WEBVTT 00:00:01.199 --> 00:00:04.219 Sharing good news of great joy to all people. 00:00:04.620 --> 00:00:10.400 Elation Church. Our series is entitled, Hello, 00:00:10.660 --> 00:00:13.660 My Name is God. And we've been looking at the 00:00:13.660 --> 00:00:16.600 importance of God's names and the importance 00:00:16.600 --> 00:00:20.339 of us knowing His name. Did you know all throughout 00:00:20.339 --> 00:00:24.469 the Bible, God reveals to us... different things, 00:00:24.510 --> 00:00:27.570 different characteristics about who he is based 00:00:27.570 --> 00:00:30.469 upon his names. And he gives us these different 00:00:30.469 --> 00:00:33.670 names, all right? So names carry significance. 00:00:34.149 --> 00:00:37.049 Names carry identity. Everyone say identity. 00:00:38.270 --> 00:00:41.429 Identity. Like, for instance, my name is Jeffrey 00:00:41.429 --> 00:00:43.869 Nathaniel Forrest. That's my identity. That's 00:00:43.869 --> 00:00:47.670 my full name. Now, I only knew, you know, I've 00:00:47.670 --> 00:00:51.229 only been called this if I'm in trouble. If mom 00:00:51.229 --> 00:00:53.189 looks at me and is like, Jeffrey Nathaniel Ford, 00:00:53.329 --> 00:00:56.490 that's when you know you're in trouble, is when 00:00:56.490 --> 00:00:59.530 you get all three names. But everybody usually 00:00:59.530 --> 00:01:02.729 just calls me Jeffrey. Another identity name 00:01:02.729 --> 00:01:05.890 that I have is Christian. It's not just something 00:01:05.890 --> 00:01:08.409 that I do. It's not just a religion I practice 00:01:08.409 --> 00:01:11.250 on Sunday morning, over the weekend. No, it's 00:01:11.250 --> 00:01:14.450 who I am as a person, right? It's my identity. 00:01:15.790 --> 00:01:19.670 So names also signify relationships. And as we're 00:01:19.670 --> 00:01:22.489 looking at God's name, we can see the relationship 00:01:22.489 --> 00:01:25.590 that he wants to have with each one of us. That's 00:01:25.590 --> 00:01:28.170 what we've been looking at. So some of my relationship 00:01:28.170 --> 00:01:33.250 names are cousin, nephew, son to my parents. 00:01:33.810 --> 00:01:36.870 Mom calls me her favorite son, even though I'm 00:01:36.870 --> 00:01:39.689 the only child. So that makes it even weirder. 00:01:39.829 --> 00:01:42.170 But I'm just going to go with it and take it 00:01:42.170 --> 00:01:44.750 as a compliment. But yeah, so I'm her favorite 00:01:44.750 --> 00:01:47.870 son. I'm a husband to my lovely wife, Caitlin. 00:01:48.030 --> 00:01:49.930 She's taking care of the children right now. 00:01:50.189 --> 00:01:53.189 But she doesn't call me husband. Typically, she 00:01:53.189 --> 00:01:55.750 calls me honey. Sometimes she tests, like one 00:01:55.750 --> 00:01:58.629 time she test drove Pookie. And I said, no, I 00:01:58.629 --> 00:02:00.609 shut that down pretty quick. Like we're not doing 00:02:00.609 --> 00:02:04.469 that. So that didn't continue on. But names signify 00:02:04.469 --> 00:02:08.009 identity. Everybody say identity. Everybody can 00:02:08.009 --> 00:02:11.250 be a little louder. Say identity. Relationship. 00:02:11.819 --> 00:02:15.479 and also activity as we've been studying. Some 00:02:15.479 --> 00:02:18.879 of my activity names are I'm a student. As Dad 00:02:18.879 --> 00:02:21.439 said, I'm a Ph .D., doctorate in philosophy and 00:02:21.439 --> 00:02:25.060 Christian apologetics, musician, recording artist, 00:02:25.340 --> 00:02:28.560 worship leader. I added something new, graphic 00:02:28.560 --> 00:02:31.360 designer. Dad and I, we work on all the graphics 00:02:31.360 --> 00:02:34.139 that you see, like anything that's online, the 00:02:34.139 --> 00:02:37.159 website, whatever. Even our sermon series and 00:02:37.159 --> 00:02:39.379 things, we're creating that each week. So it 00:02:39.379 --> 00:02:41.659 is like ours. We're doing it in -house, literally, 00:02:41.840 --> 00:02:48.400 like in my house. So I'm also, I've been a professional 00:02:48.400 --> 00:02:51.400 photographer before, been an aerobics instructor, 00:02:51.800 --> 00:02:56.759 a DJ, a custodian. evangelist, chaplain, preacher, 00:02:57.000 --> 00:02:59.039 and now associate pastor here at Alation Church. 00:02:59.139 --> 00:03:01.340 That's a lot of different hats, you know. Some 00:03:01.340 --> 00:03:03.419 of you feel, you know, some of you understand 00:03:03.419 --> 00:03:06.819 you wear a lot of hats in life. I've wore a lot 00:03:06.819 --> 00:03:09.060 of hats throughout my life, but I'm just one 00:03:09.060 --> 00:03:13.180 person. And that's important for us to realize 00:03:13.180 --> 00:03:15.900 when we're looking at God's names, and he's revealing 00:03:15.900 --> 00:03:18.789 all these different names, that It's just one 00:03:18.789 --> 00:03:21.310 God. We're not looking at different gods each 00:03:21.310 --> 00:03:23.689 time a name comes up. He's just one God, and 00:03:23.689 --> 00:03:26.729 he's revealed himself by these different names, 00:03:26.949 --> 00:03:30.449 okay? So what's in a name, identity, relationship, 00:03:30.770 --> 00:03:33.650 and activity, what a person does. And that's 00:03:33.650 --> 00:03:36.789 why knowing his name, and that's why this study 00:03:36.789 --> 00:03:41.789 is so important, is so vital for us as Christians 00:03:41.789 --> 00:03:45.639 and growing in our faith. is growing in the knowledge 00:03:45.639 --> 00:03:49.879 of who God is. Amen? That's our goal in life, 00:03:49.919 --> 00:03:53.319 to grow in the knowledge of who he is. And that 00:03:53.319 --> 00:03:56.120 takes us from faith to faith as we grow in that 00:03:56.120 --> 00:03:59.099 knowledge. In Psalms 9 .10, as our main text, 00:03:59.219 --> 00:04:02.300 it says, And those who know your name will put 00:04:02.300 --> 00:04:06.280 their trust in you. For you, Lord, have not forsaken 00:04:06.280 --> 00:04:12.060 those who seek you. We got to know who God is, 00:04:12.280 --> 00:04:14.840 right? We got to know who he is, and that's why 00:04:14.840 --> 00:04:17.079 we're doing this study, to know who he is, because 00:04:17.079 --> 00:04:20.860 when we know him, we can trust him. When we know 00:04:20.860 --> 00:04:23.199 the kind of relationship that he wants to have 00:04:23.199 --> 00:04:27.160 with us, right, we can expect that in our lives 00:04:27.160 --> 00:04:29.860 on a day -to -day basis. When we know what kind 00:04:29.860 --> 00:04:33.759 of activity he does based upon his name, that 00:04:33.759 --> 00:04:36.040 way we can trust that he's going to do those 00:04:36.040 --> 00:04:39.639 things. That is faith, right? We can count on 00:04:39.639 --> 00:04:44.310 him. We can depend on him. Because we know him, 00:04:44.529 --> 00:04:49.290 right? And when we seek him according to, right, 00:04:49.370 --> 00:04:52.529 our faith in him, our knowledge of him, that's 00:04:52.529 --> 00:04:56.529 when we will experience the fullness of him in 00:04:56.529 --> 00:04:59.889 our lives. That's when we see him fresh each 00:04:59.889 --> 00:05:07.110 and every day. This week's name for God that 00:05:07.110 --> 00:05:11.550 we're looking at is Yahweh Raphael. It's Yahweh 00:05:11.550 --> 00:05:15.470 Raphael. As we've looked in previous weeks, Yahweh 00:05:15.470 --> 00:05:19.269 means I am that I am. It's God's eternal name, 00:05:19.449 --> 00:05:25.129 meaning to always be or exist. It's eternal name. 00:05:25.209 --> 00:05:29.829 So he wants to be known by this name forever, 00:05:30.110 --> 00:05:33.750 right? As long, you know, forever, this is his 00:05:33.750 --> 00:05:36.829 name. And it's interesting, these Yahweh names 00:05:36.829 --> 00:05:38.709 that we've been looking at, they're compound 00:05:38.709 --> 00:05:42.550 Hebrew names for God. He's saying that I am and 00:05:42.550 --> 00:05:47.589 will forever be this. And this next name is Rafal, 00:05:47.649 --> 00:05:53.350 meaning to mend, stitch together, restore, cure, 00:05:53.670 --> 00:05:59.209 heal, and thoroughly make whole. This is his 00:05:59.209 --> 00:06:04.019 name. So when we put these together, It's meaning 00:06:04.019 --> 00:06:08.879 this, I am the one who heals, mends, restores, 00:06:08.899 --> 00:06:13.259 cures, and thoroughly makes you whole. Amen. 00:06:14.519 --> 00:06:18.220 This is who God is. This is how he's revealed 00:06:18.220 --> 00:06:23.120 himself to each one of us. It shouldn't be that 00:06:23.120 --> 00:06:25.120 difficult. You're looking at me like that's a 00:06:25.120 --> 00:06:26.879 difficult pill to swallow. But if it's going 00:06:26.879 --> 00:06:28.759 to be a difficult pill to swallow this morning, 00:06:28.819 --> 00:06:31.480 this is who God is. This is how he's revealed 00:06:31.480 --> 00:06:34.720 himself to us. And let's look at that now. Let's 00:06:34.720 --> 00:06:38.120 turn to Scripture and look at the context in 00:06:38.120 --> 00:06:42.540 which this name was given. So this story here, 00:06:42.600 --> 00:06:45.879 and right before God gives it, it's... of the 00:06:45.879 --> 00:06:50.060 Israelites being delivered from Egypt, from captivity 00:06:50.060 --> 00:06:53.180 in Egypt. They just crossed the Red Sea. So this 00:06:53.180 --> 00:06:55.459 is very early on in that wilderness journey. 00:06:55.920 --> 00:07:00.180 And it says in Exodus 15, 22 through 26, reading 00:07:00.180 --> 00:07:03.339 through the NLT version, you can follow along 00:07:03.339 --> 00:07:05.379 on the screen or follow along in your Bibles, 00:07:05.459 --> 00:07:09.459 verse 22, then Moses led the people of Israel 00:07:09.459 --> 00:07:13.079 away from the Red Sea and they moved out into 00:07:13.079 --> 00:07:16.379 the desert of shore. They traveled in this desert 00:07:16.379 --> 00:07:21.120 for three days without finding any water. When 00:07:21.120 --> 00:07:24.360 they came to the oasis of Marah, the water was 00:07:24.360 --> 00:07:27.620 too bitter to drink. So they called the place 00:07:27.620 --> 00:07:31.879 Marah, which means bitter. Very creative title. 00:07:32.720 --> 00:07:36.600 Very creative title here. 24. When the people 00:07:36.600 --> 00:07:41.220 complained. They like to do that. When the people 00:07:41.220 --> 00:07:43.139 complained, and we like to do that too. When 00:07:43.139 --> 00:07:45.279 the people complained and turned against Moses, 00:07:45.800 --> 00:07:51.519 what are we going to drink, they demanded. So 00:07:51.519 --> 00:07:55.579 Moses cried out to the Lord for help. That word 00:07:55.579 --> 00:08:00.420 cried is he petitions God. He requests of God. 00:08:00.600 --> 00:08:04.720 And he calls to him for guidance. That word help 00:08:04.720 --> 00:08:07.680 there. And the Lord showed him a piece of wood. 00:08:08.350 --> 00:08:11.610 Moses threw it into the water and this made the 00:08:11.610 --> 00:08:17.029 water good to drink. He makes this declaration 00:08:17.029 --> 00:08:20.490 then. God makes this declaration and at the end 00:08:20.490 --> 00:08:24.110 of that declaration in 26 is where we see his 00:08:24.110 --> 00:08:28.250 name revealed. This Yahweh Raphael. And he tells 00:08:28.250 --> 00:08:31.050 them, he says to the Israelites, God's people, 00:08:31.170 --> 00:08:37.779 says, For I am the Lord who heals you. This is 00:08:37.779 --> 00:08:41.500 a very interesting story, right? Because God 00:08:41.500 --> 00:08:44.259 is demonstrating here, see, He just healed the 00:08:44.259 --> 00:08:48.360 water. He restored the water. He cured the water. 00:08:48.919 --> 00:08:54.600 And then He's telling them, I will, I'm the one 00:08:54.600 --> 00:08:59.759 who heals you. It's not just in that moment, 00:08:59.860 --> 00:09:03.230 but heals meaning continually. Throughout their 00:09:03.230 --> 00:09:06.570 lifespan, he's continually watching over them, 00:09:06.629 --> 00:09:10.789 healing them as they go on their way. It's a 00:09:10.789 --> 00:09:15.129 promise. And there's a promise connected to his 00:09:15.129 --> 00:09:19.409 name, amen? God healing the water demonstrated 00:09:19.409 --> 00:09:22.950 that, listen, it was God's will and purpose to 00:09:22.950 --> 00:09:26.269 continually heal them and to keep them healthy. 00:09:26.889 --> 00:09:29.669 And this is evident as we... Keep going through 00:09:29.669 --> 00:09:34.090 Scripture. In Psalms 105, 37, it says this. He, 00:09:34.090 --> 00:09:37.049 God, also brought them out of Egypt with silver 00:09:37.049 --> 00:09:41.389 and gold. He not only provided for them, blessed 00:09:41.389 --> 00:09:45.669 them, but what is written about their life and 00:09:45.669 --> 00:09:48.450 their wilderness journey is that there was none 00:09:48.450 --> 00:09:53.990 feeble among his tribes. It was no one weak when 00:09:53.990 --> 00:09:55.889 they came out of Egypt. And you're talking like, 00:09:55.909 --> 00:10:00.080 you know, rough estimates here. 3 .5 million 00:10:00.080 --> 00:10:06.440 people never getting sick. There's no story, 00:10:06.639 --> 00:10:09.659 there's no account of them ever getting sick 00:10:09.659 --> 00:10:12.240 or being weak and people not being able to go 00:10:12.240 --> 00:10:17.639 on in the wilderness for 40 years, right? That's 00:10:17.639 --> 00:10:21.840 crazy. Now, some of them died, some of them, 00:10:21.840 --> 00:10:24.620 you know, that kind of thing, but still, there 00:10:24.620 --> 00:10:27.220 was none feeble among his tribes when they left 00:10:27.220 --> 00:10:31.120 Egypt. So drinking contaminated water, right, 00:10:31.220 --> 00:10:32.960 it would have brought sickness, could have possibly 00:10:32.960 --> 00:10:35.080 brought sickness, could have brought possible 00:10:35.080 --> 00:10:38.460 death. But God is purifying the water then to 00:10:38.460 --> 00:10:40.860 keep them healthy. So it's showing his provision. 00:10:41.059 --> 00:10:44.440 It's also showing his protection. And then he's 00:10:44.440 --> 00:10:51.080 telling them, I am Yahweh Raphael. And it's Yahweh 00:10:51.080 --> 00:10:54.940 Raphael Ka, meaning you, because it's... personal 00:10:54.940 --> 00:10:59.159 to them it means that he fixes and restores and 00:10:59.159 --> 00:11:03.799 makes whole listen he makes whole because why 00:11:03.799 --> 00:11:08.080 was the water contaminated why was water contaminated 00:11:08.080 --> 00:11:11.159 in the first place god is fixing and restoring 00:11:11.159 --> 00:11:18.259 and makes whole what sin has broken and this 00:11:18.259 --> 00:11:21.000 is important thing for us to realize that our 00:11:21.000 --> 00:11:26.759 reality Our experience in life is a mixture of 00:11:26.759 --> 00:11:31.899 God's good and perfect creation. This is his 00:11:31.899 --> 00:11:38.100 will that has been corrupted by sin. It's been 00:11:38.100 --> 00:11:41.019 corrupted by sin, just like that water. It was 00:11:41.019 --> 00:11:43.899 good. God created water good. Most planets, water. 00:11:44.220 --> 00:11:47.399 Most of our bodies are water, right? Water's 00:11:47.399 --> 00:11:50.730 good. It nourishes us. But then all of a sudden 00:11:50.730 --> 00:11:53.029 it's contaminated here when they're needing to 00:11:53.029 --> 00:11:56.490 drink from it. And God's restoring what sin had 00:11:56.490 --> 00:11:59.610 broken. And this is how he reveals his name. 00:11:59.629 --> 00:12:04.049 You see, our reality is God's good and perfect, 00:12:04.169 --> 00:12:09.009 God's imperfect will is that there be no sickness. 00:12:09.370 --> 00:12:13.549 There be no disease in the world. There be no 00:12:13.549 --> 00:12:17.970 illness. Think about it. When he created the 00:12:17.970 --> 00:12:22.850 world, When he created man, did he say you're 00:12:22.850 --> 00:12:26.730 going to be sick in the Garden of Eden? Was that 00:12:26.730 --> 00:12:31.830 anything? Did God create that? No. When we think 00:12:31.830 --> 00:12:34.629 about heaven, is there going to be sickness, 00:12:34.649 --> 00:12:38.509 illness, or disease in heaven? Is heaven God's 00:12:38.509 --> 00:12:42.730 good and perfect will? Amen? Right? So if it 00:12:42.730 --> 00:12:46.220 wasn't his will then for them to be sick, and 00:12:46.220 --> 00:12:48.759 have disease and illness, and it wasn't his will 00:12:48.759 --> 00:12:53.960 in the future that we know, right? Has God changed? 00:12:54.899 --> 00:13:00.519 Does he change his mind? Just asking real questions. 00:13:02.700 --> 00:13:07.259 He said, Yahweh Raphael is his eternal name. 00:13:08.620 --> 00:13:11.500 This is who he wanted to be called, identified 00:13:11.500 --> 00:13:15.240 by his relationship and his activity towards 00:13:15.240 --> 00:13:18.279 his people. He said, I'm the one who heals you. 00:13:18.399 --> 00:13:22.080 I'm the one who cures you. I'm the one who restores 00:13:22.080 --> 00:13:27.139 what sin has broken. Amen. You should get happy 00:13:27.139 --> 00:13:30.299 about that. It's enough to put a smile on your 00:13:30.299 --> 00:13:39.179 face. You know, there's a lot of people, though, 00:13:39.179 --> 00:13:44.720 who kind of, you know, have trouble. And it's 00:13:44.720 --> 00:13:48.299 based on their experience, I think, right? Because 00:13:48.299 --> 00:13:52.460 our experience in life is not always the will 00:13:52.460 --> 00:13:59.480 of God. I'll say that again. Your experience 00:13:59.480 --> 00:14:02.740 in life is not necessarily God's good and perfect 00:14:02.740 --> 00:14:09.500 will for you. Is everything that happens the 00:14:09.500 --> 00:14:14.639 will of God? That brings to this question. But 00:14:14.639 --> 00:14:18.740 you hear a lot of people say that, right? You 00:14:18.740 --> 00:14:20.139 hear a lot of people say that. Well, it's the 00:14:20.139 --> 00:14:23.980 will of God. Even the insurance claims a bad 00:14:23.980 --> 00:14:27.740 storm is an act of God. Even though clearly in 00:14:27.740 --> 00:14:32.639 the Bible we see God rebuking the storm. Speaking 00:14:32.639 --> 00:14:36.309 to the storm. If he caused it, why is he speaking 00:14:36.309 --> 00:14:44.929 to it? You know, something happens, like something 00:14:44.929 --> 00:14:49.850 gets stolen. Right? Is that the will of God? 00:14:52.009 --> 00:14:58.990 No. God says, thou shalt not steal. So is it 00:14:58.990 --> 00:15:02.210 the will of God when someone commits sin to steal? 00:15:03.980 --> 00:15:07.399 Think about it. This is very simple. I know I'm 00:15:07.399 --> 00:15:09.980 trying to break it down, but so many people, 00:15:10.200 --> 00:15:14.340 millions of people, good religious people in 00:15:14.340 --> 00:15:17.399 churches all over, go to church, they'll be like, 00:15:17.480 --> 00:15:21.639 well, I got, you know, brother so -and -so got 00:15:21.639 --> 00:15:25.799 cancer, and it must just be the will of God. 00:15:25.899 --> 00:15:30.049 We just don't know his mysterious. You know, 00:15:30.070 --> 00:15:33.529 he just has plans, and we just don't always know 00:15:33.529 --> 00:15:38.230 his plan. And, brother, it's, you know, God's 00:15:38.230 --> 00:15:41.289 going to work something good, and you just don't 00:15:41.289 --> 00:15:43.470 know it yet, but God brought this on you to make 00:15:43.470 --> 00:15:46.490 you stronger. You're going to grow from this. 00:15:48.230 --> 00:15:50.230 How many of you have heard this? How many of 00:15:50.230 --> 00:15:51.929 you have said this? How many of you have seen, 00:15:52.049 --> 00:15:53.970 like, been in conversations with people, and 00:15:53.970 --> 00:15:57.860 they're like, well, God gave me this. And they 00:15:57.860 --> 00:16:01.039 equate God giving them this with some sort of 00:16:01.039 --> 00:16:03.200 good thing that happened in the middle of it. 00:16:05.100 --> 00:16:07.500 Just because something good happens in the middle 00:16:07.500 --> 00:16:11.539 of it does not mean that God gave you that bad 00:16:11.539 --> 00:16:14.840 thing. It just means that God is busy working 00:16:14.840 --> 00:16:18.460 in your life. God is busy turning things around, 00:16:18.759 --> 00:16:21.659 turning what the enemy meant for evil to good. 00:16:24.259 --> 00:16:28.129 That's the God we serve. Not the God who gives 00:16:28.129 --> 00:16:31.889 sickness, illness, or disease, but the God who 00:16:31.889 --> 00:16:34.350 has the ability that in the middle he can turn 00:16:34.350 --> 00:16:39.009 it around. He can turn the worst thing into the 00:16:39.009 --> 00:16:46.389 best thing. But my question is, in all these 00:16:46.389 --> 00:16:51.210 situations, right, when people face this, where's 00:16:51.210 --> 00:16:54.750 the verse? Where's the verse in the Bible that 00:16:54.750 --> 00:16:58.809 shows us that God gives sickness, that God gives 00:16:58.809 --> 00:17:01.950 all these things that we equate to him that he 00:17:01.950 --> 00:17:07.490 gives, right? That God did this and allowed this 00:17:07.490 --> 00:17:11.230 to happen to me. Where's the verse? Sounds good. 00:17:11.490 --> 00:17:14.250 It might make you feel good. It might even, you 00:17:14.250 --> 00:17:17.289 know, for some people I call it like a no -fault 00:17:17.289 --> 00:17:20.710 religion, right? Because if God's responsible 00:17:20.710 --> 00:17:22.910 for everything that happens, well, I can just 00:17:22.910 --> 00:17:25.410 live however I want to because God's making me 00:17:25.410 --> 00:17:33.170 be that way, right? If I eat McDonald's every 00:17:33.170 --> 00:17:35.809 single day of my life and develop diabetes, come 00:17:35.809 --> 00:17:40.089 on now, and I get some kind of illness and Alzheimer's 00:17:40.089 --> 00:17:43.549 and all those things linked to fast food, right? 00:17:45.319 --> 00:17:47.359 That science and all these things, we're real 00:17:47.359 --> 00:17:49.740 conscious about those things and how that leads 00:17:49.740 --> 00:17:52.539 us and the diseases and illnesses that those 00:17:52.539 --> 00:17:55.720 things can bring. We're very conscious of that 00:17:55.720 --> 00:17:58.920 now. But listen, if I eat that all the time, 00:17:59.000 --> 00:18:05.319 guess what? Did God bring that on me? All of 00:18:05.319 --> 00:18:08.299 a sudden, I'm like, oh, I got... Alzheimer's. 00:18:08.299 --> 00:18:10.420 Oh, I got, you know, whatever. I got diabetes. 00:18:10.559 --> 00:18:13.500 Well, this must be God's mysterious plan for 00:18:13.500 --> 00:18:19.039 me. I just don't know. How silly. How silly. 00:18:23.119 --> 00:18:28.220 And sin has corrupted and is the cause of every 00:18:28.220 --> 00:18:33.119 bad thing that we experience in our life. I want 00:18:33.119 --> 00:18:35.480 to say this and preface this with this. It's 00:18:35.480 --> 00:18:38.259 not necessarily in that example. Like, that could 00:18:38.259 --> 00:18:41.480 be my sin of gluttony that brought that on my 00:18:41.480 --> 00:18:44.839 life. Sometimes sin and the corruption of sin 00:18:44.839 --> 00:18:47.940 comes into your life from those people around 00:18:47.940 --> 00:18:50.920 you, connected to you. Could be things that they 00:18:50.920 --> 00:18:52.900 say. Could be things that they've done. It could 00:18:52.900 --> 00:18:56.099 be hereditary where you're predisposed to those 00:18:56.099 --> 00:18:59.940 kind of things happening, right? And then... 00:19:00.809 --> 00:19:04.009 Above that, it's just the fallen nature of mankind 00:19:04.009 --> 00:19:06.869 and that it's all kind of in a downhill spiral 00:19:06.869 --> 00:19:10.250 into the end times, right? Things are not getting 00:19:10.250 --> 00:19:13.630 better. We're not evolving to this better, perfect 00:19:13.630 --> 00:19:19.210 thing. Eventually, it's all kind of slowly decaying. 00:19:25.309 --> 00:19:32.480 2 Peter 3 .9, listen. and there's a lot of different 00:19:32.480 --> 00:19:37.859 understandings. There's a lot of like religion 00:19:37.859 --> 00:19:41.220 you got to wade through and pre -understandings 00:19:41.220 --> 00:19:43.519 because everybody has a different experience, 00:19:43.740 --> 00:19:51.759 right? But I want to say this, that just like 00:19:51.759 --> 00:19:55.099 think of the biggest thing I would say is like 00:19:55.099 --> 00:20:04.009 salvation. Is it the will of God that everyone 00:20:04.009 --> 00:20:09.549 be saved? Yeah? The verse right here, 2 Peter 00:20:09.549 --> 00:20:12.210 3, 9, The Lord is not willing that any should 00:20:12.210 --> 00:20:14.809 perish, but all should come to repentance. But 00:20:14.809 --> 00:20:18.769 is this true? Is this going to actually happen? 00:20:19.369 --> 00:20:22.789 Or no? It says, Wide is the road that leads to 00:20:22.789 --> 00:20:25.349 destruction. Narrow is the road that leads to 00:20:25.349 --> 00:20:28.839 life. People are going to go to heaven, yes, 00:20:29.140 --> 00:20:33.140 and that's God's will. But people are also going 00:20:33.140 --> 00:20:36.500 to go to hell. Is that God's will that they go 00:20:36.500 --> 00:20:42.200 to hell? No. Where's the verse? Here's the verse. 00:20:42.940 --> 00:20:45.640 It's his will that none should perish and all 00:20:45.640 --> 00:20:48.819 should come to repentance. That's God's will. 00:20:49.200 --> 00:20:51.680 So is God's will always being done in the earth? 00:20:55.470 --> 00:20:57.329 Is God's will always being done in the earth? 00:20:58.049 --> 00:21:03.849 No. In the Lord's prayer, he says, your will 00:21:03.849 --> 00:21:06.849 be done, you know. Your will be done on earth 00:21:06.849 --> 00:21:09.990 as it is in heaven. Why are we praying for God's 00:21:09.990 --> 00:21:14.150 will to be done if it's already being done? That'd 00:21:14.150 --> 00:21:18.029 be kind of silly, right? Not doing that. So box 00:21:18.029 --> 00:21:21.970 over. Salvation is God's will, just like healing 00:21:21.970 --> 00:21:25.920 is God's will. Okay? And we're going to be looking 00:21:25.920 --> 00:21:31.759 at that. Psalms 107 .20 says this, and often, 00:21:31.839 --> 00:21:36.240 listen, often healing and the concepts of healing 00:21:36.240 --> 00:21:43.420 are often tied to the work of God in Christ to 00:21:43.420 --> 00:21:46.660 receive salvation and his finished work on the 00:21:46.660 --> 00:21:50.500 cross. And often when we look at these scriptures, 00:21:50.619 --> 00:21:54.180 we see both them talking about salvation. talking 00:21:54.180 --> 00:21:57.019 about God's finished work, and then also healing, 00:21:57.259 --> 00:22:00.619 okay? This is one of those examples, even though 00:22:00.619 --> 00:22:04.319 there's many. Psalms 107 .20, he sent his word 00:22:04.319 --> 00:22:09.500 and healed, that same word, ratha, them, but 00:22:09.500 --> 00:22:13.160 it doesn't stop there, and delivered them, different 00:22:13.160 --> 00:22:17.759 word, meaning to escape, to deliver, to save, 00:22:17.980 --> 00:22:23.619 to rescue from their destructions. So he's not 00:22:23.619 --> 00:22:28.920 only healing us from the corruption of sin for 00:22:28.920 --> 00:22:33.140 salvation, redeeming us, washing us clean, right? 00:22:33.700 --> 00:22:37.519 It's not only just a spiritual thing that he 00:22:37.519 --> 00:22:45.079 did on the cross. It's a whole body thing. What 00:22:45.079 --> 00:22:52.039 he did on Calvary and what he accomplished. He 00:22:52.039 --> 00:22:55.440 defeated death, hell, and the grave, and every 00:22:55.440 --> 00:23:01.220 consequence of sin. He defeated that. He has 00:23:01.220 --> 00:23:07.200 victory over sin. Amen? Sin is under his feet, 00:23:07.380 --> 00:23:11.460 right? And guess what? You and I as believers, 00:23:11.599 --> 00:23:22.410 we are in Christ. Sin is under our feet. And 00:23:22.410 --> 00:23:24.710 millions of people say, I know God can heal. 00:23:25.450 --> 00:23:28.549 Because usually in church, we know about healing. 00:23:28.589 --> 00:23:32.349 You know, many people believe God can heal. We 00:23:32.349 --> 00:23:36.769 don't question his ability. But you might ask, 00:23:36.829 --> 00:23:40.829 is it always his will to heal? Is it always his 00:23:40.829 --> 00:23:44.490 will to heal me? How many of you have been praying 00:23:44.490 --> 00:23:47.269 for someone or even heard someone pray? Like, 00:23:47.329 --> 00:23:54.069 God, if it be your will, heal them. And how many 00:23:54.069 --> 00:23:58.589 times have we prayed and asked God for something, 00:23:58.769 --> 00:24:05.430 right? We've asked him to heal, and maybe we've 00:24:05.430 --> 00:24:12.369 not experienced it. Yeah? Let's be real. Maybe 00:24:12.369 --> 00:24:14.710 as someone close, maybe we're like, well, God, 00:24:14.789 --> 00:24:17.750 I believe you can heal, but I'm praying and like... 00:24:18.470 --> 00:24:20.990 You know, is it your will for them to be healed? 00:24:21.130 --> 00:24:24.509 You know, and we kind of struggle and we waver, 00:24:24.650 --> 00:24:29.930 right? Well, what does the Bible say? Does the 00:24:29.930 --> 00:24:34.250 Bible say that it's God's will to heal? And that's 00:24:34.250 --> 00:24:37.289 our main question this morning. Is it God's will 00:24:37.289 --> 00:24:41.329 to heal? Okay? We're not questioning his ability, 00:24:41.490 --> 00:24:44.829 but is it God's will to heal? So let's look at 00:24:44.829 --> 00:24:49.279 it. How do we know the will of God? We look at 00:24:49.279 --> 00:24:54.240 Jesus because Jesus was the embodiment of God's 00:24:54.240 --> 00:24:58.420 word and God's will in the earth. He's the word 00:24:58.420 --> 00:25:01.500 and will of God in action, right? So let's look 00:25:01.500 --> 00:25:06.319 to him and see what he did. John 6, 38 says, 00:25:06.460 --> 00:25:09.299 this is Jesus saying, for I have come down from 00:25:09.299 --> 00:25:13.730 heaven to do the will of God who sent me. John 00:25:13.730 --> 00:25:16.930 14 .10, don't you believe that I am in the Father 00:25:16.930 --> 00:25:19.789 and the Father is in me? The words I speak are 00:25:19.789 --> 00:25:22.670 not my own, but my Father who lives in me does 00:25:22.670 --> 00:25:27.809 his work through me. Jesus is the will and word 00:25:27.809 --> 00:25:31.329 of God in action all throughout the Bible. And 00:25:31.329 --> 00:25:35.190 his earthly ministry, his earthly ministry consisted 00:25:35.190 --> 00:25:40.190 a lot of healing. That was a huge part of what 00:25:40.190 --> 00:25:45.470 he did. So how do we know healing is God's will? 00:25:45.690 --> 00:25:52.069 By the Word and Jesus' actions. Okay? By Scripture 00:25:52.069 --> 00:25:57.049 and by Jesus' actions. And now we're going to 00:25:57.049 --> 00:26:01.390 blitz through a ton of Scripture. So hold on. 00:26:02.029 --> 00:26:03.990 Hold on, and we're going to talk about it. But 00:26:03.990 --> 00:26:08.130 one thing I want to, one story I'm going to really 00:26:08.130 --> 00:26:11.710 focus on, even though there's plenty of... stories 00:26:11.710 --> 00:26:15.150 in the bible with this same same kind of pattern 00:26:15.150 --> 00:26:17.869 because i want and i do want to preface all this 00:26:17.869 --> 00:26:22.890 by saying um this morning we are talking about 00:26:22.890 --> 00:26:27.869 healing but healing is a very multifaceted subject 00:26:27.869 --> 00:26:31.910 and there's no way in this short period of time 00:26:31.910 --> 00:26:34.849 that we can cover every angle and every potential 00:26:34.849 --> 00:26:36.990 thing and what we're doing here this morning 00:26:36.990 --> 00:26:42.579 and what we're learning so This is not an exhaustive 00:26:42.579 --> 00:26:46.180 teaching on healing, okay? Maybe one day we'll 00:26:46.180 --> 00:26:49.619 do that. But for now, I just want you to, the 00:26:49.619 --> 00:26:53.839 focus of today is healing God's will, okay? That's 00:26:53.839 --> 00:26:56.180 as far as we're going. So how do we know if healing 00:26:56.180 --> 00:26:58.920 is God's will? By the word and Jesus' actions. 00:26:59.200 --> 00:27:06.319 I love this story, Matthew 8, 1 through 3. So 00:27:06.319 --> 00:27:09.690 many stories like this, but listen. Large crowds 00:27:09.690 --> 00:27:12.470 followed Jesus as he came down the mountainside. 00:27:12.970 --> 00:27:16.829 Suddenly, a man with leprosy approached him and 00:27:16.829 --> 00:27:20.710 knelt before him. What is leprosy? It was a disease 00:27:20.710 --> 00:27:23.569 in which, an incurable disease, where somebody, 00:27:23.789 --> 00:27:26.230 like if they get cut, their body wouldn't do 00:27:26.230 --> 00:27:30.890 the natural process of healing. Right? God created 00:27:30.890 --> 00:27:33.769 us to heal, right? If you cut your finger, it's 00:27:33.769 --> 00:27:36.599 going to heal. If you have a surgery, guess what? 00:27:36.640 --> 00:27:38.819 You still have to go through a time of healing, 00:27:39.019 --> 00:27:45.200 right? God is our healer, amen? This is natural. 00:27:45.339 --> 00:27:47.539 This is a natural occurrence. It's not just something, 00:27:47.700 --> 00:27:50.700 you know, mysterious happening. No, this is the 00:27:50.700 --> 00:27:54.480 way God created us to be. And it's actually looked 00:27:54.480 --> 00:27:57.240 at as a disease when if they were cut and their 00:27:57.240 --> 00:28:02.339 bodies weren't healing themselves. It's an incurable 00:28:02.339 --> 00:28:06.119 disease, leprosy. to the point where they would 00:28:06.119 --> 00:28:10.619 excommunicate them, they would put them off in 00:28:10.619 --> 00:28:13.559 a colony all by themselves. They had all these 00:28:13.559 --> 00:28:15.880 rules and regulations where they couldn't come 00:28:15.880 --> 00:28:20.319 out and converse among the people for fear that 00:28:20.319 --> 00:28:26.279 it would spread. And you've got to understand 00:28:26.279 --> 00:28:31.279 here that this man, he's literally risking it 00:28:31.279 --> 00:28:35.910 all. It's not just coming to Jesus. It's like 00:28:35.910 --> 00:28:39.430 do or die in this moment. Because everyone around 00:28:39.430 --> 00:28:42.089 him, they had right. They had legal right to 00:28:42.089 --> 00:28:46.970 just stone him dead in the street. Everybody 00:28:46.970 --> 00:28:50.470 say, this is faith. Because you would not risk 00:28:50.470 --> 00:28:53.210 your life for something or someone that you do 00:28:53.210 --> 00:28:58.130 not believe could heal you, right? You do not 00:28:58.130 --> 00:28:59.910 risk your life for something you don't actually 00:28:59.910 --> 00:29:04.519 believe. And he is literally laying it all out, 00:29:04.559 --> 00:29:07.099 and he goes over to Jesus. There's a large crowd, 00:29:07.180 --> 00:29:12.559 and I imagine everybody goes, And this man with 00:29:12.559 --> 00:29:18.079 leprosy does what? He kneels before him. He respects 00:29:18.079 --> 00:29:23.039 God. He honors him. It's a position, right? And 00:29:23.039 --> 00:29:28.680 he says, Think about that. He's calling him Lord. 00:29:29.779 --> 00:29:34.460 Lord, the man said, if you are willing, you can 00:29:34.460 --> 00:29:38.640 heal me and make me clean. He's not questioning 00:29:38.640 --> 00:29:42.960 God's ability. Listen, he's not questioning God's 00:29:42.960 --> 00:29:44.920 ability. He's questioning whether or not it's 00:29:44.920 --> 00:29:49.579 his will. We've all been there. We've all thought 00:29:49.579 --> 00:29:53.380 this. Millions of people think this. Is it God's 00:29:53.380 --> 00:29:57.059 will to heal? This is just one of many stories. 00:29:58.190 --> 00:30:00.230 He knew God could heal him, but he didn't know 00:30:00.230 --> 00:30:03.049 if God was willing to heal and listen to what 00:30:03.049 --> 00:30:11.990 Jesus did. Jesus reached out and touched him. 00:30:14.750 --> 00:30:17.230 Imagine how long it's been since someone touched 00:30:17.230 --> 00:30:30.650 him. To touch the untouchable. He touches him, 00:30:30.710 --> 00:30:33.430 reaches out, touches him. When everyone else 00:30:33.430 --> 00:30:36.329 is backing up, Jesus steps forward and touches 00:30:36.329 --> 00:30:45.829 him. Come on. What's the will of God? What does 00:30:45.829 --> 00:30:50.809 Jesus say? Does he say, be healed? He says, I 00:30:50.809 --> 00:30:58.309 am willing. He said, I am willing. Then he says, 00:30:58.700 --> 00:31:02.119 Be healed. And instantly the leprosy disappeared. 00:31:03.880 --> 00:31:09.619 It's good stuff. It's good stuff. Now this is 00:31:09.619 --> 00:31:14.660 just one of the many healings that Jesus did. 00:31:15.039 --> 00:31:17.859 And this is not the only time something like 00:31:17.859 --> 00:31:23.119 this happens. In fact, over 60 % of Jesus' miracles 00:31:23.119 --> 00:31:26.200 talk about faith and specifically mention faith. 00:31:26.910 --> 00:31:29.809 Of the person or faith of those around them or 00:31:29.809 --> 00:31:33.390 faith in the. So this is not just cherry picking 00:31:33.390 --> 00:31:35.529 some little verse to prove some little point. 00:31:36.789 --> 00:31:39.910 God is willing. If he said he was willing to 00:31:39.910 --> 00:31:46.109 heal. Then is he willing to heal now? Very simple. 00:31:47.069 --> 00:31:51.329 Moving on. When we look at the life of Jesus 00:31:51.329 --> 00:31:53.950 and his miracles, did Jesus ever refuse to heal 00:31:53.950 --> 00:31:56.859 someone who came to him? Did he ever say, nah, 00:31:57.059 --> 00:32:04.680 I'm not feeling it? Did he ever refuse anyone? 00:32:06.539 --> 00:32:08.859 Did he ever say, this sickness, no, no, no, you 00:32:08.859 --> 00:32:11.200 just need to hold on to that for a while so you 00:32:11.200 --> 00:32:16.119 can grow stronger. This is on you for a reason, 00:32:16.259 --> 00:32:19.579 right? Because everything happens for a reason. 00:32:19.640 --> 00:32:22.359 That's like saying the sun is shining so it's 00:32:22.359 --> 00:32:25.859 hot outside. The law of causation, right? You 00:32:25.859 --> 00:32:29.900 know what? Makes no sense. Yeah, everything happens 00:32:29.900 --> 00:32:34.839 for a reason. Sickness is for your good? No! 00:32:37.400 --> 00:32:41.799 Did Jesus heal everyone? Another good question. 00:32:43.000 --> 00:32:49.799 Did Jesus heal everyone? Could Jesus heal everyone? 00:32:50.380 --> 00:32:54.200 Was it his will to heal everyone? But did Jesus 00:32:54.200 --> 00:32:58.180 heal everyone? You're thinking. You've got to 00:32:58.180 --> 00:33:00.539 be thinking this morning. I'm sorry. It's a little 00:33:00.539 --> 00:33:03.700 different what a normal Sunday morning pattern 00:33:03.700 --> 00:33:07.859 is. But did Jesus heal everyone? No, in fact, 00:33:07.900 --> 00:33:12.980 in Mark, it talks about Jesus. It talks about 00:33:12.980 --> 00:33:16.059 Jesus. It specifically says he was only able 00:33:16.059 --> 00:33:18.759 to heal in his hometown. He was only able to 00:33:18.759 --> 00:33:23.660 heal a few because of the unbelief of the area 00:33:23.660 --> 00:33:26.900 in which he was at. He wanted to do more. His 00:33:26.900 --> 00:33:31.019 will was to heal more. But what? He was hindered 00:33:31.019 --> 00:33:36.299 by unbelief. And that's one thing that will always 00:33:36.299 --> 00:33:42.140 keep healing away. Will keep God's will for you 00:33:42.140 --> 00:33:46.099 away from you. And away from happening in your 00:33:46.099 --> 00:33:50.200 life is unbelief. Anything that impacts your 00:33:50.200 --> 00:33:53.519 faith impacts your ability to receive healing. 00:33:54.960 --> 00:33:57.440 Because faith is always connected to healing. 00:33:57.720 --> 00:34:02.140 So meaning, too, that hate would also impact 00:34:02.140 --> 00:34:05.640 healing. Bitterness would also impact healing. 00:34:13.920 --> 00:34:19.760 But everyone, listen, everyone that came to Jesus 00:34:19.760 --> 00:34:25.280 in faith to be healed, that came to him, knowing 00:34:25.280 --> 00:34:28.400 who he is and what he wants to do in their life. 00:34:29.699 --> 00:34:34.840 Everyone. This is what the Bible, I mean, you 00:34:34.840 --> 00:34:38.780 go read it. Don't take my word for it. Read it. 00:34:40.860 --> 00:34:43.500 Everyone that came to Jesus in faith to be healed 00:34:43.500 --> 00:34:47.679 was healed. And like I said, 60 % of the miracles 00:34:47.679 --> 00:34:50.099 that Jesus did specifically mentioned that it 00:34:50.099 --> 00:34:54.880 was the faith of the believer. All the other 00:34:54.880 --> 00:34:58.340 times it specifically talks about you can see 00:34:58.340 --> 00:35:01.420 faith demonstrated in the actions and in their 00:35:01.420 --> 00:35:05.360 life and in what happens and things like that. 00:35:06.360 --> 00:35:10.360 So let's look at some of these where those who 00:35:10.360 --> 00:35:14.059 came to him in faith received healing. Luke 4, 00:35:14.139 --> 00:35:17.199 38 through 40, as the sun went down that evening, 00:35:17.280 --> 00:35:19.280 people throughout the village, what did they 00:35:19.280 --> 00:35:21.619 do? They brought sick family members to Jesus. 00:35:21.880 --> 00:35:25.619 It's a faith. It's a faith act. No matter what 00:35:25.619 --> 00:35:28.599 their diseases were, the touch of his hand healed 00:35:28.599 --> 00:35:35.960 everyone. Matthew 15, 29 -31 Jesus returned to 00:35:35.960 --> 00:35:38.780 the Sea of Galilee and climbed a hill and sat 00:35:38.780 --> 00:35:42.679 down. A vast crowd brought to him. Another faith 00:35:42.679 --> 00:35:45.480 act they're bringing to him because they believe 00:35:45.480 --> 00:35:47.639 he is the Messiah and they knew that when the 00:35:47.639 --> 00:35:49.340 Messiah comes, he's going to have healing in 00:35:49.340 --> 00:35:51.519 his wings. Or they had heard about him from the 00:35:51.519 --> 00:35:53.460 nearby village where everybody's getting healed. 00:35:54.760 --> 00:35:58.579 Things are happening. When Jesus is here, things 00:35:58.579 --> 00:36:02.760 are happening. He's at work. And a part of what 00:36:02.760 --> 00:36:05.780 he came to do was to seek and to save that which 00:36:05.780 --> 00:36:14.719 is lost and he came to heal the sick. The vast 00:36:14.719 --> 00:36:17.119 crowd were brought to him. People were lame, 00:36:17.139 --> 00:36:19.440 blind, crippled, those who couldn't speak, and 00:36:19.440 --> 00:36:22.400 many others. They laid them before Jesus, and 00:36:22.400 --> 00:36:25.420 what? He healed a few of them and told the rest 00:36:25.420 --> 00:36:30.380 of them to keep it. No, he healed them all. Amen. 00:36:31.059 --> 00:36:33.659 The crowd was amazed. Those who hadn't been able 00:36:33.659 --> 00:36:35.860 to speak were talking. The crippled were made 00:36:35.860 --> 00:36:38.559 well. The lame were walking, and the blind could 00:36:38.559 --> 00:36:41.079 see again, and they praised the God of Israel. 00:36:41.440 --> 00:36:45.260 Matthew 8, 16 and 17, same thing again. That 00:36:45.260 --> 00:36:48.079 evening many demon -possessed people were brought 00:36:48.079 --> 00:36:50.880 to Jesus. He cast out the evil spirits with a 00:36:50.880 --> 00:36:55.500 simple command and he healed all the sick. This 00:36:55.500 --> 00:36:58.119 fulfilled, listen to this, this fulfilled the 00:36:58.119 --> 00:37:00.860 word of the Lord through the prophet Isaiah who 00:37:00.860 --> 00:37:04.340 said this, he took our sicknesses and removed 00:37:04.340 --> 00:37:12.920 our diseases. We so easily get healing from the 00:37:12.920 --> 00:37:15.340 consequences of sin when we look at salvation 00:37:15.340 --> 00:37:21.900 and what God has redeemed us from. And that's 00:37:21.900 --> 00:37:25.980 so important that we know that God has redeemed 00:37:25.980 --> 00:37:28.559 us. He has freed us. What he accomplished on 00:37:28.559 --> 00:37:33.280 Calvary didn't just stop there. It wasn't just 00:37:33.280 --> 00:37:36.039 a cleansing of your spirit. It was to cleanse 00:37:36.039 --> 00:37:39.719 you and reverse all sin's effects for your mind, 00:37:39.780 --> 00:37:44.000 your body, and your soul. Because he's concerned 00:37:44.000 --> 00:37:47.039 about not only your spirit and one day spending 00:37:47.039 --> 00:37:49.699 eternity with him in heaven. He's concerned about 00:37:49.699 --> 00:37:52.860 your life right now. And he came to give you 00:37:52.860 --> 00:37:58.840 abundant life, not just in the glory cloud, but 00:37:58.840 --> 00:38:03.559 right now. To the fullest, in excess, overflowing 00:38:03.559 --> 00:38:07.280 is what abundant life means. And that doesn't 00:38:07.280 --> 00:38:11.940 include what sin and the effects of sin and the 00:38:11.940 --> 00:38:17.480 consequences of sin in your life. This fulfilled 00:38:17.480 --> 00:38:20.059 the word of the Lord through the prophet Isaiah 00:38:20.059 --> 00:38:23.000 and is specifically talking about It's talking 00:38:23.000 --> 00:38:24.900 about disease. It's talking about the illness, 00:38:25.000 --> 00:38:27.880 everyone who was brought. He took our sicknesses 00:38:27.880 --> 00:38:33.579 and removed our diseases on the cross. And that's 00:38:33.579 --> 00:38:37.960 why when we talk about healing, God's never asked 00:38:37.960 --> 00:38:42.840 us to pray about healing. Pray to be healed. 00:38:45.500 --> 00:38:49.059 Why would we ask God to heal us when he's already 00:38:49.059 --> 00:38:54.190 did it on the cross? Do I ask God to save me? 00:38:55.969 --> 00:39:02.230 Sometimes we word it that way. But Jesus is not 00:39:02.230 --> 00:39:05.510 dying on the cross every time someone believes 00:39:05.510 --> 00:39:08.489 in him and turns from their sin and confesses 00:39:08.489 --> 00:39:10.750 him as Lord. He's not continually dying on the 00:39:10.750 --> 00:39:15.309 cross. No, his work is already finished. It's 00:39:15.309 --> 00:39:18.789 already available. And what's happening is I'm 00:39:18.789 --> 00:39:22.550 receiving what's available by grace, the Bible 00:39:22.550 --> 00:39:29.070 says, through faith. That's how I receive salvation. 00:39:30.130 --> 00:39:34.750 That's how I receive the consequences of sin 00:39:34.750 --> 00:39:41.570 was death. That's how I receive life. And it's 00:39:41.570 --> 00:39:43.530 something that as church we talk about all the 00:39:43.530 --> 00:39:45.730 time and it makes perfect sense. Well, I believe. 00:39:45.829 --> 00:39:52.429 Well, guess what? Healing is connected to his 00:39:52.429 --> 00:39:55.190 work on the cross, just like so many other things. 00:39:55.909 --> 00:39:59.269 He's made it available to you and available to 00:39:59.269 --> 00:40:02.929 all. It is his will to heal. Because on the cross, 00:40:02.989 --> 00:40:06.550 he took our sicknesses. He bore our sicknesses. 00:40:06.550 --> 00:40:10.840 He bore our diseases. Everything that has been 00:40:10.840 --> 00:40:14.280 and everything that will be, he bore it on the 00:40:14.280 --> 00:40:19.800 cross. The full weight of sin was upon him. Healing 00:40:19.800 --> 00:40:21.699 is not just available to some, it's available 00:40:21.699 --> 00:40:26.000 to all to come to God in faith. And listen, everyone 00:40:26.000 --> 00:40:29.079 who heard, everyone believed, and everyone who 00:40:29.079 --> 00:40:32.139 acted on the knowledge that Jesus is God and 00:40:32.139 --> 00:40:36.559 that God heals received healing. Another story, 00:40:36.699 --> 00:40:41.239 Matthew 9, 27 -30. Getting close. Two blind men 00:40:41.239 --> 00:40:44.159 followed along behind him shouting, Son of David, 00:40:44.320 --> 00:40:48.820 have mercy on us. Son of David, have mercy on 00:40:48.820 --> 00:40:51.599 us. And they went right into the home where he 00:40:51.599 --> 00:40:54.280 was staying. And Jesus asked them something. 00:40:55.199 --> 00:41:01.739 Did he say, be healed. Go your merry way. No. 00:41:01.860 --> 00:41:05.599 He asked them something. He goes, do you believe 00:41:05.599 --> 00:41:10.289 I can make you see? It's interesting, right? 00:41:12.789 --> 00:41:17.570 The miracles that Jesus did on earth, it's revealed 00:41:17.570 --> 00:41:20.869 that he did way more than any books could hold. 00:41:21.070 --> 00:41:23.449 He did so many things that are not recorded, 00:41:23.530 --> 00:41:26.369 but I believe each one of these that are listed, 00:41:26.429 --> 00:41:29.150 each one of these personal healing accounts are 00:41:29.150 --> 00:41:31.869 listed in the Bible to give us a better perspective 00:41:31.869 --> 00:41:36.449 on... People coming to God in different ways 00:41:36.449 --> 00:41:39.429 and receiving healing different ways by different 00:41:39.429 --> 00:41:44.570 things. It's all by faith, but it's wrapped differently 00:41:44.570 --> 00:41:48.130 in the ways that man will come to God, right? 00:41:48.769 --> 00:41:51.969 And God's saying here, do you believe I can make 00:41:51.969 --> 00:41:58.690 you see? What'd they say? Yes, Lord. Yes, Lord. 00:41:58.789 --> 00:42:02.980 They told him, we do. Then. He touched their 00:42:02.980 --> 00:42:07.099 eyes and said this, because of your faith, it 00:42:07.099 --> 00:42:12.380 will happen. Because of your faith, it will happen. 00:42:13.340 --> 00:42:17.880 Then their eyes were opened and they could see. 00:42:20.059 --> 00:42:23.199 Healing is available by grace and received through 00:42:23.199 --> 00:42:25.679 faith. And what is faith? We talk about this 00:42:25.679 --> 00:42:30.119 a lot at Alation Church, but it's hearing. Kind 00:42:30.119 --> 00:42:32.619 of like we've all heard this morning. It's hearing 00:42:32.619 --> 00:42:36.920 about God, learning who he is, learning things 00:42:36.920 --> 00:42:39.760 about him, his activity in the world. But it's 00:42:39.760 --> 00:42:42.920 not just intellectual knowledge. It's believing. 00:42:44.380 --> 00:42:47.539 Because in order for the word to change you, 00:42:47.659 --> 00:42:54.139 it has to be in you. In the parable of the sower, 00:42:54.360 --> 00:42:59.599 the word in the fertile ground. Produce the harvest, 00:42:59.920 --> 00:43:02.460 right? So the word of God, that's the word of 00:43:02.460 --> 00:43:05.800 God being planted in you, producing a harvest 00:43:05.800 --> 00:43:09.619 from the inside out and changing you. That's 00:43:09.619 --> 00:43:16.079 what belief is, is accepting, yielding to, surrendering 00:43:16.079 --> 00:43:19.360 to the word and the will and the way of God, 00:43:19.539 --> 00:43:24.260 his understanding, his spirit, and then speaking 00:43:24.260 --> 00:43:28.429 in accordance with it. Putting our words in agreement 00:43:28.429 --> 00:43:31.110 with who the Bible says he is and what he wants 00:43:31.110 --> 00:43:35.869 to do in our lives. Not saying, God, heal me 00:43:35.869 --> 00:43:39.570 if it be your will. Or, you know, God, I thank 00:43:39.570 --> 00:43:42.110 you for this sickness and this disease and just 00:43:42.110 --> 00:43:45.070 show me how it's going to make me stronger. Or, 00:43:45.269 --> 00:43:50.570 oh God, I know you needed an angel and all this 00:43:50.570 --> 00:43:53.130 kind of stuff. No, it's speaking according to 00:43:53.130 --> 00:43:56.630 the promises and the word of God. Putting our 00:43:56.630 --> 00:43:59.630 words in agreement, not just our own imagination, 00:43:59.730 --> 00:44:02.190 but based upon who he is and how he's revealed 00:44:02.190 --> 00:44:07.130 himself. And then we act upon it. So God's identity 00:44:07.130 --> 00:44:10.769 is revealed by his word. And his word, the Bible 00:44:10.769 --> 00:44:13.849 talks about it being the medication to heal our 00:44:13.849 --> 00:44:17.590 bodies. So how do we take God's medicine for 00:44:17.590 --> 00:44:24.539 healing? How do we stand in faith? Okay? Let's 00:44:24.539 --> 00:44:26.960 apply this to our lives. How do we stand in faith? 00:44:27.079 --> 00:44:29.420 How do we take God's medicine for healing? For 00:44:29.420 --> 00:44:32.860 one, you can't take a pill and it just magically 00:44:32.860 --> 00:44:35.860 cures everything, right? You know, you got to 00:44:35.860 --> 00:44:37.820 take it consistently. A lot of times you got 00:44:37.820 --> 00:44:39.659 to take it in pattern. You got to take it over 00:44:39.659 --> 00:44:43.500 and over and over again, right? Not all of the 00:44:43.500 --> 00:44:46.360 healings of Jesus happen instantly, but a lot 00:44:46.360 --> 00:44:48.440 of times that's what we expect in our lives, 00:44:48.599 --> 00:44:53.050 you know? We talked about Naaman going having 00:44:53.050 --> 00:44:55.590 to dunk seven times, you know, after it was already 00:44:55.590 --> 00:44:57.869 spoken. Like that was a process. Healing was 00:44:57.869 --> 00:45:02.230 a process. The spittle, when Jesus spit in the 00:45:02.230 --> 00:45:04.929 dirt and rubbed the blind guy's eyes, he told 00:45:04.929 --> 00:45:08.929 him to go wash in the pool, right? Wash it off. 00:45:09.269 --> 00:45:12.110 They had to go. They had to find the pool. They're 00:45:12.110 --> 00:45:17.690 blind. How funny is that? But they actually had 00:45:17.690 --> 00:45:20.530 to go and do something. They had to act upon 00:45:20.530 --> 00:45:22.690 the word that was already given. Could Jesus, 00:45:22.789 --> 00:45:25.409 you know, was Jesus just going to lay, he could 00:45:25.409 --> 00:45:27.489 have just laid his hand and be like, be healed, 00:45:27.530 --> 00:45:32.909 right? But he's showing us something. He's the 00:45:32.909 --> 00:45:35.389 will and word of God in action, and he's showing 00:45:35.389 --> 00:45:40.809 us that it's by faith. God plays a part, and 00:45:40.809 --> 00:45:47.099 then he expects us to play our part. God's accomplished 00:45:47.099 --> 00:45:50.619 everything to live a life of godliness, right? 00:45:51.480 --> 00:45:55.179 He's accomplished everything, but he expects 00:45:55.179 --> 00:45:58.340 us to reach out to him in faith. In the same 00:45:58.340 --> 00:46:00.679 way that not everyone receives salvation, in 00:46:00.679 --> 00:46:03.139 the same way not everyone is going to have the 00:46:03.139 --> 00:46:08.380 faith to be healed. But God's not holding out 00:46:08.380 --> 00:46:13.800 on us. God is faithful to keep his promises. 00:46:15.949 --> 00:46:19.469 And we stand in faith. Proverbs 4, 20 through 00:46:19.469 --> 00:46:23.090 22. I realize that this is a weird verse to talk 00:46:23.090 --> 00:46:25.949 about this, but the more I read it, the more 00:46:25.949 --> 00:46:29.610 it came alive to me. And I want you to really 00:46:29.610 --> 00:46:34.650 pay attention to what it says. My child, pay 00:46:34.650 --> 00:46:38.070 attention to what I say. Listen carefully to 00:46:38.070 --> 00:46:41.989 my words. Don't lose sight of them. Let them 00:46:41.989 --> 00:46:46.420 penetrate deep into your heart. For they, and 00:46:46.420 --> 00:46:48.639 I put it here, God's words, because that's what 00:46:48.639 --> 00:46:52.800 it's talking about. God's words bring life to 00:46:52.800 --> 00:46:57.480 those who find them. Does it stop there? No. 00:46:58.139 --> 00:47:01.880 They bring life to those who find them and healing. 00:47:02.880 --> 00:47:05.280 Different word here, but it's healing, cure, 00:47:05.500 --> 00:47:09.980 health, remedy, and medicine. God's word is medicine 00:47:09.980 --> 00:47:17.340 to your body. So healing comes, if we take this 00:47:17.340 --> 00:47:20.260 down and just talk about it, healing comes to 00:47:20.260 --> 00:47:23.679 us when our attention, listen, says my child, 00:47:23.780 --> 00:47:26.380 pay attention to my words, when our attention 00:47:26.380 --> 00:47:30.079 is on God's word and not our problem or sickness. 00:47:32.599 --> 00:47:36.059 We're real bad about, oh, I got a sniffle today, 00:47:36.199 --> 00:47:38.760 and so tomorrow I'm going to be in bed with a 00:47:38.760 --> 00:47:43.730 cold for four days, you know. Because my attention 00:47:43.730 --> 00:47:46.710 is now on the problem and whatever I put my attention 00:47:46.710 --> 00:47:51.150 on is going to grow. And I give authority, I 00:47:51.150 --> 00:47:54.289 hand my authority over to it. Because I'm saying 00:47:54.289 --> 00:47:58.070 yes to it. To its reality instead of God's reality. 00:47:58.550 --> 00:48:01.489 And what he wants and his will to be accomplished 00:48:01.489 --> 00:48:06.409 in my life. So when our attention is on the word 00:48:06.409 --> 00:48:08.769 and not the problem or the sickness. And when 00:48:08.769 --> 00:48:11.429 our ears receive the word and our eyes see ourselves 00:48:11.429 --> 00:48:15.780 here. When we look at ourselves in the mirror 00:48:15.780 --> 00:48:22.480 and we see ourselves the way God sees us, God 00:48:22.480 --> 00:48:25.980 wants us to look beyond our circumstance and 00:48:25.980 --> 00:48:28.519 our current situation, and he wants us to see 00:48:28.519 --> 00:48:32.559 the realities of who he is being fulfilled in 00:48:32.559 --> 00:48:38.159 our lives, being made real to us. That's what 00:48:38.159 --> 00:48:42.510 he wants for us. Healing comes when what God 00:48:42.510 --> 00:48:46.210 provided for us is made real to us by the Spirit. 00:48:46.789 --> 00:48:50.349 And healing comes when we obey, when we act on 00:48:50.349 --> 00:48:55.210 what God tells us to do. You can believe, right? 00:48:56.210 --> 00:49:00.090 You can hear, you can believe, you can speak. 00:49:02.269 --> 00:49:05.989 But sometimes we always want to do what we think 00:49:05.989 --> 00:49:11.889 is best and not what God says. It makes no sense 00:49:11.889 --> 00:49:16.349 for the blind man to go dip into the pool after 00:49:16.349 --> 00:49:19.349 he's already encountered Jesus, right? He could 00:49:19.349 --> 00:49:21.289 have reasoned away. And I don't believe he would 00:49:21.289 --> 00:49:24.210 have received his healing because it's unbelief. 00:49:26.010 --> 00:49:31.369 Faith receives healing. Unbelief does not. And 00:49:31.369 --> 00:49:33.829 we got to obey what the Spirit tells us to do. 00:49:34.530 --> 00:49:38.789 And sometimes the Spirit, I'm just going to say 00:49:38.789 --> 00:49:41.599 this, sometimes the Spirit, will reveal you to 00:49:41.599 --> 00:49:45.960 do something that's natural, right? Sometimes 00:49:45.960 --> 00:49:49.239 the Spirit will say, take this medication. Sometimes 00:49:49.239 --> 00:49:51.340 the Spirit will lead you to go see a doctor. 00:49:51.880 --> 00:49:53.920 It might not be the doctor that you would always 00:49:53.920 --> 00:49:58.659 go see. But he might say, hey, I want you to 00:49:58.659 --> 00:50:00.980 go do something. I want you to go visit this 00:50:00.980 --> 00:50:04.079 person. Because all healing, listen, all healing 00:50:04.079 --> 00:50:06.690 comes from God. And no matter what the doctor 00:50:06.690 --> 00:50:08.369 said, no matter what the pill does, no matter 00:50:08.369 --> 00:50:10.690 what, it's still going to come from God. But 00:50:10.690 --> 00:50:13.730 he's expecting your, you know, your compliance 00:50:13.730 --> 00:50:17.369 in it. He's wanting you to act in faith to his 00:50:17.369 --> 00:50:20.510 word. And when you act in faith according to 00:50:20.510 --> 00:50:22.889 his word, that's when you receive the promises 00:50:22.889 --> 00:50:25.750 of who he is. That's when God is real to you, 00:50:25.909 --> 00:50:32.090 okay? But we see all these different facets. 00:50:33.449 --> 00:50:37.829 of healing it's not just one size fits all guess 00:50:37.829 --> 00:50:41.769 what we're all different right we all face different 00:50:41.769 --> 00:50:44.590 stuff we all have different and guess what healing 00:50:44.590 --> 00:50:46.610 is kind of the same way it comes differently 00:50:46.610 --> 00:50:50.469 to each and every person so think about that 00:50:50.469 --> 00:50:55.309 next time we pray let's don't just you know ask 00:50:55.309 --> 00:50:57.590 god to do something that he's already done let's 00:50:57.590 --> 00:51:00.840 believe And pray in faith that his will be done 00:51:00.840 --> 00:51:03.980 in our lives. Amen. And then we be still and 00:51:03.980 --> 00:51:07.880 we listen to his voice for direction. Not the 00:51:07.880 --> 00:51:10.559 voices of the sickness and the illness and disease. 00:51:10.840 --> 00:51:13.539 We're not going to listen to those. We're, you 00:51:13.539 --> 00:51:15.599 know, we're going to listen to his voice above 00:51:15.599 --> 00:51:20.699 any other voice in our life. Right? Amen. Let's 00:51:20.699 --> 00:51:23.820 pray together. All right. Yeah. Let's pray together. 00:51:23.940 --> 00:51:25.619 Father God, we thank you for today. We thank 00:51:25.619 --> 00:51:28.480 you for your word. I pray that it will enter 00:51:28.480 --> 00:51:30.519 our hearts. I pray that it will fall on good 00:51:30.519 --> 00:51:40.579 soil. In Jesus' name, amen. And when we know 00:51:40.579 --> 00:51:45.480 who He is, we can put our trust and our confidence. 00:51:46.059 --> 00:51:48.780 Everybody say confidence. When we know who He 00:51:48.780 --> 00:51:52.199 is, we can put our confidence in Him. Somebody 00:51:52.199 --> 00:51:55.480 say amen. Because He's not going to forsake us. 00:51:56.380 --> 00:52:00.619 when we seek Him. Everybody stand up with me. 00:52:03.380 --> 00:52:05.159 We're going to put our words in agreement with 00:52:05.159 --> 00:52:10.760 what God says, alright? Are you ready? Some of 00:52:10.760 --> 00:52:12.099 you might need to move your feet a little bit. 00:52:13.179 --> 00:52:17.739 Legs might be asleep. Everybody say this with 00:52:17.739 --> 00:52:21.559 me. One, two, three. My God is Yahweh Rapha. 00:52:23.179 --> 00:52:30.010 God heals me. sickness, illness, and disease 00:52:30.010 --> 00:52:34.429 are not God's will for me. Some of you aren't 00:52:34.429 --> 00:52:38.289 moving your mouth. Read it with me. Don't wait 00:52:38.289 --> 00:52:40.230 and repeat it. Let's start at the beginning again. 00:52:40.289 --> 00:52:44.030 Let's say it like we're in fifth grade all reading 00:52:44.030 --> 00:52:46.489 something together off the board. You ready? 00:52:46.610 --> 00:52:51.250 One, two, three. My God is Yahweh Rapha. God 00:52:51.250 --> 00:52:56.110 heals me. Sickness, illness, and disease are 00:52:56.110 --> 00:53:00.489 not God's will for me. God mends me and makes 00:53:00.489 --> 00:53:06.429 my spirit, body, and mind whole. By faith, I 00:53:06.429 --> 00:53:10.789 am healed. Does anybody believe that? Do you 00:53:10.789 --> 00:53:15.170 believe it? Take out your phone, take a picture 00:53:15.170 --> 00:53:16.909 of it. You need to say this more than one time. 00:53:18.750 --> 00:53:24.389 And that's who God is. That's who He is. How 00:53:24.389 --> 00:53:26.210 many of you grew up hearing that that's not who 00:53:26.210 --> 00:53:28.730 God is? Maybe that's who God used to be, but 00:53:28.730 --> 00:53:32.750 He's not that today. Hello? God doesn't change. 00:53:33.969 --> 00:53:38.130 Everybody say, He's the same yesterday, today, 00:53:38.409 --> 00:53:41.929 and forever. Some of us, it's going to take a 00:53:41.929 --> 00:53:43.449 little while to wrap our brains around this. 00:53:44.670 --> 00:53:47.730 It's going to take a little while for us to unlearn. 00:53:49.550 --> 00:53:54.190 Has anybody ever had to unlearn any bad? Does 00:53:54.190 --> 00:53:58.969 anybody have to unlearn anything? Some of us 00:53:58.969 --> 00:54:00.590 are going to have to unlearn a little bit to 00:54:00.590 --> 00:54:08.170 receive who God is. He is Yahweh Rapha. This 00:54:08.170 --> 00:54:10.510 online worship experience was brought to you 00:54:10.510 --> 00:54:13.110 by the Friends and Partners of Eulation Church.