Messianic Prophesies
July 6, 2024Dealing with Offense and Offended People
July 6, 2024
Most Christians will agree that God can heal, some even agree that God does heal today, most of them think it is some 50 / 50 chance game – maybe He will maybe He won’t.
It is ALWAYS God’s will to heal. God always wants the best for His people. We are His people, but He also cares for the unsaved and the Bible tells us time and again that after the Word was preached that signs and wonders followed.
Mark 16:20
King James Version (KJV)
20 And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen
Romans 15:19
King James Version (KJV)
19 Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.
The Signs and Wonders –
A sign and a wonder for a poor man is what? Seeing Prosperity
For a man that is lost – it is Salvation
For a sick and dying world it is Healings and creative miracles.
We are just going to look tonight at a few scriptures, challenge a few of your concepts of healing and examine this amazing provision that God has made available to us today through His Son Jesus.
TEN LEPERS –
Luke 17:11-19
King James Version (KJV)
11 And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.
12 And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:
13 And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.
14 And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.
15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,
16 And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.
17 And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?
18 There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.
19 And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.
JESUS BREAKING THE LAW
Matthew 8
King James Version (KJV)
8:1 When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him.
2 And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.
3 And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
Amplified Bible
3 And He reached out His hand and touched him, saying, I am willing; be cleansed [b]by being cured. And instantly his leprosy was cured and cleansed.
4 And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.
5 And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,
6 And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.
7 And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.
8 The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.
9 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.
JESUS’ WILL
In this scripture I want you to see a few things – One of them is that when asked about this very topic Jesus replied – I will – Be thou clean.
We need to realize that Jesus is willing to heal people. Not only is He willing… the last of the verse talks about the fact that HEALING is in the job description of the Messiah.
Isaiah 53
King James Version (KJV)
53:1Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?
2 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.
3 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.
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
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.
We have all heard stories that Brother So-in-so was praying for someone and they passed away, or they didn’t get healed, or it got worse. God will let us know the circumstances in some cases – in others we may never know on this side of things why these things happen. What seems to be the case often enough is that occasionally people do not want to let go of their infirmity. Strange as it may sound – many times people have even said as much to me and to others that if they got healed then they would no longer be on disability, or get welfare assistance.
I need to be quick to point out the circumstances of a few of these people so that you see what they were willing to risk or leave and to give up to get their healing.
Mark 10:46-52
King James Version (KJV)
46 And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging.
47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me.
48 And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou son of David, have mercy on me.
49 And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee.
50 And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus.
51 And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight.
52 And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.
Blind Bartimaus was willing to give up his position as a ward of the state. He lived on the assistance of others. He more than likely needed family or friends or strangers to help him get around, he was a legal beggar. Some bible teachers tell us that the very cloak that he wore was a special garment that was his license to beg. Without that garment around his shoulders he was not allowed to ask for money. He was willing to leave his comfortable job of just sitting there and getting money for nothing and press through the crowd to reach Jesus and reach his healing. He could have asked for anything at that moment. The whole crowd of people was all around Jesus… He wanted his healing more than money, and his identity changed.
The Roman Centurion was risking his position in the roman army, he was willing to risk humiliation, or even risk being put to death for coming to a Jew – a conquered people of the Roman empire and asking for help from someone of their religion. He was willing to do that for his servant – because he knew Jesus could help them.
The Lepers – each of them were risking being put to death for even being around other people. In those days if they did not warn people they were near – and they were only allowed out at certain times of the day – they could be stoned to death for being out in public and risking making someone else sick.
Yet we see ten of them standing afar off – away from everyone else like they were supposed to be – yet they still shouted to Jesus to get His attention and ask for healing. They legally should have been shouting – Unclean Unclean! Yet they all shouted – Jesus! Master!
We see the one Leper by himself. Also risking death by stoning for even being near people, yet he was close enough that when he asked Jesus, he was close enough that Jesus reached over and touched him and said I will.
Can I say this? Jesus will meet you where you are at. If you are seeking him for healing – when He sees your faith – He is willing to meet you right there and then. It is your faith that is a point of contact with God. Not your proximity to Jesus physically.
Peter’s mother-in-law.
Peter was married. There is an amazing teaching in that all of its own but we will leave that for another time.
But here was Peter – a close disciple of Jesus and someone in his own family got sick? Surely the great disciples of Jesus themselves didn’t have sickness in their family.
I love my mother in law. She is a mighty woman of God and she prays like there is no tomorrow. Yet on multiple occasions I had to go and pray for her with my wife and her family.
Sickness Comes, Don’t Keep it
We get this idea that Christians are not allowed to get sick. I got news for you… sickness comes against us sometimes – but the key is when it comes, don’t let it stay. So when symptoms start coming, bind them, reject them, do what you got to do in the natural too, take vitamin C and whatever else you need to – but don’t accept it when it comes. Stand on the Word and confess it over yourself.
Flu Season
I am at the moment shocked at the number of commercials for medicines on TV right now… when I was in Ireland and about to come over to the USA I clicked on a link to walmart.com or one of them and the very first thing they show you in big letters on the page was – FLU Season is coming – are you prepared?
Preparing people to get sick is the strangest concept I have ever heard before.
But there it is in big letters every so often – SICKNESS IS COMING.
Well I got news for you. In Big letters ALL the time are the words – HEALING IS COMING – in fact Healing is hear right now… today.
It was provided for you 2000 years ago and I will have you know that – that prescription is available today – it is free and didn’t cost you anything… You have a great physician that provided that for you and all you have to do is accept it.
Jehovah-Rapha The Lord that Heals
God is so interested in Healing you that he provided it through His Son, and He identified Himself as – God that Heals.
When I worked with computers enough I got the name and reputation of being a techie, a geek, a guru… when someone does something long enough they get nicknames or labels that identify them as being associated with that thing closely enough that when someone else hears that name it becomes instantly recognizable as what they are all about.
God was working with the Jewish people over many years and simple as it sounds when they saw that God was all about this or all about that – they would call Him by that name.
Jehovah Jireh – The Lord my provider
Jehovah Nissi – The Lord my Banner
Jehovah Shalom – The Lord is Peace
Well one of the names of God that the People in the Old testament even came to know Him as was Jehovah Rapha – The Lord my Healer.
You should know that God is a healer – When you know that you know it… exercise it. Practice what you preach so to speak. If you believe it then you will do it for others as well as stand in it for yourself.
Brother Paddy.
Paddy was a local man that lived in one of the cities in Ireland my wife and I used to live in. Everyday nearly – he would be at the church trying to get a cup of tea and a chat with someone. Sometimes he would be asking for money, sometimes he just wanted someone to pray for him over this or that. Well little by little something started happening with Paddy. You see he just lived across the street from the church and if he saw that something was going on at the church he would pop over and see what was going on, try to get a cup of tea and chat to whoever would stop and listen. He was a victim of his own curiosity eventually. Paddy started popping over to the church when bible school was on. So Paddy would get his cup of tea and sit at the back of the room and have cup of tea after cup of tea – and he ended up doing that while the Faith classes were being taught. He ended up siting there while the Authority of the Believer classes were taught, He sat there when the Healing classes were taught. Not only that but he was asking for prayer less, and asking questions about the Word of God more. It came one day that Paddy was at the Dr. getting his checkup that He found himself sitting next to someone that was worse off than he was. He started talking to this woman and found out that she was in terrible pain, constant pain, for years. She had been to the doctor time and again and she was on morphine and this and that and she had gotten used to the painkillers and they were not helping anymore. Well something happened to Paddy at that moment… He started talking to her and asked her if she believed in Jesus, she said yes. He asked her if she believed in healing. She said yes. Paddy told her how he had sat in bible school off and on for several years and had learned about the fact that Jesus made a way for everyone to be healed. He asked her if he could pray for her – according to the scriptures – believers will lay hands on the sick and the sick will recover. He prayed, her pain left and she said it was the first time in over 10 years that she was pain free. It works! It really works!
Prayer Line
I worked on a prayer hot line several years ago and I got a call from a concerned mother. She wanted me to pray for her daughter – she was just diagnosed with leukemia. Her daughter was a bible student at Rhema in Tulsa. She was a second year student and had missed several weeks of school already because she was in hospital. Her mother just asked for me to pray with her that it would leave her daughter… that she would get a clean bill of health. I prayed a simple prayer – I got in agreement with her faith, her daughters faith, and just simply declared that healing would take over – what the devil meant for evil, God would turn around for good. Several months passed and someone from the prayer hotline tracked me down and told me that this mother called back and the doctors had given her daughter the all clear, clean bill of health, she had made a full recovery and she had gone right back into bible school to finish what she had started.
Bible School Scripture Test
When I was in Bible school for the first time – hearing the Word taught and instructed about what every believer has access to in their big box of blessings that God gives us when we get saved… God has provided healing for us just as much as salvation, peace, and prosperity. I was in the back of the classroom studying for a test Pastor James was about to give… we simply had to memorize scripture and write it out plainly and properly on a piece of paper.
Well at this point I was working two jobs, going to bible school and college at the same time… I was tired and I had symptoms in my body already. Something happened as I was repeating that scripture over and over out loud. My throat was hurting, I felt dizzy and more than anything else I was looking forward to leaving school, going home and getting some rest. Yet as I was speaking those words out of my mouth and saying them out loud… I caught myself listening to what I was saying and then something just kind of dropped in my spirit and I asked myself – Did I really believe what I was saying? I knew the answer was yes – I said the scripture one more time and that next time I said it out loud – my throat was fine and the symptoms left.
Looking for opportunity
As a believer we already know that we should be looking out for opportunities to witness to others about Jesus and share with them about Salvation… but just as important in our daily lives – we should be looking for people that need prayer for healing, pray with them and then even share Jesus. God gave us these tools for a purpose. Every Christian has a ministry.
We saw this last time I taught about the fact that Jesus sent His followers out to the cities before He even went to the cross.
Luke 9:1-2
King James Version (KJV)
1 Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases.
2 And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.
Luke 10:1-2
King James Version (KJV)
1 After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come.
2 Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.
Old Testament Example of Jesus on the Cross
In the Old Testament we see the nation of Israel in the desert. Some started murmuring and complaining and then serpents entered into the camp and many were bitten and many died from it.
Numbers 21:8-9
King James Version (KJV)
8 And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
Doesn’t that just sound like Jesus? He was made to be sin, He was hung up on a pole and if any man look on Him and what He did, they will live, not just talking about salvation, but in healing.
Salvation and Healing go hand in hand. We accepted them both when we asked Jesus into our hearts.
The word for Salvation in the Greek is Soteria – it means to Rescue, Safety, Deliver, Health
If Jesus is lifted up – and You keep your eyes on Him for your own healing, or praying for healing for someone else… you have to realize you’re the hands… HE is the Healer. You just have to do what the Word says to do and watch what God does.
Hearing God to pray for the Sick
– Optional story – Grampa Ed
NOT QUALIFIED
Sometimes Christians are told or they have the thought themselves that I am not qualified to talk to someone about this or that because I have not been in that same situation as they are in. Nonsense. You do not have to go through the worst problems in life to qualify to be a blessing to someone else and pray for them over certain things. You have to realize that even though YOU may not have been through that pain and problem that person is in – but JESUS did. He bore our sickness and disease and He paid the price so that we don’t have to carry them anymore and on top of that – You can share that with someone else so that THEY don’t have to go through that either…. Then lead them to the Lord.
Amen!
Now we are going to exercise what you already know to be true.
We are going to pray for the sick and we are going to see them recover.
We will lay hands on those that are here, and we will reach out by faith for those that are not here.
