Acts 14:6-10

“⁶ They were ware of it, and fled unto Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and unto the region that lieth round about:

⁷ And there they preached the gospel.

⁸ And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother’s womb, who never had walked:

⁹ The same heard Paul speak: who stedfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed,

¹⁰ Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked.

 

Isaiah 52:6-8 English Standard Version (ESV)

⁶ Therefore my people shall know my name. Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here I am.”

⁷ How beautiful upon the mountains
    are the feet of him who brings good news,
who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness,
    who publishes salvation,
    who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”
⁸ The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice;
    together they sing for joy;
for eye to eye they see
    the return of the Lord to Zion.

at Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men.”

Romans 10:14-17 English Standard Version (ESV)

¹⁴ How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?^[a] And how are they to hear without someone preaching? ¹⁵ And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” ¹⁶ But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” ¹⁷ So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Acts 28:26-28 King James Version (KJV)

²⁶ Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive:

²⁷ For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

²⁸ Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.

Acts 28:7-10

⁷ Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island, named Publius, who received us and entertained us hospitably for three days. ⁸ It happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery. And Paul visited him and prayed, and putting his hands on him, healed him. ⁹ And when this had taken place, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured.

Are we preaching the same gospel that Paul preached?  “Faith comes from hearing”   Are we sharing the full message so that people can receive the fullness of what our Lord paid for them to have?    Something to think about…..

Acts 28:27 says that if they have ears to hear and eyes to see and the ability to understand, they will be “converted” and He will heal them.

From the Strong’s Concordance http://www.blbclassic.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G2390&t=KJV

ἰάομαι iáomai, ee-ah’-om-ahee; middle voice of apparently a primary verb; to cure (literally or figuratively):—heal, make whole.

Proverbs 4:20-22 King James Version (KJV)

²⁰ My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.

²¹ Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.

²² For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.

 

Luke 10:25-38 King James Version (KJV)

²⁵ And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

²⁶ He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?

²⁷ And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.

²⁸ And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.

²⁹ But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?

³⁰ And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.

³¹ And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

³² And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.

³³ But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,

³⁴ And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

³⁵ And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.

³⁶ Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?

³⁷ And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.

Please consider this passage carefully.

In the story of the good Samaritan, he labels the one who stops and binds up and heals as the good neighbour.    The Samaritan gave that which he had to the one who was afflicted.   Consider carefully what the Word says you have as a believer in Christ.   Whether you feel like you have it or not scripture says you have the capacity.      It is no more kind to encourage a baby to remain in infancy because their present ability does not live up to their full grown capacity, than it is to encourage believers to remain in spiritual infancy and not grow up into the fruitfulness and full capacity of a spiritually mature follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.   “It is written” he who believes will lay hands on the sick and they will recover (if you believe) Mark 16:16-20 and that if you believe you can do the word Jesus did and greater works (John 14:12).   Friends, let us grow up and be and do as His Word says we can.   Let us not cross the to other side of the road but follow the example of the good Samaritan and be the good neighbour that Jesus calls us to.

Especially if you lead or shepherd or act as an elder or mentor for any others, please pay close attention to Ezekiel.   The Word draws your attention especially to these verses. Please take note of  how God judges us when we hold back what He has commanded us to share.

 

Ezekiel 34 King James Version (KJV)

34 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

² Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?

³ Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock.

⁴ The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them.

⁵ And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered.

⁶ My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them.

⁷ Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord;

⁸ As I live, saith the Lord God, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock;

⁹ Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord;

¹⁰ Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them.

Consider the ministry of our Lord Jesus, the Good Shepherd in contrast:

2 Corinthians 5:1 New Living Translation (NLT)

New Bodies

5 For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands.

2 Corinthians 5:1 English Standard Version (ESV)

Our Heavenly Dwelling

5 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

Scripture tells us we will get a new body, an incorruptible body, one that is not at all subject to sickness and disease.  The one we presently live in returns to dust.

1 Corinthians 11:28-30 King James Version (KJV)

²⁸ But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.

²⁹ For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.

³⁰ For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.

Let’s see what scripture says about what Jesus paid for and the value He placed on it.  Everything Jesus went through in the “passion” time has significance for us.  He was beaten, spit upon, ripped open.  Psalm 22 is likely the most graphic description of the crucifixion in the Bible.   His bones were laid bare by the scourging, and he no longer looked human by the time he got to the cross.    The price he paid was way bigger than “just” being crucified.

We see in the Lord’s supper passage that many are weak and sickly and have died why?

“not discerning the Lord’s body”.  For whatever reason we can easily receive the blood as atonement/propitiation for our sins.   But somehow, blindness to the Lord’s body is common enough that our attention is drawn to this in 1st Corinthians.

1 Peter 2:24 King James Version (KJV)

²⁴ Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

1 Corinthians 15:52 King James Version (KJV)

⁵² In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

Healing is redundant to an incorruptible body.   Jesus did not say by my stripes, you will be given a new incorruptible body.  He said through His Word 2 times:

Matthew 27:26 King James Version (KJV)

²⁶ Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.

Isaiah 53:5 King James Version (KJV)

⁵ But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

Let’s read about the outlook, the expectation, the perspective that scripture tells us results in people being healed.

James 1:5-8

⁵ If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

⁶ But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

⁷ For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.

⁸ A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

James 5:17:18

¹⁷ Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.

¹⁸ And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.

Matthew 8:9-18 (KJV) 

For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.

¹⁰ When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.

¹¹ And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.

¹² But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

¹³ And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.

¹⁴ And when Jesus was come into Peter’s house, he saw his wife’s mother laid, and sick of a fever.

¹⁵ And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them.

¹⁶ When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick:

¹⁷ That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.

¹⁸ Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about him, he gave commandment to depart unto the other side.

Imagine the boldness, the presumption even, the gaul that the multitudes had, that Jairus had, that the woman with the issue of blood, the centurion etc had to come to Jesus expecting to be healed.  One man alone is recorded as having approached him with this mental state of “if it be your will, you can make me well”  and we disregard the testimony of the thousands of others who came expecting to be healed without this little addendum.     If we understood this lepers position in society and under the law, we would know why.   He understood from Deuteronomy 28 that he was under a curse for some sin he had committed.   His whole time of affliction, he would have been treated as an absolute outcast and one who warranted the condition from which he suffered.  All that this verse tells us is that he personally did not know God’s will on the matter.   This is not modelling a forever doctrine that all should now practice according to.  It demonstrates Jesus’ compassion and mercy and willingness to heal in spite of doubt and unbelief of the sick.

Paul’s Thorn is such a common one I have a whole post on that one.   But it is enough to say that scripture plainly says that his thorn was a “messenger sent from Satan to buffet him” due to the vastness of the revelation given to him.    Paul expounds on it in the same letter and scripture as a whole witnesses to Paul’s thorn.   Persecution followed him everywhere he went.  It was prophesied over him at the very beginning of his calling to Christ.

.Even the Syrian Phonecian woman came expectant that her daughter would be set free (see Matthew 15:21-29).     In many of these cases, Jesus commended them for their faith.   He never rebuked even one for having this expectation that He would heal if they sought Him out .

James 1:13-15

¹³ Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:

¹⁴ But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

¹⁵ Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

¹⁶ Do not err, my beloved brethren.

¹⁷ Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

That “do not err” stands out to me.   It is sandwiched between “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God”   and “Every good gift and every perfet gift is from above”.

John 10:10 spells it out clearly.   Sickness steals our time, steals our resources, steals our energy and can even steal our God given fruitfulness and purpose.

John 10:10 King James Version (KJV)

¹⁰ The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

“Not discerning the Lord’s body” IS a biblical reason why many are weak and sick and even dead.