"COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS: God heals all your diseases.” - 6-27-21

"COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS: God heals all your diseases.” - 6-27-21

INTRODUCTION

I will never forget Father’s Day 2021.  It was my son, Caleb’s, first Father’s Day.  It was the day I thought I was going to die.  The power of a bad raw oyster.  I am fine now.

Life, death.  Cancer, treatment.  Births, deaths.  Sickness, health.

“Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. 

Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits— who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.”

‭‭ Psalms‬ ‭103:1-6 NIV‬‬

The words of author Philip Yancey

“Even back then I was searching for hard evidence of God as an alternative to faith. And one day I found it--on television, of all places. While randomly flipping a dial, I came across a mass healing service being conducted by Kathryn Kuhlman. I watched for a few minutes as she brought various people up on the stage and interviewed them. Each one told an amazing story of supernatural healing. Cancer, heart conditions, paralysis--it was like a medical encyclopedia up there. As I watched Kuhlman's program, my doubts gradually melted away. At last I had found something real and tangible. Kuhlman asked a musician to sing her favorite song, "He Touched Me. That's what I needed, I thought; a touch, a personal touch from God. She held out that promise, and I lunged for it. 

Three weeks later when Kathryn Kuhlman came to a neighboring state, I skipped classes and traveled half a day to attend one of her meetings. The atmosphere was unbelievably charged--soft organ music in the background; the murmuring sound of people praying aloud, some in strange tongues; and every few minutes a happy interruption when someone would stand and claim, "I'm healed!" One person especially made an impression, a man from Milwaukee who had been carried into the meeting on a stretcher. When he walked--yes, walked--onstage, we all cheered wildly. He told us he was a physician, and I was even more impressed. He had incurable lung cancer, he said, and was told he had six months to live. But now, tonight, he believed God had healed him. He was walking for the first time in months. He felt great. Praise God! I wrote down the man's name and practically floated out of that meeting. I had never known such certainty of faith before. My search was over; I had seen proof of a living God in those people on the stage. If he could work tangible miracles in them, then surely he had something wonderful in store for me. 

I wanted contact with the man of faith I had seen at the meeting, so much so that exactly one week later I phoned Directory Assistance in Milwaukee and got the physician's number. When I dialed it, a woman answered the phone. "May I please speak to Dr. S_____," I said. Long silence. "Who are you?" she said at last. I figured she was just screening calls from patients or something. I gave my name and told her I admired Dr. S_____ and had wanted to talk to him ever since the Kathryn Kuhlman meeting. I had been very moved by his story, I said. Another long silence. Then she spoke in a flat voice, pronouncing each word slowly. "My...husband...is...dead." Just that one sentence, nothing more, and she hung up. 

I can't tell you how that devastated me. I was wasted. I half-staggered into the next room, where my sister was sitting. "Richard, what's wrong?" she asked. "Are you all right?" No, I was not all right. But I couldn't talk about it. I was crying. My mother and sister tried to pry some explanation out of me. But what could I tell them? For me, the certainty I had staked my life on had died with that phone call. A flame had flared bright for one fine, shining week and then gone dark, like a dying star.”

Philip Yancey, Disappointment With God, Zondervan, pp. 38-40

I.   GOD HEALS

 

“I will exalt you, Lord, for you lifted me out of the depths and did not let my enemies gloat over me. Lord my God, I called to you for help, and you healed me. You, Lord, brought me up from the realm of the dead; you spared me from going down to the pit.”

‭‭ Psalms‬ ‭30:1-3‬ ‭NIV‬‬

A.  Our bodies were created to heal.

B.  God gave us the ability to learn.

C.  God has blessed us with the ability to help our bodies heal.

D.  God allows us to suffer.

“Faith for my deliverance is not faith in God. Faith means, whether I am visibly delivered or not, I will stick to my belief that God is love. There are some things only learned in a fiery furnace.”

Oswald Chambers in Run Today's Race

II.  GOD HEALS ALL YOUR DISEASES

A.  Any disease healed is healed by God.

B.  We will all be healed.

1.  Physical healing

2.  Spiritual healing

C.  The Scriptures do not teach that we will not get sick.

1.  This passage points out the healing of illness.

“Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”

‭‭ James‬ ‭5:13-16‬ ‭NIV‬‬

2.  Other passages teach the healing of Christ’s atonement but cannot logically  mean there is neither illness nor death for the believer.

3.  All the saints of old (with very rare exception) died.

III.  GOD WILL HEAL YOU

“When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home. “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.””

‭‭ John‬ ‭11:20-27‬ ‭NIV‬‬

A.  All healing comes from God

B.  Death exists but has been defeated.

Last words: 

"Our God is the God from whom cometh salvation: God is the Lord by whom we escape death." Martin Luther 

"Live in Christ, live in Christ, and the flesh need not fear death." John Knox 

"Thou, Lord, bruisest me; but I am abundantly satisfied, since it is from Thy hand." John Calvin 

"The best of all is, God is with us. Farewell! Farewell!" John Wesley 

"I shall be satisfied with Thy likeness--satisfied, satisfied!" Charles Wesley

In 1846 former president John Quincy Adams suffered a stroke. Although he returned to Congress the following year, his health was clearly failing. Daniel Webster described his last meeting with Adams: "Someone, a friend of his, came in and made particular inquiry of his health. Adams answered, 'I inhabit a weak, frail, decayed tenement; battered by the winds and broken in upon by the storms, and from all I can learn, the landlord does not intend to repair.'" 

Today in the Word, April 11, 1992

C.  Ultimate healing occurs in the presence of God

Death is not extinguishing the light from the Christian; it is putting out the lamp because the dawn has come.

CONCLUSION

God heals.  God heals all your diseases.  God will heal you.

CHALLENGE

Our challenge will remain the same each week of this sermon series.  I just ask that you keep in mind the topic of each week’s message as you write down your weekly 3-2-1.  The topic this week is healing.

Write down 3 ways God bears your burdens daily.  Write down 2 needs God has met this week.  Write down 1 spiritual blessing in Christ that you cherish most.  Acknowledge God’s blessings.

INVITATION

It is our custom to offer an "invitation" following the preaching of the Word.  You may want to follow Jesus.  You may want to proclaim your faith.  You may want to repent (stop doing ungodly things and start doing Godly things).  Perhaps you want to be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Possibly, if you have already responded to God’s call in these ways, you would like to become a member of Kenwood Church.  If you have been moved by the Holy Spirit to make a decision in your life, you can come forward now.  If you would like, I would be honored to speak with you following the service about what God is doing in your life.