Ron Dunn Podcast - Does God Heal Today - Part 2

Episode Date: December 25, 2024

Healing is in and through Christ. If you have Chirst within you then you already have that source of healing within you.

By reading a paragraph or two from a book that has recently been published, the title of this particular chapter is, You Have Healing Already. The author writes, If you are truly born again and have Christ dwelling within you, you already have healing within you, for healing is in Christ. You could not receive the Savior without also receiving the healer, for they are both the same person. I say to you, 3.5 teaches that if we have Christ, we are already healed. By his stripes we are healed. Therefore, although you may even now be suffering with pain or other symptoms or appearances of sickness, if you have Christ within you,

you are already healed. That is, you have within you the source of all life and health. If life is in Christ, if healing is in Christ, if Christ be within you, then life and healing are already within you. These words are representative of much that is being taught and written today regarding healing. I think the issue is not so much does God heal today, because I think all of us believe that he does. I certainly do. I don't have any question in my mind about that, and I don't want you to misunderstand

what I'm saying in these studies. I do believe that God heals miraculously, supernaturally, divinely today. I've seen him do that. As a matter of fact, just last evening I was visiting with a pastor friend who just a few years ago had a tremendous, miraculous healing of his body. No, the issue is not does God heal today? The issue is, is Christ the healer in the sense, well, is there a fourfold gospel or what is commonly called the foursquare gospel? Jesus as Savior, as Sanctifier, as Healer, and as Coming King? Is Jesus Christ as healer just as much a part of the gospel

as Jesus as Savior? Is healing in the atonement? Is it God's will that every believer be healed? Does Jesus want everyone well in the physical sense? Now, those that believe in atonement healing, in other words, that healing is in the atonement and that Christ is just as much the healer as the Savior, those who believe this have basically two arguments. The first one is this. They say, Our Lord Jesus healed the sick when he was on earth. Should we not expect him to do so still, seeing that he is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The second argument is, and the apostles, they performed miraculous healing after Pentecost. Are we not still in the same Pentecostal dispensation as they? If it is true, as Hebrews 13.8 says, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever,

and if we are still in the same Pentecostal dispensation as the apostles, isn't it just logical to assume that what Jesus did then, he's doing today? That on the same basis, in the same way, Jesus Christ still heals today? That's the issue. And to answer these questions, to discover the truth, we simply have to compare the biblical healings of the Lord and his apostles with present-day claims, and I think in that way we'll have the answer. So what we're going to be doing this morning is simply examining the characteristics of biblical healing. I think that we can use as a basis

two verses in Matthew 4 because this is the first mention in the gospel of any kind of healing, and it stands really as sort of an introduction or summary of our Lord's public ministry. Matthew 4, verses 23 and 24 of the Word says, And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all men of sickness and all men of disease among the people. And his fame went throughout all Syria. And they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatics, and those that had the palsy, and he healed them." The various words translated healing and such as that appear over 70 times in the New Testament,

and you can't even give a casual reading to the Gospels and the book of Acts without realizing that healing miracles occupy a very large part of our Lord's public ministry and of the disciples' activity. Well, how did they heal? What were the characteristics of those healings? First of all, and to me one of the most notable characteristics is this. The diseases and disabilities cured at that time were incurable. During those days, those were incurable. During those days, those were incurable situations, and as a matter of fact,

the majority of them remain so today. They were what we would call organic disorders, and I think we need to distinguish between organic and functional disorders. Functional disorders are functional disorders as the term implies. Things like a lower back pain, a headache, such as this, things that will naturally in most cases be healed or can be healed by the natural process of the body. Organic disorders such as crippled legs, willowed hands, blind eyes, leprosy, cancer, the palsy, these are the miracles of healing that Jesus performed. Therefore, since these were at that time incurable, there was never any question that these were supernatural miracles, that these were not simply the natural remission of the body,

or they weren't psychosomatic healings or minor functional disorders that would eventually be healed. They were, without a doubt doubt supernatural, divine, and miraculous. The second characteristic is this. Christ healed with a word or a touch. As a matter of fact, the only time Jesus ever used a secondary means or an aid is found in John 9, verse 6, where he implored the use of clay. Why he did it that way, no explanation is given. It may be that Jesus was simply showing that he was not bound by any one method, that he could perform healing in any way that he chose

to do so, even with something as quite as superfluous as clay. But in all other instances, Jesus healed with a word or a touch. And in many cases, those that he healed were not even present at the time, as in the case of the centurion's servant or the nobleman's son. 3. The characteristic healings of Jesus are as follows. Jesus healed everyone who came for healing. There is not a single instance in the Bible of anyone coming to Jesus to be healed and going away unhealed. There were no failures because of a lack of faith. And yet today for everyone who receives healing there are a thousand more who do not. We've all heard the explanation given, either that they had no faith or didn't have enough faith, or there was some sin in their life that prohibited

God from doing the miracle, but you will never find that in the Gospels. If Jesus Christ is still healing today on the same basis that he did in New Testament times, then what explanation do we have for this? For as I have already said, the majority of those that come to God for healing today turn away without that healing. And yet Jesus healed everyone who came for healing, whether they were believers or not. Which leads me to the fourth characteristic. Jesus healed with reference to faith and without reference to faith. Now, while many of the healing miracles of Jesus were in response to the faith of the afflicted, we cannot conclude that Christ made faith an indispensable requirement for

healing, for he did not. We have always assumed, I think, that the essential requirement for being healed was faith. For how often have we been given this explanation? We don't have enough faith. He was not healed because he did not believe. And yet, a great many of those miracles that the Lord performed were wrought without any reference to faith whatsoever. For instance, Peter's mother-in-law was suffering from a fever. Jesus healed her and there is not any mention whatsoever of her faith. The leper in Matthew 8 was healed without any reference to faith.

The dumb man of Matthew 9. healed without any reference to faith. The dumb man of Matthew 9, verse 32, no reference to faith. The withered hand in Matthew 12, verse 10, again there is no reference, no mention of faith whatsoever. As a matter of fact, in some of those cases those that were healed had no idea they were about to be healed. I think of Lazarus who had been dead for four days, and when Jesus met his sisters, Mary and Martha, you'll recall the conversation that went on between them. These two sisters believed in Jesus. They believed that he was the Christ, and they believed that their brother would

be raised again in the resurrection. And they believed that had Jesus been there while Lazarus was still alive, that Jesus could have healed him. But they did not have the capacity to believe that Jesus could raise him now that he had been dead for four days. And of course on Lazarus' part, you know he didn't have any faith. It would be impossible for a dead man to exercise any kind of faith in that situation. For me, one of the most notable, if not the most notable example of this is found in Luke 22, verses 50 and 51. The scene is the Garden of Gethsemane. These soldiers have come in to take Jesus, and Peter immediately draws

his sword and aims at a fellow and misses his head and cuts off his ear. And you know what Jesus did? Jesus restored that man's ear. Now, folks, it's hard for me to believe that that man was a believer, that he was a follower of Christ, or that he had even an ounce of faith. He did not believe that Jesus could or would restore his ear, and yet Jesus did. The Gadarean maniac of Mark 5, of course, had no faith. As a matter of fact, Jesus cured that man over his own protest. He kept saying, I go away. Of course, it was the demonic influence within him that was saying that, but he was under

the complete control of that demon he could not have believed, and yet Jesus healed him. In Acts 3, remember Peter and John confront a lame beggar and the man is asking for alms. Peter says, Peter says, "...silver and gold have we none, but such as we have we give unto you in the name of Jesus rise up and walk." That man was not expecting to be healed. There was no faith, no preparatory faith for that man's healing. Jesus healed some not because of their faith or with any reference to their faith whatsoever. But then again Jesus healed some not because of their, but because of the faith of others.

For instance, the centurion's servant, Matthew chapter 8, that very well-known story of a man who said, Lord, I'm not worthy to have you come into my room, but just speak the word and my servant will live. And Jesus was amazed at that man's faith, and he healed the servant, not because of a servant's faith, but because of a centurion's faith. And of course, the man sick of the palsy, whose four friends brought him on a pallet,

you remember, and they lowered him down through the roof. That's recorded in Luke chapter 5. The Bible says that when Christ saw their faith, not the faith of the sick man, but the faith of those poor friends, the nobleman's son in John 4 was healed not because of the son's faith, but because of the father's faith. That very familiar verse of Scripture in James 5 where he says, If any among you is sick, let him call for the elders, and let them pray over him anointing with oil.

And the Scripture says, And the prayer of faith shall save the sick. But I want you to notice it is not the faith of the sick man. The elders are to pray for him and the prayer of faith, in other words, the prayer of those elders, their faith, will raise up that sick man. Now I mention that and I think that's important because it seems to me the lack of faith excuse is nothing more than an escape clause for those that teach that we're all to be healed. If you're going to teach that it is always God's will for a person to be healed and that Christ is the healer and he dwells within us

and if we have him within us then we already have healing. If you're going to teach and preach such a thing, you have got to have an explanation for those that are not healed who want to be. And so the best explanation, which I said to me seems nothing more than an escape clause in the contract, is simply to say, well, you didn't have enough faith. But these people never question their own faith, you see. It's always the faith of a sick person. They may pray over this person's body and they may command that the man be healed, but if he is not healed, it is never their own faith they call into

question, it is always the faith of the afflicted. And yet James says it is the faith of those that are praying, the elders by which that man is raised up. So Jesus healed many with reference to their faith. Many of the healing miracles of Jesus were in response to the faith of the afflicted, but just as often he healed without any reference to faith whatsoever. And as a matter of fact, many of those that he did heal, even in reference to their faith, it was made plain that their faith was imperfect, not a perfect faith. For instance, the Father in Matthew 17, Mark 9, his Son is demon-possessed, and the Lord says all things are possible to him that believes. And that father cries out, Lord, I do believe. Help thou my unbelief. There was faith, but there

was also doubt. His faith was not a perfect faith, and yet Jesus Christ responded to them. As a matter of fact, only with two exceptions, only with two exceptions, everyone who came to Jesus for a miracle came with an imperfect and weak faith, and yet Jesus still performed the miracle. All right, number five. Jesus healed instantly and completely. Now, to me, this is one of the most critical points in our study. When Jesus healed people, when

the apostles healed people, that healing was immediate, instantaneous, and complete. For instance, in Matthew 8, verse 13, again the story of the centurion and his servant. 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. In Mark 5 and verse 29, here is the woman who has the issue of blood. And verse 29 says, And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. And straightway, immediately, she was healed. There was never in the New Testament such a thing as a gradual healing. I heard someone use the lepers in Luke 17 as a proof text for

gradual healing where it says, And as they were going they were cleansed. But the word cleanse there in the Greek language is in the Aorist tense which indicates an on-the-spot, immediate, once-for-all, right-at- that point, healing. I repeat, in the healings of the New Testament, they were always instantaneous, immediate, and complete. There was never a gradual process of healing. There was never a recuperation period. Now, that's important. There was never this case of a person being healed, but yet he still wasn't healed all the way. And so there had to be a period of recuperation before he was healed. For instance, Peter's mother-in-law, after she had been healed, immediately got up and

served supper. And the lame man, immediately upon receiving his healing, he leaped and jumped. There was never any gradual healing in the biblical miracles, nor was there ever any preparation period. Jesus never had a fellow to make out a sin list and go through that and confess all his sins and get right with God and prepare himself to be healed. There was never any such thing as that in the New Testament, nor was there ever any follow-up practice in order to ensure the healing.

Now, I want to quote again from the author that I quoted from earlier. Later on in that chapter, he makes these statements. Turn a promise of healing into an affirmation and keep declaring it until you are fully convinced of its reality, until you believe it in your heart without wavering, and you will see that your symptoms will disappear. Repeat such affirmations aloud many times a day. Spend five or ten or fifteen minutes a day affirming aloud these declarations, and you will find that they are true and that his resurrection life will be manifested in your mortal body. Your symptoms will pass away. They will vanish in direct proportion to the clarity and strength

of your faith. The moment your faith is perfect, that moment you will be completely delivered. Now, the point that I want to emphasize is this advice. Repeat such affirmations aloud many times a day. Spend five or 10 or 15 minutes a day affirming aloud these declarations. Now, I want to say this as kindly as I know how to say it. But, folks, there is not one ounce of scriptural foundation in that advice. This idea that I have healing already, the symptoms are still here, but I must have faith that I have been healed, name it and claim it, and therefore I must continue to claim my healing and make certain affirmations, I'm healed, I'm healed. That kind of advice, my dear friend, is absolutely unscriptural. There is not a shred of scriptural evidence to that advice. That is a man-made concoction. That is man's advice. That is an invention

of man. You say, well, what about that passage over in Hebrews where it says we must hold fast our confession? And that is used. And I've heard people say, you've got to hold fast your confession of healing. Well, if you study the book of Hebrews, you'll find that they use that word, the writer uses that word three times in chapter 3 and verse 1, chapter 4 and verse 14, and chapter 10 and verse 23. And folks, he is not at all talking about that kind of healing or that kind of confession. Those Hebrew Christians were going through a time of terrible persecution, and they were on the verge of abandoning their faith.

They had been so abused and whipped and persecuted, they were so discouraged and deceited that they were in danger of apostatizing. And when the writer says, hold fast your confession or profession of faith, he's talking about the confession of Jesus Christ as being the Messiah and the messenger of God. It is in reference to their holding the faith, the revelation from God.

Hold fast your confession, that confession that says, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, that he is the Son of God. To say that that applies to affirming your healing is taking it totally out of context and violates the laws of biblical interpretation. There was never anyone healed in the Bible who continued to have symptoms. Now, I hear this over and over again, and you've heard it, and they say, well, I'm healed, but I just have the symptoms. And I've talked to some folks coughing and sneezing, and they say, well, I'm healed. And I ask them about the coughing and the wheezing and the sneezing, and they say, well,

that's just the symptoms. Those are just the symptoms. And I've been healed. I'm claiming my healing. These are just the symptoms. Well, two things I have to say about that. Number one, I've questioned the value of any healing that leaves the symptoms around. Of what value is it to be healed if you still have the pain and the suffering? The second observation is this. That never happened in the Bible. If we're claiming that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever in respect to healing, that he is the healer and what he did then he does now, then we are going to have to say that when Jesus heals somebody, he heals them instantly, immediately, completely. And there is absolutely no scriptural basis for saying, I am healed, but my body just doesn't know it yet. And these are just the symptoms, and I'm holding fast my

confession of healing, and as I affirm this, gradually the symptoms will disappear and one of these days I'll be totally delivered. Now, I want you to listen to me carefully. I'm not saying that that doesn't work. For I believe that in some cases, especially with functional disorders, that will work. I'm not disputing that. I believe in faith healing. Now, I'm making a distinction at this point between divine healing, where God supernaturally intervenes, and faith healing. I believe in the power of the mind to bring about certain kinds of healing. I believe that there is power in our positive thinking

and that if I tell myself something enough, we all know this, you can tell yourself that you're discouraged and tired and after a while your mind will start believing what it's hearing and your body will respond to it. And there are instances, I believe, where certain functional disorders can be healed by our faith by simply telling ourselves over and over again that I am healed. Oh, I believe that, but, friends, that is not divine miraculous healing. That is a natural healing brought about by the natural use of the mind and the body.

But what we're talking about is that divine intervention where God heals miraculously. You see, you may say, well, I've tried this and it works. I don't dispute that. All I'm saying is that the healing of God, the healing of Jesus in that supernatural miraculous healing never, never occurred that way biblically. You have no biblical basis for that. The issue is the miraculous divine healing that Jesus did while he was on earth. I must say here, this idea that you have to have enough faith in order to be healed, well, I have enough faith to be saved, how much faith does it take? Is it greater for God to heal or to save? Jesus could heal with a word or a touch,

but in order to save my soul, he had to shed his blood on the cross. I have enough faith to be saved. You mean to tell me I don't have enough faith to be healed? Do you mean to tell me that I can believe and believe with all of my heart and believe and believe and believe and then maybe one day I suddenly have a little bit of doubt or I don't do it just right and God withholds the healing from me?

Friend, I want to tell you something. That's not the way a father treats his child. For me, that vilifies the grace of God. What that does is saying that if healing is in the atonement, while anybody can have the greatest blessing of the atonement simply by believing and being redeemed, yet healing is reserved for the elite, those who somehow have managed to acquire a higher level of faith. And I repeat, that's not the way a father pities his child. If my son or daughter were drowning, I wouldn't say now, before I pull you out of that

water, do you believe I can do it? Well, is your faith really perfect? Well, I was going to pull you out of that water, but I see that there's some doubt and fear and uncertainty. You're wavering just a little bit, so I'm going to have to let you drown. Now, you may think that's a ridiculous illustration, but frankly, I don't think it's a bit more ridiculous than this idea that the Father who loves me and cares for me is withholding healing from my body simply because I don't score 100% in my believing.

The Bible never, never teaches that. It never, never teaches that. It never, never teaches that. And I know I'm making an issue of this and emphasizing this, but this is to me the critical point because over and over again we are told that you must claim your healing and you must ignore the symptoms. They'll still be there, but those are just the symptoms. Your body is healed, it just doesn't know it yet. And you've got to make your confession, for if you make a negative confession you'll lose your healing. I must say at this point that some folks have gone way, way overboard on this matter of confession and the power of word. Many have given an unbiblical

emphasis to the power of confession and the power of word. To them it has become a superstitious, magical power. Many use the James 3 passage where he says with the same mouth, we bless God and curse men. Friend, I want to tell you something. The cursing that he's talking about there is not this kind of curse whereby I put a hex on you by something that I say, or I put a hex on myself by something that I say. What James is doing there is showing the inconsistency in the Christian who on

the one hand plays as God and on the other hand cusses out somebody. He's not talking about putting a hex on people. He's talking about speaking good things about God and bad things about man with the same tongue. It is taking that totally out of its meaning to say that James is teaching there that we can put a curse like a witch's curse or a voodoo curse on somebody by our words or a curse upon ourselves. That's not what he's saying at all. Now, I believe in the power of words. I know that words can have a tremendous psychological effect upon people. I know that if you praise a child and speak good things to them, it has a psychological, emotional effect on them.

But to say that I may get sick if I say I'm going to get sick simply because that gives the devil permission to make me sick is a violent abuse of James' words. I know that there is power in words, and I know that if I say, I'm tired, I'm tired, I'm tired, it can have an effect upon me of making me tired. But what these folks are teaching is this, that if I happen to say I'm sick, that that is not causing a psychological or emotional effect, but rather I have given the devil permission to enter into that situation and now he has the authority where he did not

have it before to make me tired or to make me sick. Folks, I want to tell you something. There is absolutely no scriptural basis for that kind of teaching, none whatsoever, especially not in James. And we've got to move on and finish this. This all-important characteristic of the healing of Jesus was always instantaneous, always instantaneous. There were never any symptoms remaining about. It was always complete. There was never any recuperation period. There was never any, you have to go on now confessing because your body doesn't know it's healed yet and eventually the symptoms will disappear. That is not scriptural. Nowhere does the Bible teach us that kind of truth.

Number 6, the sixth characteristic, there were no recorded relapses. None of those whom Jesus healed, none of those whom the disciples healed, is it ever recorded that they had a relapse. Unfortunately, so many times I have known people, had them in my church, friends of mine who were suffering, let's say, from cancer. And we prayed and others prayed that God would heal them. And then one day they come back from the doctor and the doctor says, It's gone, there's not a sign of it. And we all rejoice and we testify, We've been healed, this person has been healed.

And only to find six months later the cancer has come back, or a year later, or two years later. It is possible that some diseases go into remission and all traces of that disease disappear to the astonishment of the doctors. There is no medical explanation for it. Folks, that is remission, that is not healing. In the healings of the Bible there were never any recorded relapses. Number 7, characteristic, Jesus raised the dead. Jesus raised the dead, so did the Apostles. I know that there are scattered rumors and claims today that some have been raised. I

was talking to someone about this just while I was going, and they said, Oh, well, people are being raised from the dead. I've heard about it. Let me say, I don't believe it. I don't believe it. Folks, if people, dead people, I mean dead and buried people, dead and embalmed people like Lazarus, if they were being raised, if just one had been raised from the dead, friends, the news would immediately circle the globe. It would be publicized everywhere. It wouldn't be a rumor. It wouldn't be a claim. I know that there are people who die on the operating table. Clinically they die, not biologically perhaps, but clinically they die,

and they have what we may call a resuscitation. They may experience what is called a clinical death, and maybe for a while on the operating table in some other situation they die, but they come back. That's not the same thing. Jesus came to Lazarus who for four days had been in the grave, and he raised him. There was no resuscitation.

And I must frankly say, I do not believe, I do not believe in these rumors that people are being raised from the dead today. Because, friend, if that were true, it would make front news headlines everywhere. Number eight, and this is the final one. And, you know, this is the one that sort of astounded me. And as I was studying this, I don't know, I had never thought about this. It had never occurred to me. Here it is.

As a rule, Jesus discouraged, even forbade, the publicizing of his healing miracles. I want to repeat that. As a rule, Jesus discouraged, even forbade, the publicizing of his healing miracles. In Matthew 8, verse 4, to the leper he said, See thou tell no man. Matthew 9, verse 30, to the two blind men the Bible says, Jesus straightly charged them, saying, See that no man knoweth. And the words translated straightly charged, that's a strong word that was used of a horse snorting in anger and upset. And Jesus, almost to the point of anger, is straightly charging them, harshly, firmly,

sternly, See that no man knoweth. Matthew 12, verse 16, When Jesus healed the multitude, he charged them that they should not make him known. Mark 7, verse 36, The deaf man that had the speech impediment, Christ charged them that they should tell no man. Mark 8, 26, the blind man of Bethesda, he sent him away to his house, saying, Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town. In Luke 8, verse 56, after he had raised the daughter of Jairus, he charged them that they should tell no man what was done. This is a sharp contrast to modern-day practices. When someone is healed in our meetings or we hear of somebody that has been miraculously

healed, we immediately publicize it. The excitement, feverish excitement,. And frankly, this seems the way it ought to be. To me, if I see someone that is miraculously healed, if somebody who has crippled legs, twisted, a withered arm, blind eyes, and they are healed, I want immediately for everybody to know about it. And yet Jesus himself prohibited such publicity. Why was that? Why was that? I believe it was for this reason. There was a danger that the people would become overly excited when they heard about these miracles that they would get the idea that Jesus was about to set up some splendid earthly kingdom according to their own faulty views of the Messiah and his work. For instance, in John 6, verses 14 and 15, Jesus has just fed the multitude with the loaves and fishes. Verse 14, Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said,

This is of a truth, that prophet that should come into the world. When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone." In Mark 1, verse 45, you remember the cleansed letter and Jesus told him not to tell anybody what had happened? He failed to obey the Lord's word and caused such a stir that there was a serious interruption of the Lord's work and he had to drop what he was doing there and leave. The only case, the exceptional case, where Jesus told somebody to publicize it is in Mark 5, verse 19.

That really just proves the rule. There Jesus tells the man to publicize what has been done for him because he was in a region of the country where there was no danger at all of anybody wanting to make him a king. On the contrary, in that particular region there was a very unfavorable attitude towards Jesus. And Jesus said to this man, you go and tell what great things the Lord has done for you. There Jesus wanted to correct an undesirable attitude. He wanted to prove to the people that he was who he said he was. But, friends, that is the only exception,

and in every other case, Jesus told people not to tell anybody about it. As a matter of fact, later on in his ministry, Jesus made several distant journeys for the express purpose of preventing undue excitement among the people. Jesus did not want the miracles to overshadow the real purpose of his coming. He didn't want to cloud the issue. He knew men, he knew the hearts and attitudes of men, he knew they were more interested in the miracles than the faith that produced the miracles or the master that produced the miracles, or the master

that produced the miracles, as it is written in John 6, they followed him for the bread. He knew that! He knew that! Therefore, Jesus was always very unostentatious and quiet about his ministry. And by the way, it was predicted that he would be that way. You can read it in Matthew 12, verses 16-21. It was the fulfillment of the prophecy that he would come in quietness and would be unostentatious. That was the manner of his life and ministry. And the danger that Jesus recognized was that people would not be able to see beyond the healings to what he really came to do. Therefore he wanted no undue excitement or attention given to those miracles.

And frankly the danger is the same today. You tell the truth now. Be honest about it. Don't you get more excited over somebody being healed than somebody being saved? Why, of course. In this meeting, at the close of it, we gave an invitation, and over here a little nine-year-old boy walks down the aisle, and he trusts Christ as Savior. He is saved. But over here, another fellow comes down in a wheelchair. He's never walked a step in his life, and God miraculously heals him. I'll tell you what we'll go out talking about. We'll go out talking about the man that was healed.

Mention will hardly be made of the nine-year-old boy that was saved. But, friend, I want to point out to you, one miracle was spiritual, the other was physical. One was supernatural, the other was temporal. One was supernatural, the other was temporal. One required the blood of the Lord, the other required only a hand or touch or a word. The fact of the matter is we give more attention, we shout more praise, we get more excited about hearing of somebody being healed. And please do not misunderstand, I don't devalue that.

Oh, please do not misunderstand. I would to God that every sick person be healed. I have prayed for people to be healed, members of my own family, and I would to God that they had been healed. I am not de-emphasizing or devaluating the healing of these sick folk. Please do not misunderstand. But my dear friend, we get more excited and we shout louder over the healing of a physical ailment than we do over the salvation of a soul.

Jesus knew what he was doing. And one of the sad things that's happening today is that there are some who are making these healings the signs of revival. In other words, if God is really giving revival, if we're really having a supernatural, extraordinary work of God, then there will be healing. Now, before I leave this point, let me just say that it's interesting to note that in the epistle not one of the writers has a word to say about the miracles Christ performed while on earth. Not one mentions Christ as having healed anyone. The epistles never call Christ the healer. They never even hint that those miracles of healing are continuing today

just as Jesus did them. The only reference is in 1 Corinthians 12 where it refers to the gifts of healing and in James 5. But none of the writers even mention the miracles of our Lord, nor do they talk about it. That is in direct contrast to the amount of attention and importance we find placed upon it today. We must finish it. We will finish it by simply examining for a moment the meaning of the miracles. What were, what is, the significance of the miracles that Jesus performed and the apostles performed? Simply this. Their stated purpose was to furnish supernatural credentials that Jesus was the Messiah. They were signs for then, not guarantees for now. Those miracles belonged especially and only to the days in which they were performed. For instance, in Matthew 11, you have this account. John the Baptist is in prison and he's having some doubts. Matthew

11, verse 2, Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and show John again those things which ye do here and see. The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, and and show John again those things which ye do here and see. The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, and the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me. Jesus was saying, if John is having doubts as to whether or not I am the true Messiah, all you have to do is to remind him of the

miracles, the healings that I am doing. That proves that I am the Messiah. The healing miracles and other miracles of Jesus had as their purpose credentials to authenticate. They were the marks of his Messiahship. John records in the last chapter of his gospel, chapter 20, and verse 31, he has this to say, that these are written, first of all in verse 30 he says, And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written, the miracles and such that are recorded here, which are not written in this book, but these are written. There are miracles and such that are recorded here. These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you might have life through his name.

The purpose of the miracles of the Lord was to mark his Messiahship, and with the disciples it was to authenticate the apostolic message. Well, somebody says, what about that passage in Matthew 10 where Jesus teaches us that we have this power to heal? Much reference has been made to Matthew 10 in verse 1, but I think the problem is we don't read the whole passage. Verse 1 says, And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against the unclean spirit, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. Now the names of the twelve apostles are these. And he names them.

Verse 5, These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons, freely ye have received and freely give. Provide neither gold nor silver nor brass in your purses, nor script for your journey,

neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet stays, for the workman is worthy of his meat. Now, my dear friend, I want to tell you something. If we're going to take Matthew 1, 10-1, and Matthew 10-8, and say that's for us today, then you've got to take Matthew 10-6 and Matthew 10.8 and say that's for us today then you've got to take Matthew 10.6 and 10.5 where it says only go to the Jews

don't go to the Samaritans, don't go to the Gentiles and you've got to also take Matthew chapter 10 verses 9 and 10 where it says provide neither gold nor silver nor brass in your purses. I don't know of many preachers or teachers going around today healing people that are following that particular statement. And he says, don't take

two coats and most of them will have a whole wardrobe with them. I know I'm being sarcastic, but what I'm trying to show you folks is this, that you cannot pick out a verse and say, this applies today. It's the whole passage that applies. Jesus says he called his twelve disciples and he said unto them, I give you power to do this. And then he names those twelve. Now, friend, if your name doesn't occur in that list, then Jesus wasn't speaking to you. The miracles of the Lord, the healing miracles of the Lord and those of the disciples were meant to authenticate their message and they were credentials to prove his Messiahship. Now in conclusion, God may do extraordinary things in times of extraordinary blessings

like revival. I've been in those times of revival. During those times there are unusual manifestations of his power. Those manifestations are meant to arrest the attention of the multitude and to attest the authenticity of the message. To make those manifestations the norm for everyday church life is to grievously misunderstand and misinterpret God's work. Simply because God gives an unusual and miraculous manifestation during a time of extraordinary blessing is not to say that that is the norm, the way God always works. J. Sidlow Baxter has written a book on divine healing. Sidlow Baxter is a man that believes in divine healing and believes in divine healers. He is a very ardent supporter of Catherine Kuhlman. He is not an enemy to the Charismatics

or to those that teach healing is in the Atonement. But in his book he makes this statement, Neither from our Lord's miracles nor from those of the Apostles can we safely deduce that such are meant to continue today. Nor should we presume so. If such healings were divinely intended to continue in the same way today, then all who come for healing today would be healed without exception, as was the case in the days of our Lord and the apostles. But thousands come for healing today are not healed.

Therefore, by that simple, practical test, we know that healings today are not on the same basis as those days of long ago. God does heal today, but he does not heal everyone, nor is it his intention or will to heal everyone. I may have Christ within me. He is the healer, they say. He's also the sinless one. He's also the full treasure of all knowledge and wisdom. And for me to say that simply to have Christ in me means that I have everything he is,

I have to also say then that I am sinless, that I am perfect in knowledge and wisdom? No, we know that's not true. Christ is Savior and Lord is the title the New Testament gives to him. God does heal, but in his own time, in his own way, and according to his sovereign will. Now let's pray together. Father, we're thankful again for this time we've had together. Father, I pray that the Holy Spirit would bless the truth and anoint the truth to our hearts. We desire only to know

what the Scripture says.