Matthew 8 (Part 1) :1-17

Matthew chapter 8 grab your Bibles and and and turn over to Matthew chapter 8 I hung out in the Sermon on the Mount just as long as I could and now we have to move on to chapter 8 because that's what you know we got to keep going I thought about going back and starting the Sermon on the Mount again but I didn't know if you guys would appreciate that very much but I figured they get by with it on TV doing reruns why can't we do it once in a while you know like oh that one again Matthew chapter 8 okay why don't we pray father we thank you for giving us this time and we ask you to just minister to our hearts this is your word and we know that it is packed full of spiritual truths spoken to us in spiritual words which requires of course the ministry of your spirit to unlock and to illuminate this truth to our hearts we pray that you do that this morning and that you would make your word alive and then father show us how to apply it because we know that that is where wisdom lies be with us we pray in Jesus name Amen Matthew chapter 8 is a collection of accounts that that begin to be given us here of the public ministry of Jesus and we're just gonna dive right into these and get started it begins by saying in verse 1 when he came down from the mountainside and that's obviously the mount where he gave the sermon on the mount and so now he's on his way down and it says that large crowds were following him and and boy right away just boom a man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said Lord and I do love this if you are willing you can make me clean stop there for a moment I do I do really appreciate the way this leper kind of addressed Jesus did you notice here that he did not question in any way Jesus's ability to make him clean what he only wondered about was Christ's willingness to do that very thing it's probably it's probably worthwhile for us to talk for just a moment about leprosy just because I think having a little bit of a historical background would help you to maybe understand better even appreciate more what is going on in this scene and what this man has to go through even to get here to the place of of talking to Jesus you know from a physical standpoint alone leprosy of course was a terrible terrible terrible thing to have happened it was it was something that a person could live with for 20 to 30 years before they before they died but it was a debilitating demeaning and just a horrific sort of a disease to contract and there was no hope of improvement in those days today by the way leprosy is known as Hansen's disease and for the most part we have been able to get a handle on it you know if if particularly if Hansen's disease is caught in the early stages it it can be dealt with even to the point of a person living a normal life such was not the case however back in the days of Jesus and it probably carried some of its worst implications on the social side of things I mean physically it was awful but socially I think it was even worse because on the one hand you were you were assured of being taken away from your family and sequestered off in a in a quarantine area which they referred to as leper colonies and by the way leper colonies still exist in some parts of India where leprosy still continues to to ravage people even though we have medically speaking been able to really kind of get a handle on this doesn't mean medicine gets everywhere that had to be just so difficult to know that if you broke out in leprosy that you may never see your family again or if you do it would only be from a distance you know and they would certainly not touch you anymore just because at that time they believed that leprosy was contracted through physical touch in fact it was unlawful to touch someone with leprosy because according to the law because then you would be made unclean and then have to wait out a period of being made clean once again so you could go in and worship in the in the temple and then of course you ran the risk as far as they were concerned of getting leprosy today we actually think that it's it's contracted in other ways but when a when a leper did venture out of the leper colony he was required by the law to cover himself particularly the lower part of his face and he had to cry out unclean as he passed through public areas so that people had the opportunity to move out of the way get out of the way because a leper was coming so this was a stigma now that you would have with you for the rest of your life there's a terrible terrible way to live it was considered according to Jewish custom and tradition necessary to give at least at least six feet between a leper and a healthy person but it rarely came to that they won't they stayed much farther in fact if you were downwind from a leper the leper was responsible for keeping at least a hundred and fifty feet between you and them and you know people did not treat lepers well in fact we even have written records of rabbis bragging about how they mistreated you know lepers the cruelty that was was shown to these individuals there was a record of one rabbi boasting about the fact that he was about to make a purchase of food on the market but he just saw a leper in the distance and then refused to buy the the food and he thought that that was something of virtue another leper were excuse me another rabbi was recorded it as bragging about the fact that he actually threw rocks at lepers whenever he saw them just picked up stones and just started throwing them this is the kind of stuff that happened the social stigma that went along with it the the sense of being an outcast the broken heart of being separated from your family and knowing that there was no cure for for this disease which would slowly eat away at your flesh to the point where your nerve endings would be dulled and and you would no longer be able to feel pain therefore you would contract infections fingers toes things like that would begin to fall off over a period of time it was it was a terrible terrible way to live and obviously a terrible way to die so you can see here as we've just kind of shared a little bit of the just the historical background of how these people suffered and how they were treated you can understand and maybe appreciate a little bit more the sheer effort that this man had to put forth to walk into a public arena you know he would not be welcome by most healthy people in that public arena probably the only thing that was saving him was the fact that there were a lot of sick people coming to be around Jesus at that time but it was a huge and very risky thing for this man to do to venture out of the quarantine area and come to to meet with Jesus and then I want you to notice here in verse 3 how our Lord responds to this man it says in verse 3 that Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man and he looked and in his response to the man's question he said I am willing and then he said be clean and it says immediately he was cured of his leprosy and I want you to notice that I want you to notice that Jesus did to this man what was really from a societal standpoint and a medical standpoint unthinkable in fact it was a ridiculously stupid thing to do believing as they did that leprosy was contracted through physical touch he touched him and this is something that this man probably hadn't felt for a long long time but the the genuine and and and loving care of someone's touch and Jesus reached down and touched the man of course if there were any religious leaders around at that time they would have immediately declared Jesus to be unclean I think I find that kind of interesting except we realize here and we see in the passage that rather than Jesus contracting the man's leprosy the man contracted the healing the power of God through the touch of Jesus and it says he was immediately immediately cured immediately made clean and so forth I love his statement too I am willing I'm willing because that was the man's question I know you can do this but are you willing yeah I'm willing and we love to hear Jesus say that you know I mean it doesn't it just kind of brighten your heart a little bit to hear Jesus saying to this man who has suffered you know so terribly with this disease and so forth to say I am willing And and you know as much as we love to hear that statement it it immediately kind of Causes us to ask the question is he still willing, you know? We recognize the willingness of our Lord right here And by the way, by the way, let me just stop for just a moment to say this When we see Jesus moving among the people Responding to their questions touching their lives bringing just the coolness of God into their lives We we need to understand that this is this is God I mean Jesus is given for you and I as a picture of how God thinks acts Talks Loves cares, you know blesses. That's what that's what Jesus has come to do Jesus in fact said I've come to do the will of my father He says what you see me doing you see the father doing what you hear me saying you hear the father saying and so there Is this natural kind of one for one sort of a situation here with Jesus you see Jesus doing it? That's as good as knowing that God does it you hear Jesus responding to this man About this issue about his willingness to heal you're hearing God Talk about that. Okay, Jesus is God in human flesh you want to know what God is like you look at Jesus Right remember at the toward the end, you know of his public ministry. He even said to his his his disciples when when one of them said to him, you know just Master if you just if you just show us the father that that'll be enough for us. Just show us the father and and I Think it was Philip that said that if I'm not mistaken and Jesus is like dude How long? How long must I be with you? Don't you know that when you've seen me you've seen the father You know So that's an important thing for us to remember but we still have to come back to that question is Jesus still willing to heal and so forth well Some people Have just decided to make it kind of quick and easy and say no No, he's not God is no longer willing to heal in that way. That was something that was accomplished During a particular season There was a need that Went along with the healing ministry of Jesus we might as well address this now because we're gonna see it a lot through the rest of the book of Matthew, but I Got to be honest with you guys. I I don't see anything in the Word of God that a says that that God doesn't Want to or doesn't doesn't heal today or that it was only for a particular, you know time and Be that that he is no longer willing. I don't I don't see that in the scripture, I I think that when we go before the Lord and Ask for healing we ought to go before him with the attitude that he is willing That doesn't mean that it's always going to happen But I think that we should at least still have the attitude that he's willing I mean that seems like the attitude Paul went before the Lord with when he Approached him with the the thorn in his flesh, which he tells us about in 2nd Corinthians chapter 12 He he went to the Lord and he says he said he went three times You know, if you don't think someone's willing to do something You're probably not gonna go more than once you might think maybe once I can try to change his mind But to go before him three times Paul repeatedly came before the Lord and said would you take this thorn of in in the flesh? Away from me. Would you do that? And and and eventually, you know, the Lord responded to him by saying that there was a higher purpose to that particular Infirmity that that Paul was struggling with and Paul explains what that higher purpose was in 2nd Corinthians chapter 12 But I it appears to me that Paul at least Went before the Lord with an attitude that you know, I believe you're willing And and and so forth and I think that we do too. I mean, I really do I I Don't see in the scripture where there is a specific You know key to say to be able to say from a biblical standpoint God no longer does this sort of a thing So it was really cool back in the day, but it's just not happening today and so forth We'll talk more about healing in just a little bit But I want to take note of the fact that Jesus next said to the man Be clean and you'll notice that Jesus simply speaks that healing into the man's life You know when you and I are dealing with a situation where somebody needs healing, you know, we have to pray Don't we we come before the Lord and we say Lord You know touch this person and so forth. Jesus didn't have to do that because he's God He just simply speaks that healing into the man's life. He just says be clean and We're told that he immediately Was made clean and then in verse 4 if you'll look with me there It says then Jesus said to him see that you don't tell anyone But go show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded as a testimony to them now It doesn't tell us here in this gospel account about it But in Mark's gospel, we actually learned that the man did not obey that That that exhortation to not tell people other than the priest He went out and told everybody and as a result Jesus had to actually kind of clear the area after a point But what was he doing when he was telling him to go and show himself to the priest? Well, that was just in keeping with the Levitical law Jesus was telling this man to be obedient to what was outlined in the book of Leviticus for those times when a person had some kind of a disease of the skin and there was a healing and they were to go before the priest and The priest was to examine them and if the priest Examined them and found out that they no longer were struggling or suffering from this disease of the skin Then they were allowed they would be declared clean Meaning and clean doesn't just mean healed clean means you can come back to church Because you see in the temple you could not enter into those places of worship if you had Some condition by which you were declared Unclean. All right, so and it was only the priest who could declare you to be clean Remember that the priest is a foreshadowing of Jesus himself Our high priest and He is the one who just like this man was declared. He's the one who declares us clean Except the issue that we're dealing with isn't leprosy the issue we're dealing with is sin But isn't it interesting? I think it's interesting leprosy actually is a pretty amazing picture of sin I mean in in the the the issue of leprosy we see Just a very clear picture of the corrupting influence of sin because leprosy Once it was contracted and of course you and I are sinners by birth But once leprosy was contracted it would spread fairly rapidly and wherever it's spread Of course, it would corrupt it would corrupt the flesh Now you and I are born the Bible tells us with corrupted flesh already, but it spreads through our life And it has that same corrupting influence and it's not a fun thing to think about actually But there is some so there are some other aspects of the the the similarity between leprosy and sin too because just as leprosy would cause a separation between people and people Those who had it and those who didn't and ultimately a separation from the worshiping community You could not go into the temple if you had leprosy or any other skin disease for that matter So also sin separates us from God it's a very similar sort of a situation and the only way that you and I can be healed is the way this man was healed and that is by the touch of God and he can take the corrupting influence of sin and He can forever change our lives and oh by the way, yes, he is willing to do that The next section is going to go on here in verse 5 and following look with me in your Bible It says when Jesus had entered Capernaum a centurion came to him asking for help now, by the way are you probably already know this but a Roman centurion was named such because he was in charge of a military force of 100 men hence the name a centurion in the Roman Army and and He says Lord. He said my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering Right away we get a sense of the kind of man that this guy is he cares about a Servant Luke actually in his account of this story uses the the Greek word doulas, which means slave You know, and so this is a this is a servant slash slave of this Roman centurion but yet this man cares enough about this servant to Beseech Jesus to come and do a work of healing and Luke also adds by the way that this servant was near death all right, and That's yeah, that's what he's saying here in verse 6. He says my servant is at home lying paralyzed He's in terrible suffering and Jesus said to him. He says I'll go and heal heal him But the centurion replied Lord, I don't deserve to have you come under my roof But just say the word and my servant will be healed For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, go, and he goes, and that one, come, and he comes. And I say to my servant, do this, and he does it." And when Jesus heard this, he was astonished. And he said to those following him, I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come from the east and the west and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom, and that's referring to the Jews, will be thrown outside into the darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And then Jesus said to the centurion, go, it will be done just as you believed it would. And his servant was healed at that very hour. This is a pretty powerful story. You know, if ever you want to know what it takes to astonish God, this passage gives you the insights. It seems kind of crazy to think about astonishing God in any capacity. And there aren't very many references in the Gospels where Jesus was astonished, but it had to do with faith. It either had to do with faith or a lack of faith. Those are the things that astonished him. And he was absolutely flabbergasted by this man's faith. Now, think about all the things that this guy basically has going against him. He's a centurion, which means he's a soldier, and that means he's a man of war. So here's this man of war approaching the prince of peace. Second of all, of course, he's part of the military force that is even now occupying Israel militarily and sometimes violently. And therefore, that has him on the outs, of course, with any Jew. And then he's just simply a Gentile, which is enough to have the Jews hate his guts right then and there. So, you know, this guy's got a lot going against him, you know, as it relates to just coming to Jesus, who is quite obviously a Jew, and making his request of him. But you know what? There was something that this man had going for him. And this was huge. This man understood the whole concept of the chain of command. He knew what it was to be a man in authority, because he was a man of some authority. Again, he oversaw a hundred men, and he knew and recognized immediately in Jesus, you too are a man of authority. I'm a man of authority, limited authority. You're a man of authority. I know how authority works. Listen, when I tell one of my guys to go do something, he does it. I don't even have to follow after him. I don't have to question. I don't have to come back later and say, did you do it? He does it, because I am his commanding officer. And what I say goes. I give a command, it's done. And he recognizes and says to Jesus, listen, you don't have to come with me. Just give the command. Good enough for me, man. I understand how this whole chain of command thing works. Just say it. Boom. Done. That's why Jesus marveled so much. The Jews usually came, remember Jairus? What did he say to Jesus when his little girl was sick? Please come to my home and lay your hands on my little girl. Now there was faith there, but there wasn't the kind of faith that this man had. And that's why Jesus, you know, is so astonished when he hears about it and even comes back and says, you guys hear this? I haven't seen this level of faith in all of Israel. These are the people that should have more faith than anybody. Think about it. They've been given the word of God all these years. They've been given the prophecies. They've been given the oracles of God. They have been told the Messiah is coming and told how to expect him, what to look for. They should have instantly recognized this man as the Messiah, and they should have put their absolute, complete, and total faith in him and all that he did, but they did not. This man, however, says, I see in you a man of authority, and I recognize that when you say something, it's going to get done. And so as it says, Jesus is astonished. What's really interesting too is what Jesus goes on to say, because in the faith of this Gentile, Jesus sees something of a foreshadowing, if you will, of the upcoming Gentile ingathering, and he even speaks of it, and he says, listen, listen here, guys, you guys who think that you are God's people and you're it, let me tell you something. There is coming a day when from the east and the west, others will come and sit at the table of the feast that is going to be in heaven with Abraham and all these other patriarchs that you say are your fathers. They will sit, and those of you who are truly children of these great patriarchs will be cast out. You guys will be cast out, and why? Faith. See the whole context of this thing is faith. Have you put your faith in God, and so forth. He says some of the people who are actually part of physical Israel will be excluded from the kingdom of heaven, and why? Once again, the writer of Hebrews says it so much better than I could. Let me put this on the screen for you. It's in chapter four, and it says this, therefore since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it, for we also have had the gospel preached to us just as they did, but the message they heard, check this out, was of no value to them, and here's why, because those who heard it did not combine it with faith. See, that's the key. Now the writer of Hebrews is referring to the Jews who came through the wilderness, came to the edge of the promised land, and didn't go in. But the picture is the same, whether it's going into the promised land or accepting their Messiah, receiving him. The issue is a lack of faith. It comes down to a lack of faith. They heard the word, but they didn't combine it with faith, you know? And that is a major key, and it will be the cause of them missing out on the final feast, and that's why the writer of Hebrews says to you and I, if you look at the end of that passage, basically, or actually it's, I'm sorry, the second line, let us be careful. Let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short. See, it's not just telling us of something that happened in the past. It presents itself as an exhortation to you and I. Let's make sure that you and I don't find ourselves in that same situation. What situation? Not applying the word with faith and so forth. What kind of faith is Jesus talking about? What kind of faith is he looking for? Because we know he's looking for faith. You guys remember what he said in Luke chapter 18? Remember that one? Here's what he said. When the son of man comes, will he find faith on the earth? When Jesus returns to this earth, will he find faith? Will he find people exercising faith? What's he talking about? What kind of faith? He's talking about people. It's really not that complex. He's talking about people who hear the word of God and believe it. You know, he's not looking for these, I don't know, superhuman heroes of faith, you know, where we're going around and conquering nations. If that's your calling, wonderful, go out and conquer. My point is this. When Jesus returns, he's looking for people who have faith, and that can be a simple sort of a thing, a simple faith that simply sees the word of God and believes it. And you know, we've been talking about this, you guys, as we dealt with the latter part of the Sermon on the Mount, and we talked about the fact that we can sit and we can hear and we can hear and we can hear the word of God over and over again, and we can never really apply it to our lives because we really don't put our faith in it. We really don't believe it, you know, and we really don't put it into practice. We you know, it's funny. We assume that we're just if we're a Christian, we're just living. I'm just living for the Lord, you know, and we talk about that, you know, yeah, he's living for the Lord. You know what? That is such a bogus statement because you can be saved a born again child of God. But there can easily be areas of your life where you're just not applying the word of God. It don't assume that you are. I see it all the time. I see it in my own life. I see people who are who love Jesus, but there's just some areas of their life where the word just hasn't gotten in. It might be an area of their marriage, it might be an area of their finances. I've seen people who just love Jesus and they just they just cannot give their money to the Lord. It's just like one of those areas where they struggle really bad. And that's just one quick example. You know, over the years, I've kind of had an interesting sort of change of thought, an evolution of thought, if I can say that without you getting up and leaving. The issue of faith, and I spent a lot of time in my earlier years of walking with the Lord thinking that faith was something that you either had or you didn't, and if you had, it covered all areas of your life, or none at all. And in other words, if you had faith to believe that Jesus died for you, surely, surely you would have faith to believe that God could heal your marriage. And again, just as an example, but I found that's just not the case. I found that people can have great faith for something and zero faith for something else. And it's really a strange phenomenon when you stop and think about it, but people can believe without a doubt that God is going to meet their financial needs, but you can't get them on an airplane, you know? But you know, if it's an issue of financial trust, done! Believe it? Yeah, God's good. He's going to take care of us. Well, good, let's hop on that plane and go to Alaska. No way. You know, it's like, there's just some areas where they can apply that faith and apply it very quickly and very easily, and other places where they just really struggle and so forth. I've talked to you guys in the past of Hudson Taylor, and I love using this example, so excuse me if I use it too often, but it's such a great picture because here's a man, I don't know if you've read, if you haven't read the biography of Hudson Taylor, you should. He began what is referred to years ago as the Inland China Mission, and here was a man who had faith to go to China at a time in China's history when, you know, they could have just as easily chopped your head off as look at you, and yet he had the faith to go to China, share Christ, start a mission, and suffer in a lot of ways. I mean, going into another culture that is about as different, you know, from Western culture as you can possibly get. I mean, the Orient, and at that time, was even more plunged into a whole different societal, you know, sort of a lifestyle. He had all the faith in the world to go to China and start a mission, and then he came back to England for a while, and some people said they wanted to come with him, and he freaked out. He absolutely freaked out, did not have the faith to take people along. He all of a sudden was just bound up with worry, and concern, and fretting. What am I going to do? What are they going to do? What happens if they, and all these what-if sort of situations, and here's the man with all this faith, you know, to go to China, and he couldn't take people with him. Had to resolve that issue with the Lord, and you guys probably heard me talk about that before, but I don't know, it's just pretty interesting, and I've seen in my own life, and you know, I have also learned something else, that as we're walking with the Lord day by day, week by week, month by month, year by year, what I see God doing in our lives is addressing those areas where we have yet to apply faith. He's probably not going to mess with you a whole lot on those areas where you already got it, right? Because it's like, you know, you guys have some areas dialed in. You just don't have any fear, any concern, any problem. It's like, yeah, God's good, God's faithful, praise the Lord, and you're just, and the other people deal with that, and you're like, well, what's up with you? You know, it's hard to relate to, but then you've got other areas in your life where you can just hyperventilate at the very thought of that issue in your life, or coming into your life, or something like that, and do you know, in my own life, I'm seeing God work on those areas where I have not yet introduced faith into some of those fears, concerns, frets, or whatever. I, you know, there's several areas, in fact, in my life where God refuses to leave me alone, but it's just kind of one of those things. Let me take one more account here. Verse 14 in your Bible, look there with me. It says, when Jesus came into Peter's house, which Mark tells us, by the way, also belonged to his brother Andrew, he saw Peter's mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever, and he touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him. And when evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word, and healed all the sick. Look at verse 17. If this isn't underlined in your Bible, you might consider doing it. It says, this was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah. He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases. This must have been a pretty exciting time, you've got to admit, for the disciples. They come into Peter's house. Peter's mother-in-law is lying on the bed, you know, with this debilitating fever. She can't even get up. Jesus touches her. We're told in one of the other Bible accounts that he actually rebuked the fever, which is an interesting sort of an idea, rebuking, you know, something, talking to a fever like it's a person. He did that with the wind and the waves, too, you know. And the thing, just leaving her, and then all these people, these crowds of people, you know, coming in, and all who came, you know, Jesus touched and healed. But I want you to please notice once again, verse 17, because I want to just talk about this for a moment. It says, this was to fulfill what was actually prophesied through Isaiah. That's talking about Isaiah 53, by the way. Let me show it to you, by the way. Isaiah 53, verse 4, surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows. Slightly different wording, but, you know, than what is given us in Matthew. But, you know, he took up our infirmities, and infirmity is a sickness, disease, weakness, that sort of a thing. And did you guys catch the fact that Matthew says that when Jesus did this in his public ministry, he said, this was to fulfill what is given us in Isaiah 53. Now, some of you might be wondering why I'm emphasizing it quite to that degree. Well, the reason is, is that there are many people who believe that the prophecy that is given to us in Isaiah 53, which, of course, Matthew quotes here, it speaks of something that Jesus did not fulfill in his public ministry, but fulfilled actually in his atoning work of the cross. And you might say, well, what's the big deal? Who cares? Well, it's a huge deal. Because you see, if physical healing was something that Jesus accomplished for us on the cross, in other words, it was part of the atonement, and that the cross presents for us a guarantee of physical healing, then that's huge. I mean, that's enormous. And I don't know if some of you have been to churches where they teach that, but it's very common, very, very common. And the people who believe it are very strongly in support of this whole idea. And they like to quote the next verse in Isaiah 53, too. And I'll put that up on the screen for you as well. And by his wounds, we are healed. And this is, you know, I dare say all of you who have been in Christ for any longer than six months have heard this quoted, at least at some point, in terms of a healing or in relationship to a healing situation. And people that they'll, you know, you come for healing, you tell somebody that, hey, you know, my dad is sick, or this or that, or you got an issue, and you get around some believer, somebody is going to quote this, they're going to say, hey, no problem, we'll pray for it. Let's lay hands on you. Remember, remember what God's word says, by his wounds, we're healed. And then they'll begin to pray for you. And what they're doing is they're making an assumption. And the assumption is that the last word of this portion of a verse here in chapter 53, verse five, means physical healing. In fact, I talked to a guy a number of years ago, we were dealing with this very issue. And he said, he said, Paul, you know, what are you dumb? Look, look at the verses by his wounds were healed. Do you see what he was doing? Instant assumption healed means physical. Okay. Healed means physical. To him, there is the only one kind of healing that you ever need. That's physical healing. Right? The question is, how is that verse used in the Bible? Is it used in the context of physical healing? Let me let me explain something here to you very carefully. Isaiah chapter 53 is quoted a lot in the rest of the Bible. It is never once quoted in relationship to physical healing, not once the very context of Isaiah 53, take it and read it when you go home. It is talking about spiritual healing. It is talking about being healed from your sinful condition that causes a separation between you and God. And listen, this verse is beautifully quoted also in the new Testament by Peter. Let me show it to you. It goes like this. Look at the context guys. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree. Why? So that we might die to sin and live for righteousness by his wounds. You have been healed. See, Peter very clearly associates this passage from Isaiah to spiritual healing. The fact that your sin. Have been forgiven that you are healed from the malady of sin and pronounced clean in the sight of God And now have that total ability to come in to the very presence of God And then of course the last reason we believe this is because what it says right here in Matthew chapter 8 What does it say here in Matthew chapter 8 verse 17? Tells about all that Jesus did healing casting out demons Carrying their infirmities and Matthew says guys this fulfilled Isaiah 53 four and five it fulfilled it People the idea that the atonement Guarantees physical healing for you, and I is just not in the Bible and Let me tell you something. I Wish it was the older I get the more. I wish it was I'd love to believe it. Oh How I would love to believe it, but you know what I got to stand before God for what I tell you and James tells me that I'm gonna be judged more harshly than the rest and I can't tell you something. That's just gonna make you feel good or just because you want to believe it You know, there's a One of my favorite authors who's with the Lord now is Harry Ironside great Oh just a man who a man who knew the word so well by the end of his life. He lost his sight He didn't stop him from preaching or quoting whole chapters of the Bible because he had a memorized the man was just amazing But he came up with a quote about this whole issue and I want to show it to you and and on the screen here He says the prediction of Isaiah 53 4 was literally fulfilled in Jesus daily Ministry as he bore away the sicknesses and carried the infirmities of the people in his deep sympathies It is a mistake to suppose that this prophecy refers to his atoning work on the cross It was here on earth as he moved among Suffering humanity that he bore our infirmities and took from men their diseases and pains And that's a man who is just simply and honestly and sincerely looking at God's Word and commenting on it He probably wanted to believe it too. Here was a man who lost his sight Toward the end of his life Okay So if healing isn't a guarantee of the cross Why do we believe that Jesus still heals Today, and by the way, we do believe Jesus still heals today. Have you looked at our statement of faith lately? It's amazing to me how many people go to a church never even consult the statement of faith We have a statement of faith believe it or not. It's on the website. It's on our literature It's all you can find it all over the place I I put one of the points here from our statement of faith We believe there is found in Christ healing for the broken physically Spiritually and emotionally we still continue to believe that Well, you might say to me well pastor Paul if it isn't a guarantee of the atonement issue of the cross then why do you still Believe it well Because when we read the gospel accounts We see the heart of God as it is expressed toward the lost the hurting The infirmed and we see in the reaction of Jesus to people the heart of God Almighty And there's something else about the fact of that compassion and that mercy It does not change In fact, isn't that what Hebrews even tells us Hebrews chapter 13 once again on the screen it Hebrews chapter 13 verse 8. Did I is that there? Did I not put that there? Oh There it is. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday today and forever. I I Believe that I I really do and since I don't see in the Bible something that says oh, by the way I'm only gonna hit people up to a certain time and then after like the last Apostle dies. I'm not gonna heal anymore. Okay, I Don't see that in the Bible There are people who believe that but I don't see that and you are free to believe that if you want But you're gonna have to do it without biblical evidence You know you believe anything you want about anything Question is is it in the Bible? I don't see in the Bible where God says there's gonna you know Not healing after this particular point So I believe that healing is still a possibility Now how God determines to exert his power in our lives is his business What I do not believe is that God is a vending machine and I've told you that many many times I do not believe that faith is is is a coinage that we put we can always put in the vending machine and Always get to drop what we want when we put in just the right coinage and push just the right button I don't believe God has buttons that we push and we get exactly what we want. Sometimes as in the case of Paul in 2nd Corinthians chapter 12 God says no I've got a higher purpose for this But that doesn't mean that you and I shouldn't go before the Lord and expect a willingness on his part You know and that doesn't mean that we shouldn't have faith as it relates to healing and and basically come like the leper and say You know, I know that you can do this. I'm not really sure whether it's gonna happen, but I know you can You know Your power is there, you know and so forth And So we boldly continue to bring before him the needs that we have and and and we entrust it all into his loving care A Question often comes up. Why don't we see more physical healings in the body of Christ? I don't know. I wish we saw more I think it might have something to do with the fact that we've turned into a little bless me Club though the you know the vast Majority of the healings that we do see in the Bible are outreach oriented I mean, let's just face it when the body of Christ is on the move and The power of God is working through that body of Christ the Bible says that signs will confirm and sometimes I think we've grown a little inward, you know where we just kind of want to sit and and just have our comfortable life and our comfortable chairs and and Never really reach out and we want God to do this and do that and I'm not sure he's interested in that particular program But be that as it may I don't think that that should cause us to conclude something that isn't biblical Just because you and I aren't seeing the level of spiritual or physical rather healings in the church that we might otherwise Think there should be I don't think that that's reason to come to up to a theological conclusion That isn't supported in the Word of God say well, obviously God doesn't heal anymore today. That's using experience as Your guide and that's just as bad as what the Pentecostals do when they flop on the floor and then you know And then say that well, obviously God wants us to flop because that was a good thing It made it sure made a difference in my life You know what I'm saying You see both are extremes that we have to avoid We have to come back to the Word of God. Let's just stick on the Word of God You know what? We're never gonna get in trouble sticking on the word never we're never gonna go you know off half-cocked or whatever if we just stick to the word and Just believe what it says believe what it says So, you know if you if there's a physical issue in your life for by all means, let's lift it to the Lord Let's entrust it to him. It's God's business what he does with your life By the way, your life belongs to him you were bought with a price The blood is that purchase element that by which you were bought and your life belongs to his him and he can do with it whatever he wants and That's what we have to be satisfied with You know, we also have to realize something else We are created by God To be immortal, you know that don't you I hope you know that God created mankind to be immortal and This life is not the end This life is not all there is for you and I it's the big hairy monster bugaboo under the bed But for God, it's a doorway by which we enter into his never removed presence and begin to live the life that is truly life And so whatever God chooses whatever God decides as it relates to this issue of staying in this body or not, that's his business We're just gonna bring it to him and say Jesus. I love you. I know you love me and I'm gonna put this at your feet You know And beyond that help me to serve you with a good attitude with joy and a whole heart as I trust in you No matter what You