God cares about us body, soul and spirit and he operates in, on and through us as we are exercising faith in his finished work. We make choices daily and choices are very important in this world system and in the life of God. Jesus Christ made statements such as "thy faith hath made thee whole, according to your faith, as ye have believed."
Back to
AND also
For example, Matt 8
"22 But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour."
I will be coming back to this chapter later and deal with it deeper.
Matt 9
"29 Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you."
This happens time and time again in the word of God, God is a faith God and faith moves his hand on our behalf. We are called to walk in righteousness and walking in faith towards God IS walking in righteousness. He is a good Father and God, Lord and Physician, Healer and Redeemer, Help and Hope. IF a person truly believes that God doesn't want to heal them at times THEN why in the world would they go to a doctor IF God doesn't want them healed?
Back to the word of God.
Luke 1:38
"38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her."
Even here, we see that Mary accepted by faith what God said he will cause to happen to her even though she KNEW that she hasn't had sex with anyone and what is said to her is impossible. You don't get pregnant without sperm but Mary did and THAT is the God I know. He wants people to experience his power by his word and Spirit. As we keep going I hope you will see this ever so clearly.
Psa 103:1-3
"1 Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
"2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:
"3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;"
I was at a pro life march and I was talking to a Christian brother who did NOT believe in divine healing. I quoted the verses above to him and asked him, "Do you believe that God forgives ALL you iniquites?" He said, "Yea!" I then asked him, "Do you believe God heals all your diseases?" He said, "NO!" I said, "Why? It is in the same verse." I did not really get an answer, just excuses. Oh well! Religious people get really upset when you tell them God wants them healed. I know we don't deserve it, we don't deserve any part of salvation but it is freely offered.
"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."
What do we see that moved the hand of God/Jesus? It was faith and that is always the case of your faith, someone else's faith who believing in and with you or a parent's faith for their children, etc.
"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.
This is very important, Jesus is showing here that his healing of people physically speaking is fulfilling Isa 53 which says,
FAITH moves the hand of God on our behalf. We go to the ones who we "believe' will help us. Not many Christians go to God because they are taught that he doesn't care about our physical or mental well being just our spirits which is totally unbiblical.
CF
"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."
Jesus was healing people physically speaking and it fulfilled what Isaiah had to say over a thousand years earlier. Incredible!
"8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever."
One of the guys I was sharing truth with asked me which tribe I was in since salvation is of the Jews, and the gospels is to the 12 tribes, so to speak. I will play his game.
Rom 2
NOW I want to take you through the book of Mark and then closing thoughts on faith.
Healing and Deliverance
Healing and deliverance glorifies God. Sickness and disease, pain and junk like that doesn't.
"28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
"29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God."
I am a Jew, a son of Abraham, the father of the faith. The inner Jew counts and the outer Jew will play a part in the last days when God puts his attention back on the physical Jew in the last days when the time of the Gentiles is over.
Let's take a short trip through Mark before I talk about the importance and the necessity of faith.
Mark 1:40-43-45
"40 And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.
"41 And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean.
"42 And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed.
"43 And he straitly charged him, and forthwith sent him away;
"44 And saith unto him, See thou say nothing to any man: but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.
"45 But he went out, and began to publish it much, and to blaze abroad the matter, insomuch that Jesus could no more openly enter into the city, but was without in desert places: and they came to him from every quarter"
The thing that sticks out here to me is when it said that Jesus had compassion. He was filled with compassion for the man and so Jesus healed him. Remember, he came to Jesus in faith. Jesus answered him because he came to Jesus in faith, knowing Jesus could and he did.
Mark 5:21-42-
"21 And when Jesus was passed over again by ship unto the other side, much people gathered unto him: and he was nigh unto the sea.
"22 And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw him, he fell at his feet,
"23 And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live.
"24 And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him.
"25 And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years,
"26 And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,
"27 When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment.
"28 For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.
"29 And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.
"30 And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?
"31 And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?
"32 And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing.
"33 But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.
"34 And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.
"35 While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further?
"36 As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe.
"37 And he suffered no man to follow him, save Peter, and James, and John the brother of James.
"38 And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly.
"39 And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth.
"40 And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying.
"41 And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise.
"42 And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment.
""43 And he charged them straitly that no man should know it; and commanded that something should be given her to eat."
Two people were healed here, the woman with the blood problem to whom Jesus said, "Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole;" Then the man with the daughter whom Jesus said to him, " Be not afraid, only believe." (Jesus wanted him to just keep believing).
COMMENTS:
1. The man believed Jesus could or he never would've went to Jesus in the first place.
2. In v.36, Jesus ignored what the people said and told the man to just believe him. We need to do the same thing at times to see the glory of God. We KNOW the man did since he brought Jesus into his house.
God is trying to show the importance of faith and what it can do in your life and to make it even clearer, He shows what unbelief (basically the opposite of faith) can do.-- Nothing!
"1 And he went out from thence, and came into his own country; and his disciples follow him.
"2 And when the sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, 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?
"3 Is not this 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? And they were offended at him.
"4 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.
"5 And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them.
"6 And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching."
Mark 8:22-26-
"22 And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him.
"23 And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought.
"24 And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking.
"25 After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.
"26 And he sent him away to his house, saying, Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town."
Didn't say that he had faith but we know that he did since he came to Jesus for healing. (And Jesus didn't even have a medical degree? and to top it off, He didn't have training for the ministry.)
QUESTION: Why wasn't he healed the first time?
COMMENTS: To help his faith along.
Cf. Mark 9:23,24
"23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
"24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
"25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him."
To show us not to quit or give up.
Ck. Matt. 7:7,8
"7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
"8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened."
NOW!
Mark 8:38-- Jesus says, "If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."
Using this as food for thought, let's tie this in with John 14:12 where Jesus says, " 12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father."
(I've heard people argue about this in terms of whether He was talking about greater in quality or quanity. It doesn't bother me either way because all the glory goes to him, he's the one doing it anyway. Ck. the next two verses--
"13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
"14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it."
Check Phil. 2:13,
"13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure."
Phil 4:13,
"13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."
John 15:7 and many, many more.
"7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you."
Also think about the verse below, and Jesus Christ DID NOT say to JUST The Jews, he said to those who believe. AND he was not saying to those in his day, he SAID to those who believe on him.
John 14
"12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
"13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
"14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it."
Now let's see this carried out in Acts 3:1-9.
"1 Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.
"2 And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple;
"3 Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms.
"4 And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us.
"5 And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them.
"6 Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.
"7 And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.
8 And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.
9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God:"
Faith
Heb.11:1
"1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."
Romans 10:17
"17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."
Heb.11:6
"6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him".
So these three verses tell us what faith is, how to get faith and you can't please God without faith.
"8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
"9 Not of works, lest any man should boast."
Eph.2:8,9 above tells us that we are saved through faith.
Col.2:6
"6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
tells us to walk in Christ as we received him."
Rom.1:17
"17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith."
This says the just (righteous) shall live by faith.
II Cor. 5:21
"21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."
II Cor. 4:13
"13 We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak;"
This let's us know if we believe (truly believe) we will be speaking it..
James 1:6-8
"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."
It says, "to ask in faith" then by the time you get to v.8 you know not to doubt, a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways and won't receive anything from the Lord.
James 2:17-20
"17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
"18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
"19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
"20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?"
This shows us that faith without works is dead (stagnant, unproductive), it is not doing you or anybody else any good...
Rom. 14:23
"23 And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin."
This tells us that whatsoever is not of faith is sin.
James 5:15,16
I can share a lot more truth with those I am debating on God being a healing God. Don't keep doing what you have been doing and saying things like "So and so was sick so God doesn't heal everyone OR go find some sick people in the word of God who were sick and all the sudden make it God's will for them to be sick. IF you use that so-called logic then use it with babies being aborted, you need to make that God's will too.
"15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
"16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."
This closes with the prayer of faith and also praying for one another that we may be healed. It is also showing how sinning is tied in with sickness. Satan is the author of sin, sickness, disease and the like NOT God. He also did NOT say the prayer of a man living in deliberate sin availeth much. I keep hearing about spiritual healing, whatever that means to them but I will say it this way, Spiritual healing involves the total man just as when I sin the body that affects me in the spirit and soul. When I feed on wrong things in my soul that affects my body and spirit. Each part of me affects the other parts of me. I do not live in a vacuum.