SERMON INSIGHTS

We give thanks to the Lord and we bless him, our King Jesus Christ, Word of God, Creator, Savior, and hope of the human race. Blessed be the Holy Spirit for the testimony about Jesus Christ, our Savior of man and the world.

Yesterday, we discussed the human tragedy caused by sin, man’s desire and decision to be God unto himself. Sin placed man in captivity to Satan and death, and under the wrath and judgment of God. This is the background to the coming and mission of Jesus Christ, our Savior of the world. Christ came to save his brethren from sin and re-establish a new spiritual and social order of peace, righteousness, and joy in God and glory for the human race.

Today’s testimony, as we announced, is: Behold Jesus Christ, the Healer. Christ the Savior is today Christ the Healer.

The Prophetic and Apostolic Testimony of Healing

Beloved, it is not a difficult proposition to testify about Jesus Christ as the Healer. There are four distinct scriptures we use to testify of Him:

• Prophecy by Isaiah: Prophet Isaiah prophesied some 400 years before Jesus was born, saying: “He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed. God was telling humanity that salvation and healing shall come.
• Fulfillment in Matthew: When Jesus appeared, He fulfilled this, going about all Galilee, “teaching in the synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sicknesses and all kinds of diseases among the people.
• Apostolic Testimony (Acts): Peter testified that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who “went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.
• Apostolic Confirmation (1 Peter): Peter affirmed the reality of the stripes, saying Jesus, who took our sins in his own body on the tree, has made provision for our healing by his stripes.

The Basis of Christ’s Healing Power

The testimony of the Holy Spirit through the prophets and the Apostles shows clearly that the healing ministry of Jesus Christ, which the church has inherited, is based on three things:

1. The Sacrifice of His Blood and Life: The sacrifice of his blood and life on the tree at Calvary. The dying on the cross, the bloodshed, and the whipping experience are all embodied in the healing ministry.
2. The Stripes: “By his stripes, we shall be healed”. The shedding of blood and the stripes provided a spiritual mechanism, authority, and power system not only for the remission of sins and redemption of souls, but also for meeting and abating the consequences of sin on the spirit, soul, and body of man.
3. The Holy Spirit Anointing and His Name: The church can tap on the divine anointing and power of Jesus Christ through connecting to Him and the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, in a crisis of healing, people can call upon the mighty name of Jesus, and diseases will hear and obey.

The fact that Jesus is a healer, and that the church can heal in his name, cannot be disputed.

The Model for the Church’s Healing Ministry

Jesus gives a guidance, or a model, for the healing and deliverance ministry of the church. When John the Baptist sent his disciples, Jesus told them to report what they hear and see:

• The blind receive sight: This includes the physically blind and those who are spiritually blind, whose minds are blocked by Satan so they cannot comprehend spiritual things.
• The lame walk: This includes the physically lame, as well as those who are spiritually lame. They have been in the church but are never growing, forget what they learn, backslide, or are too weak to contain heavy spiritual things. Proper worship and the moving of the Spirit can cause the lame to walk.
• The lepers are cleansed: This refers to physical lepers, and also people with spiritual leprosy, such as a curse that prevents progress in business, leading to endless losses.
• The deaf hear: This includes the physically deaf, and the spiritually deaf. These are people who have been in the church for 30 years yet never heard the gospel. The Lord can break the power and covenant of Satan to open spiritual ears.
• The dead are raised: This includes the physically dead, and the spiritually dead, those who are unsaved or are practicing religion.
• The poor have the gospel preached to them: The healing ministry must never lose the gospel. The “poor” refers to people who lack money and those who are poor in spirit. The gospel must be preached, accompanied by all signs of healing and deliverance.

1. Jesus: The Divine Healer

Jesus Christ, as the Word of God, Savior, and Healer, is a divine person and of divine origin. In Exodus 15:26, Jehovah assured Israel, “I will put none of the disease on you which I have brought on the Egyptians; for I am the Lord who heals you“. Who is the Word of God? Jesus Christ.

The divine healing ministry is proof of a divine package of remission of sins, redemption, and deliverance of peoples and nations. He is not just a Savior; He can heal diseases and all the consequences of sin that befall the human race.

If you believe, receive your sight! If you are lame, stand up, and walk today! If you are sick, by His stripes, you are healed and delivered! If you are dead, rise up and walk, O dead man! Amen.

God bless you all.