I decided to do something today. I decided to
give you the greatest testimony of all. That
of Jesus Christ himself. And I want you to see
exactly how he went about praying for the sick.
His method. Exactly what he did. We have no greater
example. There is no greater authority than the
very Son of the living God. Know that. So stop
whatever you're doing now for a very few minutes.
That's right, honey. Put down that broom. That
maybe you're down on your knees scrubbing the
floor. Just that's right, honey. Like Mama used
to say about the dirty dishes, they'll be there
when we get home, and they always were. So just...
Relax a bit, because the next few minutes may
be very profitable to you. And while I'm talking,
you get out your Bible and turn to the 8th chapter
of Matthew. Jesus had just finished preaching
the greatest sermon that was ever preached. No
sermon that has ever been preached by the world's
greatest orator. No theologian who has ever stood
behind the pulpit has ever preached a sermon.
No bishop has ever preached a sermon comparable
to the sermon that is recorded in the seventh
chapter of Matthew, that the greatest sermon
ever preached. We cannot question the theology
of the one who preached it. we cannot take issue
with it. Because the one who preached it was
absolute authority, the very son of the living
God. And the last verse of that seventh chapter
always intrigued me. He had just finished preaching
that sermon, and this is what the word said.
And he taught them as one having authority and
not as the scribes. But even though he taught
them as one having authority and even though
the people were astonished at his doctrine, they
were literally awed by that which left his lips.
He still had to go out and prove his authority.
He had to still make proof of that which he taught
by his deeds and by his action. All right, that
follows now. And in chapters 8 and 9 of this
gospel, we have nine manifestations of his power.
And these arrange themselves naturally into three
groups. Groups of three each. He gave three illustrations
of his power. And immediately afterwards, we
find the effect produced on the people by what
they saw. I know the Bible teaches that believe
and ye shall see. But human nature still reverts
to the opposite. They say, let me see, and I'll
believe. Then Jesus continues with three other
illustrations of power, and again the effect
produced. Finally, three further illustrations
of power, and once again the effect produced.
Now, in looking at these two chapters, let us
be very careful not to imagine that Jesus Christ
presented himself to the people and asked them
to observe what he was able to do. He did not.
After finishing that sermon, he did not stand
before them and say, Now, follow me and see my
great power. He did not boastfully present himself
and say, now behold my power and what I am able
to do. No. There was nothing theatrical in these
manifestations of power. Nothing. I want you
to see that. And we need to come back to this
glorious truth. There was not one thing theatrical
about these manifestations of power. They were
absolutely natural, normal, necessary, and beautiful.
Oh, when you look back on it, when you read,
you see how natural. Jesus was in his dealing
with humanity and how natural was the effect.
Oh, that's marvelous. The first three illustrations
were those of the cleansing of the leper. This
is all found in the 8th chapter of Matthew. Then
the healing of the centurion's servant. And then
the restoration of Peter's wife's mother. And
immediately afterwards, a man said to him, Teacher,
I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.
Then moving beyond the realm of the physical,
he proved himself master of the elements in the
stilling of the storm, master of the great world
of spiritual forces as he cast out the demons.
master of disease and its source of sin, as he
cured the palsy and forgave sin. And immediately
after these things we read, they were of prayed
and glorified God. That's the reason I still
say that There can be no manifestation of the
power of God in the healing of sick bodies without
seeing the greatest of all miracles, the forgiveness
of sin. Sin and sickness go hand in hand. Had
there not been sin, there never would have been
sickness. come into the world until there was
sin. You just cannot separate one from the other.
In exactly the same way that wherever there is
healing, the healing power of Almighty God, you
will also find the forgiveness of sin, which
is the greater of the two miracles. All right.
Now turn, if you will, please, to that eighth...
chapter of Matthew. When he was come down from
the mountain, great multitudes followed him,
and behold, there came a leper and worshipped
him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make
me clean. That was all that he said. That was
all that he prayed. It was that simple. Lord,
if thou wilt, thou canst make me cleave. You
know, the thing that gets me most is that, so
far as we know, after Jesus had preached that
masterpiece, the greatest sermon that was ever
preached, The first one to approach him. The
first one to believe him to the point of action.
Not only amazed by what he heard, but so completely
believing what he said and believed him to the
point of action was this leper. And his simple
response, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make
me clean. And Jesus put forth his hand and touched
him, saying, I will. Be thou clean. And immediately
his leprosy was cleansed. Just five words spoken.
I will be thou Klee. Oh, I tell you. If we're
coming to the king, first of all, we must know
what we want. the prayers that storm heaven are
brief. I mean that. I get a little leery of some
of these folk who have to pray so long and pray
so loud. I don't quite understand it, honest.
When they pray so loudly, I always have the feeling
that... They think that God needs healing for
his ears, that he must be a little deaf or something.
Now, I'm not being sacrilegious when I say that.
But I can't quite understand all this loud praying
and loud shouting to get God to hear. And it's
like that. And these long prayers. I still...
contend that there may be a place for the longer
prayer, but when you and I get desperate, I believe
that it only takes a few words to make contact
between the individual and God. And it's just
like that. There's a place for the adoration
and the pouring out of the heart. But it's when
a man knows what he wants that he takes hold
of God. Lord, if thou wilt or thou canst make
me clean, it's hardly a prayer. It's a statement,
an affirmation, a cry of need. And next, his
attitude was submissive. He worshipped. All his
cry was an honest one. Why question the willingness
of Jesus? Because the man was not sure that Jesus
would be willing. He was honest enough to say
so. He admitted that he knew that Jesus had all
power. He knew that. He had confidence in his
ability. But he was very honest when he admitted
that he wasn't sure that Jesus was... willing
to give him what he wanted. If we look closely,
we see that this man had learned a lesson. And
that is that the will of Jesus is supreme. If
thou wilt, thou canst. He did not question his
power. It is not that he questioned his willingness
unkindly, but he recognized that it must be as
he willed. To state it boldly, the Master Jesus
Christ could not possibly do other than answer
this man as he did. Jesus had come to claim the
surrender of the will, and the man yielded. Oh,
that's wonderful. Do you want to know something?
When the man's will bent to the will of Christ,
then Christ's will touched the man's will. And
through that contact, there was communicated
to him the power and the virtue of the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's it. Then he sent him away, telling
him not to tell anyone of this great miracle,
to keep silent about it. Why? I'll tell you exactly
why. He said to him now, See thou tell no man,
but go thy way, and show thyself to the priest.
and offered a gift that Moses commanded for a
testimony unto them. Uh -huh. Do you want to
know why I always say to you now, your healing
is wonderful, and we know how real is the power
of God, but you go back to your doctor and you
have it verified. Because when you're healed,
you not only think you're healed, I don't have
to tell you that you are healed. When God heals
your body, you can stand any physical test. You
can go to any doctor and have it verified. You
can have x -rays, cardiogram, anything. God isn't
a fake. He doesn't fool. It isn't something that's
just in your mind. It's done. So Jesus said to
him now, don't tell anyone until after first
of all, you go and show yourself to the priests.
Tell them what happened. Tell them what you've
done. Have it verified by them. So you see, we
are absolutely... biblical, scriptural, when
we tell you to have your healing verified. Because
this is one thing that has brought so much reproach
on divine healing. It's because some evangelist
said, now go your way, you're healed. And maybe
the person wasn't healed at all. And then that's
the thing that brings reproach on the gospel.
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and on this teaching
of spiritual healing. You didn't know that was
there, did you? Sure. There it is. All right,
now. The next case is that of a man coming to
Jesus not for himself, but for another. And the
first fact to be noticed is this. He stated his
need. And then Jesus said, I will come and heal
him. Now, in reading the New Testament, nothing
is more wonderful than the tremendous assumptions
of Jesus. The man came to him in trouble. Christ
did not say, I will come and see what I can do.
heal him. There was perfect confidence in himself.
It was the quiet but the dignified voice of a
great authority. The centurion said, Lord, I'm
not worthy that thou shouldest come under my
roof, but only say the word and my servant shall
be healed. Notice the centurion's Speak the word
and my servant shall be healed. You don't even
have to come to my house. I won't even ask you
to come. He had such confidence in Jesus. He
said, speak the word. That's all that's necessary,
and my servant shall be healed. And then notice
his philosophy of authority. For I am also a
man under authority, having under myself soldiers.
And I say to one, go, and he goeth. And I say
to another, come, and he cometh. And to my servant,
do this, and he doeth it. The centurion was not
putting himself into contrast with Jesus, but
he was saying, what is true of me is true of
thee. Thou art also under authority. And because
thou art under authority, thou art also able
to exercise authority. Oh, that's wonderful.
And the scripture says, so when Jesus heard it,
he marveled. Now, the word marveled does not
mean necessarily that he was surprised, but that
he admired the man's faith, that it startled
him by comparison with the faith of other men.
What was it in that faith of the centurion at
which Jesus marveled? Probably the intelligence
of it. And I mean that seriously. intelligent
faith. And it's just like that. And I believe
that Jesus marveled at the intelligence of the
man's faith. We hear an awful lot about simple
faith. But here is a man whose faith is based
upon a true philosophy of life. With the leper,
it was a consciousness of a great need in himself
and a great might in the master. But when the
centurion came, Jesus marveled at his intelligent
faith and said, Verily I say unto you, I have
not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
It was a moment of great joy for Jesus. But with
the joy, a great shadow came, for he saw the
conclusion of the very children of the king who,
disobedient to the king, should be cast out.
Now see something that to me is very remarkable.
The leper. And he was healed. But he did not
use the same method in healing the servant of
the centurion. He did not touch him. No, ma 'am.
No. 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. That's our Lord. God bless you.