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Sermon Series: Special Communion Service
Matthew 8: 14-17; Isaiah 53:4 “Calling on our Healing Savior”
Pastor Brian Long : July 6th, 2014
Big Idea: Asking for the healing available in Christ
Over the past 6 months or so, as our staff has been praying through the prayer
requests that have come in from Sundays, we have been moved by the myriad
of requests for all sorts of healing—mental, emotional, spiritual and physical. In
addition, I have had a number of conversations with folks around our church
who have carrying God sized burdens where they desperately need God to work
a miracle, because there are no other options. During this same time frame, we
have had the opportunity to pray with some of you and we’ve seen God do
some very gracious and kind miracles of healing for folks.
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All of this has worked together to give me the sense that we need to give some
special focus to the amazing blessing of the healing available in Christ. And a
communion Sunday like this one is the perfect time to bring this focus because
our God is a healing God and his healing is available to us in a unique way
through the death and resurrection of Jesus, which is rehearsed and
remembered in Communion. !
The subject or concept of supernatural healing has fascinated people for many
centuries. It is a captivating subject because people crave miracles in order to
get a glimpse of the supernatural at work before their eyes. But, it is also an
easily abused subject as many have translated their intense interest in healing
into a mega buck industry of healing services where people off the street would
come in and seem to be healed by those professing to possess the gift of
healing. Many were amazed only to discover later that the whole thing was
staged, built on lies and deceit. !
In the midst of our great need for healing, and yet the frequent abuses,
questions often arise: What does the Bible really teach about healing in our
day? Is it really possible? How does it happen? Who can do it? Where can I go if
I need healing? I wonder what my churches position on healing is? !
I'm not sure we can settle all the questions you may have concerning healing in
our limited time this morning, but I do believe we can settle a great deal of
confusion by conducting a responsible exploration of what the Bible affirms
about Jesus as our healer.
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Understanding Jesus as our healer begins by recognizing that he is our
"atonement". !
The New Testament repeatedly calls Jesus our atonement. The dictionary
defines “atonement” to mean, “satisfaction or reparation for a wrong or injury; to
make amends. !
The definition of Atonement is remembered most easily by breaking the word
itself into three sections: he is our "AT-ONE-MENT". That is, Jesus is the One
who made amends with God for our sin. Our sin breaks God’s law, someone
must pay the penalty for that. Jesus steps up to serve our sentence. His
suffering and death satisfied the just demands of God’s holy and perfect law.
This opens up the opportunity for each of us to have a peaceful relationship with
God. You and I enter into that peace-filled relationship with God when we place
our faith in Jesus who suffered in our place and atoned for our sin. !
Romans 3:25 says, “God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement,
through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith.” !
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I John 4:10, “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and
sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”
These verses are just two among many that set forth the Biblical teaching that
while in the Old Testament repeated sacrifices of animals were accepted by God
to "make atonement" for the sins of the people, or bring peace between God
and humankind; in the New Testament it is Jesus himself that died in our place
"once for all" and his sacrifice satisfied God's wrath toward sin and made
reconciliation and intimacy with God possible once again. Jesus is our
atonement. !
So what difference does this make if you have cancer, suffer from depression, or
need your sins forgiven, your soul washed, and set free from past guilt? In
makes all the difference in the world!
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Jesus makes all God’s blessings available to every area of our lives The God we worship is a healing God. !
Listen as David puts this truth to pen in Psalm 103: 1-5, "Praise the Lord, O my
soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and
forget not all his benefits--who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,
who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like
the eagle."
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The word “heals” here is the word ‘Rapha’ and is actually ascribed to God in
one of his names “YHWH Rapha”—The Lord heals! And the word is in the active
form indicating that God is actively, presently our healing God. !
Now, according to Ephesians 1:3, by becoming our atonement and uniting us
with God, Jesus makes available to us every “benefit” or “blessing” that God
desires to give to man; Spiritual, Physical and Mental (i.e. forgiveness,
regeneration, restoration, assurance, cleansing, deliverance, his Holy Spirit,
immortality and adoption as God’s child. Believers then, must reach out in faith
and in obedience to God's Word and, in a sense, grab hold of, or appropriate
these blessings in our lives.
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As we read a moment ago in the ancient Psalm, David is clear that healing was
available as one of God’s “benefits.” But, what about us? Is this benefit that
David so beautifully celebrates in Psalms 103 available to us today, right now?
The answer is yes! The Bible teaches us that healing, be it spiritual, physical, or
mental, is available today as one of the blessings to the believer found in Christ
our atonement. Let me show you: Turn in your Bibles to Matthew 8:14-17. READ
PASSAGE
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Jesus makes healing available to every area of our lives.
Having healed the man with leprosy, the centurion's servant and now in these
verses Peter's mother-in-law, Jesus then drives out demons with a word from
many and verse 16 states he "healed all the sick." In this context Matthew
points out what in verse 17? "That this [healing those sick in body and soul] was
to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah; ‘He took up our infirmities
and bore our diseases.’" That is a quote from Isaiah 53:4-6. Lets turn to it and
examine it in the context of Isaiah’s prophecy. READ Isaiah 53:1-6. Who is Isaiah
talking about here? Yes, Jesus. !
“Took up” in verse 4 means, “bearing, upholding, carrying, as when one
removes a burden from the shoulders of another, and places it on his own.” “If
applied to diseases, as in Matt. 8:17, it means that he took our diseases away
by his power, and, as it were, lifted them up, and removed them.”
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Our infirmities—“The word used here means properly sickness, disease, anxiety,
affliction. It does not refer to sins, but to sufferings. Matthew has used it to
specifically mean that Jesus healed our diseases according to the true sense in
which it is used by Isaiah; that the Messiah would take upon himself the
diseases of people ,and would remove their source of grief.
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The next phrase is a rephrasing for emphasis…
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And bore—Hebrew here is undoubtedly that of carrying a burden; lifting it and
carrying it away.
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Our diseases—The word used here means “pain, sorrow, grief.” The phrase,
therefore, seems to mean that he took upon himself the mental sorrows of
people. He not only took their diseases, and bore them away, but he also took or
bore the burden of their mental griefs as well.
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In other words, from Isaiah's declaration that Jesus took up our infirmities and
carried our sorrows, and then Matthew's teaching that Jesus healed as a
fulfillment of that prophecy of atonement means we can correctly hold that
Physical and spiritual/emotional healing is available for the believer today in
Christ our atonement just as salvation, grace and mercy is available.
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Regarding this Isaiah text, A. B. Simpson, the founder of our denomination said,
“The Redeemer appears among men with both hands stretched out to our
misery and need. In the one He holds salvation; in the other, healing.”
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In order to avoid two major mistakes in our understanding of healing we must
examine exactly how healing is available to the believer. The first major mistake
is to think that healing is available in the same way all the other blessings are
available.
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In what way is healing available for us?
It is CRITICAL to realize that not all the blessings made available in the
atonement operate in the same way:
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Some of the blessings are available now (Power and presence of Holy
Spirit)...some in the future (glorification and eternal life with Christ).
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Some are gradual like sanctification, others instantaneous like justification and
regeneration.
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Some are once-for-all like adoption into God’s family, and some repeatable such
as forgiveness, grace, and mercy.
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So then, while the benefit of salvation or forgiveness is always granted by God
to the genuine repentant sinner (Rom. 10:9, 3:22), God may or may not
depending on his sovereign, loving desire or perfectly loving will for our lives
honor a genuine request for healing. !
As a result, it seems best then for a believer to pray in faith for God to heal but
then to pursue any normal medical procedures available today. Because of the
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advance of medicine in the last 60 years, the default reaction to illness is to pop
a pill, call the doctor, or go to the hospital. If the prognosis is dire and beyond
medical help, then we think about the idea of prayer and asking God to heal. It
seems this should be reversed and we can honor the Lord by going to him first
and then to the medical profession?
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When we come to God and ask for healing, God may answer that prayer
miraculously and instantaneously, or he may bring healing through the advances
of medicine that he has allowed to be discovered in our day. Both glorify
Himself! And ultimately, for those who trust in Christ, perfect healing will be
experienced by everyone in eternity. !
The second major mistake we must avoid is thinking that if a prayer of faith for
healing is not answered it is an indication that there is either a "sin Problem" or a
"faith problem". It is critical to remember that, while some passages point to a possible link
between sickness and sin (James 5:13-16), this is not always the case (John
9:2-3).
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James 5:13-16 gives indication that in some cases there may be a sin problem
that is connected with the person's illness, or the harboring of sin or hiding it
from God and refusing to confess it to him inhibits God’s healing. !
In those cases James instructs us to make sure that we are being completely
open, humble and yielded before God as we pray for healing. This should be no
surprise to us. It is disingenuous to come before our Holy God and pray
earnestly for healing when we won't even come clean before him about our sin. !
So, if you desire to ask God for physical or emotional healing, it’s important to
take time to pray and reflect and prepare yourself. If there is any un-confessed
sin, express that to God and received spiritual healing first and foremost before
you pray for his blessing of physical or emotional healing.
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You might also be curious about the anointing with oil piece of this James
passage. !
It is generally held that oil was used widely for its medicinal value. In Scripture,
oil was used as a medicine as in the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke
10:30-37. But, most often in the Bible, it is a symbol of the presence of the Spirit
of God and the setting apart for God’s special use as in the anointing kings. (see
1 Samuel 16:1-13). It’s best in this context to understand the oil to have been a
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symbol of the healing power and presence of the Holy Spirit and of the setting
apart of the sick person for God's special attention.
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Notice, too that the Elders are asked to pray and anoint with oil in the name of
Jesus. And it’s their “prayer offered in faith” that will make the person well. The
faith of the sick person is that she or he called for the Elders to pray. This gets
confused so many times. Too often folks who have requested prayer for healing
and have not received it are subtly shamed by people who suggest they didn’t
have enough faith. But, the faith emphasis here is on the Elder’s who are
praying, not the sick person. !
Now, remember, while there is this possible link between sin and sickness, the
Bible is clear that this is not always the case. So, you can’t always assume that
a prayer for healing that is not answered immediately, is due to some sin
problem.
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John 9:2-3 is a perfect example of the error we must avoid. John writes, "As he
[Jesus] went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him,
"Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? ‘Neither
this man nor his parents sinned,’ said Jesus, ‘but this happened so that the
work of God might be displayed in his life.’”
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You see, Jesus response here indicates that ultimately healing is not about you.
It’s about God’s glory. It’s about God showcasing his power in your life in order
to glorify himself. !
When we boil all this down then, what are left with. What are we saying when we
say that God is a healing God and that Christ has made healing available to the
Christian?
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We are saying that:
• Jesus Christ by being our atonement makes available to us all the
heavenly blessings God desires to give us. •
•
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One of those blessings is the benefit of spiritual, emotional, and physical
healing. !
The believer, whose life is confessed openly before God, who believes the
promise of God's Word for healing and who depends upon God moment
by moment is encouraged to pray to God for healing.
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•
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The result is then left to God to decide depending upon His good and
perfect will for our lives and his sovereign desire to glorify himself through
us by healing our infirmity. Today we are opening up some time and creating a space for any of you who
would like to all on God to be your healer for mental, emotional, spiritual, or
physical healing. We are going to combine this with our communion celebration.
Here’s how this will work. !
The worship team is going to be offering a worshipful environment and I’d invite
you to enter into that and prepare your heart. !
Our communion servers will offer communion in the corners of the room. As you
worship, please find your way to the corner table nearest you when you are
ready. !
During this time as well, a few of us will be available up front to gather around
any of you who would like to be anointed as the James passage instructs us to
and prayer for healing. Just make your way up to the front. !
When it looks like you’ve all had a chance to receive communion and those who
desire prayer have received that, our worship team will call us altogether to
close our time in corporate worship.