Published by admin on 07 Apr 2017 at 02:25 pm
BE AS YOUR MASTER
The Lord Jesus spoke the following in Luke 6:39-40, “And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch? The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master. Today’s teaching is twofold, and again, the subject will be on HEALING.
You see, not everyone has revelation about healing. There are many denominations of churches that know little or nothing at all about healing, they never see anyone healed in their congregations even though prayer is offered for the sick, so what’s the problem? I find that in my years of ministry, some churches actually teach AGAINST healing, some go so far as to say that God healed back in the Bible days, but He isn’t doing that in our age. Some just leave the subject of healing alone, because they’ve had no success with healing whatsoever. And some, like I had happen yesterday during a service, told those who were exhibiting signs of healing to “be satisfied being in wheelchairs or whatever case they are in.”
There was a lady yesterday that I laid hands on in a service whose left arm was left useless after a stroke, and she had been that way a long time. The Spirit of the LORD told me to lay hands on her and heal her, so I did. Immediately, and I mean IMMEDIATELY, she started uncurling that clenched hand and moving her fingers. And this other person, a minister, told her that it may not be God’s will for her to be healed, otherwise she would have already been healed. I saw the dismay on this lady’s face, and her hope of healing just evaporated and her hand went back shut and the arm dropped back to her side. Well, I never want to offend people, but this made ME angry, and I rebuked that person who said that right in front of everyone, and told her again, God DOES want you healed, RIGHT NOW, and I told her she would have the use of her arm back this very day, and she started moving it again. I told her not to let the devil nor anyone else steal her healing. Another in a wheelchair, told to rise and walk, and she did, and I didn’t help her, either.
I’m not against that other minister at all, it’s just that he has no revelation about healing, or he wouldn’t have said such a thing, seeing the Lord Jesus healed ALL who came to Him, never turning anyone down. But what bothers me, is that people who have no revelation about healing keep a lot of OTHERS from receiving theirs, and that’s wrong. They say, “What you don’t know can’t hurt you.” Well, what you don’t know can KILL you, especially when it comes to healing. If you don’t know that Christ Jesus has already paid in full for your healing, spirit, soul, and body, you can die from sickness and disease. Why would anyone choose to do that? Well, many have been told it isn’t always God’s will to heal people, and sadly, it’s usually the sick people who suffer because of that. How can you KNOW if it’s God’s will to heal? EASY!! READ THE BIBLE!
Yesterday this other minister brought up 2 Corinthians 12:7, which we all know is about the Apostle Paul’s “thorn in the flesh, and he said God didn’t heal Paul. Well, excuse me, God sent Ananias to lay hands on Paul and recover his sight for him! Let’s read 2 Corinthians 12:7-10:
And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.
The “popular” teaching is that God never healed Paul, and he had a “thorn in the flesh” the rest of his life. Well, there’s never a day mentioned in the Bible that Paul missed a day of preaching because of sickness, that is, except for the day he was stoned to death, but the disciples raised him up and the next day he went right back into the city where they had just stoned him. I would have loved to have seen the look on those people’s faces that stoned Paul. Believe me, they were very thorough when they stoned someone, they didn’t just leave him wounded. No, they got the job done. But the LORD was not done with Paul.
The interesting thing about the “thorn in the flesh” is revealed in the Greek. First of all, it wasn’t sickness, it was a devil sent to torment Paul, and stir up trouble all around him. The Greek translation of “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” Is, “The grace and the authority of Me granted unto you is sufficient for you, for the strength of Me is made perfect and complete in the lack of strength of you.” In plain english, the LORD gave Paul authority over that devil, and here Paul was asked God THREE TIMES to remove it, and the LORD was saying, I’ve given YOU the authority, YOU do something about it, quit asking ME to do it for you. Once Paul got that, HE rebuked that foul spirit and got rid of it. Paul went on to say that he takes pleasure in his own lack of strength, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake, for when he himself lacks strength, Christ is strong in him. Well, that changes everything, doesn’t it? And when WE lack strength in our trials, that is the very time Christ can be strong in us and through us!
Well, back to healing, the LORD has already given His disciples, and that’s YOU and ME if we are truly believers today, the authority to heal the sick. But why aren’t more people healed? Simple: most people think THEY are responsible for someone’s healing, and they know they don’t have what it takes to get the job done. News flash! I know I can’t heal a dead fly on my own. But the difference with me is, I KNOW WHO THE HEALER IS! AND HE IS IN ME!
The Lord Jesus charged the disciples, which extends to every believer yet today, in Matthew 10:8, Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. Now, either you believe that charge is unto you, or you don’t. If you don’t, then you won’t be casting out any devils, raising the dead, or healing the sick, period. But if you believe it applies to you, then you will be out there doing what Jesus said to do. After all, the Lord Jesus said, The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.”
So then, if you’re going to be like your Master, then you’d better get about doing His business, right? So what’s stopping you? It surely isn’t the LORD, no, He’s trying to get you to get busy. The only thing stopping you is YOUR UNBELIEF! Get rid of it and watch how God will use you to do His works!
Mary Anne Ezmerlian on 07 Apr 2017 at 3:09 pm #
Great word Pastor Jerry! I hope you had a wonderful birthday! We love and miss you and Jenny.