initiated by Him. We can move in power, but we're maybe not moving in faith. The thing that's interesting here, though, is this: Moses had ability as he believed, and that's what we're emphasizing tonight—our own personal responsibility to believe, your responsibility to approach the Lord as these blind men and say, "Have mercy on us!" And He said, Do you believe that I am able? Oh, my church believes! Do you believe? My deacon believes; my pastors believe; mom and dad believe. Do you believe that I'm able to do this is the real issue. What do you believe? According to your faith, it will be unto you. According to your faith, it will be unto you. I want to tell you something tonight, beloved. Your faith can make you walk on water, see material things multiplied. I've seen it; I've shared the testimonies; I've seen it. I've watched that airplane fuel multiply—the supernatural. According to your faith be it unto you. I've seen nature obey. I've watched demons flee and leave people's lives, blind eyes opened, deaf ears hear, lame people walk, the dead raised. I've seen those that have come and want to kill me thwarted. And it's according to your faith that it's going to be unto you. What do you believe tonight? For you young people especially, what do you believe? Have you been taking some time here recently and meditating out of these gospels and reading through these first few chapters of the book of Acts and asking yourself, Am I part of this kingdom of light? This is what's expected of me. It's not a second-generation relationship. God doesn't have grandkids. Do you believe that I am able?
Look at Mark 5 for just a second—the classic story, the one that we've referred to numerous times already in this session. Mark 5, verse 34, the woman with the issue of blood. Virtue had left Himself. He said, Who touched Me? We heard the whole story, and then verse 34, "And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith [not, "My virtue," though we know that's what it was] hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague." "Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole."
Mark 10, verse 52: You look again at the Lord ministering—a gentleman named blind Bartimaeus, an interesting character. Verse 46 says that they came to Jericho—the walls had already tumbled by this time. As He went out of Jericho with His disciples, a great number of people accumulated. "Blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, [the word had spread!] he began to cry out and say, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. And many charged him," Shut up man! Don't bother the Master; hold your peace! He's got more important things to do than minister to you, you old shriveled up dog! [I'm just kind of reading that in there, but it's obvious they didn't think he was worthy of the Master's attention.] Hold your peace! And "he cried the more a great deal."
People are going to tell you to shut up. People are going to tell you, Man, you're taking this thing far enough; your pursuit of Him is making me nervous! And you've got to decide what you're going to do here and how important it is for you to get into the presence of Jesus—like this woman with the issue of blood who pushed herself through, like blind Bartimaeus, they would not be stopped. What was it that drove them through all of this opposition without a real detailed knowledge within themselves? The signs and wonders were already the message—they didn't know the message of the gospel, but they had seen the compassion of God as the multitudes were being healed, and if it's for them, then it's for me, praise God!
He cries out again, "Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood still..." That would make a good sermon title: "Jesus Stood Still." Faith will stop Him in His tracks. The Bible says there was a multitude; there were crowds. Who knows all that was going on? But this one man stopped Him in His tracks because faith was coming out of his heart. They called the blind man and said, "Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee. And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus. And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee?" Can you imagine standing before the Master and Him asking you, What do you want Me to do? That sounds like a carte blanche, doesn't it? I wonder if it went through the mind of blind Bartimaeus? A blind guy—What do you want? Uhh?! To me, it's pretty obvious what the need was, but I'm wondering. Here he is, and God says, What do you want Me to do? And I'm wondering if it might have flashed through his mind: You know, I'd like a million dollars. With a million dollars, you could buy a nice looking dog, man! Just because I can see doesn't mean I'm going to be taken care of any other way. I don't even have a job; I've been begging! Maybe money is what I need. What do you want Me to do? That always cracks me up. Here's a blind guy—What do you want? I've been having this back problem... "The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight." You've got to even speak in faith when it's obvious. Faith does not dismiss the obvious. I mean, it's obvious. Hey, God, look! I mean, the Lord knows! What do you want? What are you really believing God for? Prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, the Scripture says. There are different words for prayer. The supplicant is one that comes and is asking, and the word "supplication" is interesting. It can be indicating, too, specific requests, detailed.
I remember Cho's story about his desk. I'll never forget it; I was in Bible College the first time I heard it. I've heard the story numerous other times, read it in his books. Yongi Cho was dying of tuberculosis, a missionary woman led him to Jesus, the Lord healed him and called him to preach. He went out, rented a building to preach, and advertised, handed out leaflets, praying, believing God, showed up that night for the first meeting, and no one came. No one came. He waited for people to come, and no one came. He said that as he began to leave the building, he was dejected and said, Lord, I don't know what's going on. Oh, God! And the Spirit of the Lord spoke to him and said, Where are you going? He said, I'm going home; nobody showed up. God said, I didn't say anybody would show up; I just called you to preach. He said, What do You mean? God said, Go preach. Cho walked back up to the platform and cried, Oh, God! That's kind of nuts, man! We all know that. So, he starts preaching. Nobody's in there, he's preaching, and he's crying. Finally, he stops and opens his eyes, and he's feeling sorry for himself. He looks, and looking in the windows are a few people. So, he just closed his eyes and starts preaching again. He can hear a little bit of noise going on, and he just keeps preaching and preaching and waiting awhile. He's hearing all this commotion going on, and he just keeps preaching up a storm. Finally, he stops and opens his eyes, and the place is full of people. What are you believing for? The obvious is that if you're going to be called to preach, it would help if there's somebody there to listen. But you see, faith doesn't operate in the obvious. Are you going to believe God whether anybody's there or not? Are you going to do what the Word of God has called you to do?
So, he begins to learn other things. He was talking about praying and believing God for a desk. He's praying and praying and praying—I'll try to make this story concise—and no desk. Finally, he said, Oh, God, I don't understand! Why don't You answer my prayer? He said the Spirit of the Lord spoke to him and said, What kind of desk do you want? He said, Lord, what do You mean? God said, I've got all kinds of desks. What kind do you want? The Lord is trying to instruct him in praying specifically. So he got very specific. He said, I want this kind of desk; I want it this long, this wide; I want these kind of drawers; I want them situated this way. He was kind of ticked off in his own spirit, saying, I'll show you, God. So he goes through this whole thing and lays out this desk. He says, that's the kind of desk I want! That, Lord, is what I need. The Lord led him then to one of the missionaries who called him and said, Cho, I'm having to go back to the States. I'm not even able to take all my stuff, and I really feel that the Lord would have me give you my desk. He said, Really? And he said the first thing that came to his mind was, Oh, man! If it's not the right desk, what am I going to do? He said, Oh Lord, forgive me. He goes in there, and there's the desk—exactly the way he described it! He said the funny thing was, though, he hadn't really thought that much. When he got it back, it just barely fit in the room, and he couldn't walk around it. He'd have to crawl over the top of it to get back in! So, you have to be specific. Interesting lessons in prayer.
Cho has a lot of doctrine I don't agree with, a lot of mysticism that comes into some of his teaching, especially in his fourth dimension book, some of the squirrelly stuff that Watchman Nee had gotten off into. There's a lot of good stuff. If you're mature, you can read it and benefit. As the old guy said, Eat the hay and spit out the sticks. Understand that there is a walk in the supernatural, and some of these guys like Cho and others, they've come up to that area, though, where in our supernatural, we've got to be careful that our supernatural is biblical and that we don't go over into the occult, because the occult is supernatural. So don't seek the supernatural; seek the presence of God. Seek the heart and the purpose of God. The supernatural is available through the occult. The enemy will gladly put on a show for you. Those powers are real; in fact, the more you begin to move in the anointing, the more you're going to have to deal with these things and be ready and realize what's there.
But we're talking about the obvious. What would you have Me do? Uhh, to receive my sight. Humm...good answer! And Jesus said, "Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way." Oh, how often, when your eyes are opened, the things of earth grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace! How beautiful it is when someone touched of the Lord doesn't go consume it upon their own lust—their newfound healing to be spent on the golf course, their new prosperity to be spent in cabins and motor homes that take them away from the presence of God and His people, so blessed that I no longer have time for God. It's for His glory, it's for His purpose, and in the healing, they followed Jesus in the way.
The opposite of this is seen, of course, over in Mark chapter 6; go back there for just a second if you would. The Scripture tells us here that in His own city—Mark chapter 6, verse 1—coming through His own country on the Sabbath Day, He's teaching in the synagogues, and those that heard were astonished. They said, "From whence hath this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands?" Jesus said, If you don't believe My words, believe My works. It's the affirmation that I'm sent of the Father; it's the expression of His will. Sunday morning, we're going to be dealing with that testimony of the resurrection and the power of healing that manifests. You might want to be reading, if you would, sometime between now and Sunday, spend some time in Acts and read 3-8 in the book of Acts. Just cruise through there a few times and get a feel for what's going on in the church—what became the normative Christian life at that time. And then begin to believe that we as a people would experience those same normative visitations. Jesus then here in chapter 6, and we'll end with this one, Jesus was causing amazement in their midst. "Is not this [verse 3] the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? [so much for the Virgin Mary—I should say her perpetual virginity] And they were offended at him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house. And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them. And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching."
Is it possible that those of us who have known Him so long have become overfamiliar with Him, and we've begun to know Him in His word but not in His power, and because of that we've drawn conclusions now based upon our knowledge that justifies our lack of experience? It causes Him to marvel at our unbelief. "My own people—I stand in their midst ready to heal them, a prophet, and I'm without honor." Who is He today in your eyes, and what do you believe He's here to do? He's wanting to do mighty works. Are we limiting Him to healing a few sick folks? The power of God present to heal. Whose faith is He going to see tonight? Who walks out free, and who walks out bound?
You're going to see that it doesn't always have to do (and we're going to get into that tonight) with the physical expression. As you study the book of Acts, you'll see that these signs and wonders caused belief in people who weren't necessarily instantaneously delivered. But it caused their hearts to burn within them, and they continued the pursuit, and it brought them into an understanding of who He was, the Christ. You may not have the full manifestation of the healing tonight, but is your heart burning in you and you know it's for you? The expectation is alive, and you're hearing His words clearly, What would You have Me do for you tonight? Know this: according to your faith, it's going to be unto you. According to your faith, it's going to be unto you. What do you believe tonight is yours because of the finished work of Jesus, and are you assuming the responsibility for the acquiring of it? You see, it's the individual's responsibility to appropriate what's rightfully theirs. Oh yes, there are times that a gift will prophesy, someone will initiate the laying on of hands, a handkerchief will be taken from someone's body, the shadow of the man of God passing by falls upon you, but most of the time, it's you seeking Him. It's the woman with the issue, it's blind Bartimaeus, it's those who say, I will not be deprived. And He says, What do you want Me to do? You'll stop Him in His footsteps, and He'll take care of you if You want Him tonight, if you hunger for Him tonight. What do you believe?
Father, we thank You for the Word of God, and we ask that You would stir our hearts in understanding the pursuit necessary on our behalf; that we, Lord, like the lepers and the blind man and the woman with the issue would seek You and press in and settle for nothing less than the hand of God. Lord, don't let us become those that sit smugly in Your own hometown, thinking we know You, and yet You're not ministering in our midst.
"According to your faith be it unto you." According to your faith be it unto you. According to your faith be it unto you. What do you want Me to do? Let's stand before the Lord tonight and worship Him. Do you believe I can do this? He said. What's your answer to that tonight? What do you need? What do you need? His question to me is, Do you believe I can do this? We could have every one of you tonight express what your need is: I need this, I need that, I need this, I need that, I need this. And He's going to say, Do you believe I'm able? What's your answer? What's your answer? Lord, I believe, praise God! Lord, I believe. Lord God, I believe it, praise God! Just begin to worship Him tonight, and begin to honor Him, and boast in His greatness tonight! What do you want Him to do in your life tonight? What do you want? We're not just talking about healing. What do you want? Are you bound by demonic power tonight? Do you know that there's a stronghold in your life? Do you want to be free? He'll drive out those spirits, praise God! He won't miraculously give you character, but He'll give you deliverance, and He'll strengthen you tonight in those areas that you lack. He'll open and close doors based upon your heart's desire.
Oh, Jesus, have mercy on us! Jesus, have mercy on us—a people in need! What do you want Me to do? Lord, I'm afraid; Lord, I'm in pain; Lord God, I'm bound by the cares of this world; I want free. Do you believe I can do this? Only believe. Believe tonight that sin does not have dominion over you. Do you believe that? Do you believe His Spirit indwells you and will give you understanding of all that He spoke? Do you believe I can do this? What's easier? Is anything too hard for the Lord? What's easier—to say your sins be forgiven, or to say take up your bed and walk? But that you may know that the Son of man has power to forgive sins, I say, Take up your bed.
He wants to free some of us from the power of sin. When you repent of that sin, and that thing that you've set up as an idol in your life is torn down by your desire to be free, healing can follow that. He can touch and heal your body, and all of a sudden, at the moment you're physically healed, your eyes are opened to sin in your life that you didn't even know was there. And you say, Oh, God, forgive me! Lord, I've been so caught up with the pain in my body, I didn't see how ugly I was in my spirit! Forgive me, Jesus.
Oh Lord, we need the visitation, the power present to heal. Where two or three are gathered in His name, He's in the midst of them. He never leaves us; He's here. What do you want tonight? Oh, manifest it, Lord, in our lives! Let's sing this together and just worship Him tonight. He's worthy of praise. Hallelujah! ("Turn your eyes…") Thank you, Jesus. Lord, You're worthy, Your worthy of praise! Sing it one more time and just worship Him—turn your eyes on Him tonight. He's here. What do you want from Him tonight? We want you glorified in our midst, Lord! Hallelujah! Just worship Him; just thank Him tonight for His working in our lives. Just rejoice in His goodness tonight. Believe for that visitation to bring wholeness to you tonight. You'd be surprised. Most of us, what we think we need is not really what we need, but, Lord, here's my heart's desire. Make me whole! And you walk out with "iaomai"—whole and forgiven. Confess your sins that you can be healed. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. What makes us able to respond, Lord, I believe? It's the assurance of His promises. You see, those who didn't have the Word of God had heard the testimony; they knew that this was the will of God because He was moving and showing compassion upon the multitudes. We have a more sure word than that today. Are we believing it? Would you be able to believe better if masses around you were being healed? Then you'd say, Man, now I can believe; that excites me; I know that's what God wants to do. We have a more sure word! Let's not loathe this light bread, this Bread of Life, this word that we have. Let's not loathe it in light of the miraculous and the visible. Let's understand that this is where our faith comes from. This is the knowledge of God to us—the Word flesh and the Word written, eternal. Heaven and earth will pass; they'll not pass. It's true. If Thou wilt. I will; be whole.
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