TEACHINGS

By Henry Miranda 

Know that it is God’s will to heal. It is impossible to have real faith in healing if there is the slightest doubt as to whether it is not God’s will. It is not God’s will for us to be sick. It is God’s will for us to be well.

The Bible admits the reality of sickness. Indeed, from the very beginning of Scripture until the end, we find the reality of sickness, death, and dying. The Bible tells us how sickness originated. We find that all illnesses and ailments have come about due to the original sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

Healing is not unconditionally promised to all Christians regardless of their conduct. The most important thing about healing is that it has a Fellowship with God; God loves us and wants only the best for us. Our healing has been bought and paid for with the blood of Jesus.

The most important thing about healing is being right with God before asking for healing. Remember, Jesus went to the cross in spirit, soul, and body to redeem man in spirit, soul, and body. Jesus died for our: * sickness * pains * transgressions * iniquities * peace * and healing, so we should have no doubt when we ask God for healing that we will be healed.

Appropriating faith is not believing that God can, but that God will. The healing of the body is a central element of the gospel.

As central as faith is to experiencing the Lord’s healing touch, there is another biblical approach to receiving healing. It does not replace faith; rather, it complements faith for healing by bringing another factor into the equation: God’s mercy. Healing is received by faith, but those seeking healing overlook another important way of accessing God’s healing touch: the mercy of God. Healing is the result of God’s mercy and grace.

“Now they came to Jericho. As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’” (Mark 10:46-47 NKJV).

A quick look through the Gospels reveals Jesus healing people, often in response to appeals to Him for mercy.

According to Webster’s Dictionary, mercy is defined as: 1) compassion or forbearance shown to an offender or subject; clemency or kindness extended to someone instead of strictness or severity; 2) a blessing regarded as an act of divine favor or compassion; 3) relief of distress; compassion shown to victims of misfortune.

According to Webster’s Dictionary, grace is defined as 1) beneficence or generosity shown by God to man; especially divine favor unmerited by man: the mercy of God as distinguished from his justice; 2) a short prayer either asking a blessing before or giving thanks after a meal; 3) disposition to kindness, favor, clemency or compassion: benign goodwill; the display of kindly treatment usually on the part of a superior.

Healing is God’s mercy. The granting of mercy is governed solely by God’s free and sovereign pleasure. We cannot earn it. Anytime someone receives healing, it comes from God’s mercy. We can cooperate and meet God’s conditions, but the bottom line is that it is the mercy and grace of God.

The Lord is not obligated to show His mercy to you or me. If He does not bestow mercy on us and chooses rather to leave us in our sickness, this is His privilege. Trophimus was not healed, in Second Timothy 4:20, it shows us that we are not always healed. We may not be healed at times, but God always has a reason.

Sometimes our sickness might remind us that we need more trust in God. Paul, the Scriptures tell us, that he had a thorn on his side, but God told him his grace was sufficient. Read these Scriptures concerning Paul’s vision and his thorn in (2 Corinthians 12:1-10).

Remember, God had granted Paul a vision of the highest heaven, and Paul had heard words that couldn’t be repeated and had seen sights that couldn’t be recounted. But because of this experience, God had given him a “thorn”—a weakness that continually reminded him of his utter dependence on God.

The exercise of God’s mercy is always regulated by His sovereign will and pleasure. God is not influenced by anything other than that which pleases Him. Therefore He said to Moses, “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy” (Exodus 33:19).

All sickness and pain result from sin, especially the fatal sickness of death itself. But it is God’s will to heal. Jesus intended healing to be part of the Christian mission of deliverance. Sin is the devil’s work, so the disease is of the devil. Faith begins where the will of God is known. Faith must rest on the will of God alone and not on our own desires or wishes.

We must learn to push out of the way and press beyond: * selfishness * disobedience *unconfessed sins * double mindedness *lukewarmness * doubt * emotions * feelings * and symptoms.

Healing is God’s will; the Old Testament records many occasions of healing by God’s power. While He was on earth, Jesus was an instrument of healing to all who looked to Him in faith. Miraculous healings continued to accompany the ministries of the Apostles and other believers who walked in faith in the Lord’s promises to heal the sick.

 We must put away any sickness with our faith, just as we would put sin away. As Christian, we must not consciously tolerate sin for a moment, yet how tolerant are we toward sickness that we even pet and indulge our aches and pains, instead of resisting them as the works of the devil, but saying instead that we are suffering for Christ.

Faith is being so convinced of the absolute truth of the decorations of God that are recorded in the Bible that we act on them without a doubt. Faith means receiving God’s written promise as his direct message to us. Praise God for your healing because withholding praise will show either unbelief or ingratitude. Praise him because praise is comely for the righteous (Psalms 33:1).

It is important for us to remember that our Lord is gracious. Sometimes our healing does not occur right away, but in faith, we must believe that it did occur. Even though we do not see it or feel it, just knowing that God heals us is enough. It may take up to a year or more at times; the important thing is to keep the faith.

“While sickness is not a sin, it is possible for sickness to be the result of sin.”

The Scripture teaches us that sickness can actually result from overwork in God’s ministry. In fact, Paul wrote that a fellow Christian worker, Epaphroditus, was sick of the place of death because of his work for the Lord.

“Because for the work of Christ he came close to death, not regarding his life, to supply what was lacking in your service toward me” (Philippians 2:30 NKJV).

Paul wrote that he risked his life for the work of Christ, and he was at the point of death while trying to do for me the things you couldn’t do because you were far away.

This man of God became sick because he was overworked in the Christian ministry. This is an important warning for those who engage in God’s work. Rest is an important aspect of the work.

In the Book of Leviticus, we read what would take place if a nation member came into contact with anything unclean. We read the following words from Moses:

“Any saddle on which he who has the discharge rides shall be unclean. Whoever touches anything that was under him shall be unclean until evening. He who carries any of those things shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening” (Leviticus 15:9-10 NKJV).

Whenever anyone touched something unclean, that person had to wash themselves in the manner God prescribed. This included using running water as well as some type of antiseptic. Again, violating these laws could cause someone to be physically ill and transfer diseases to others.

The same holds true today. If we come into contact with something diseased, we must also take the proper steps to safeguard ourselves from catching the disease.