While on the subject of salvation and healing, some have asked me, “Why isn’t everyone healed?” I think that’s a valid question, because obviously we don’t see miracles of healing in every case. It is written in Psalm 103:2-3, “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits; who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases.” It does NOT say He forgives some of our sins, or maybe forgives us, or sometimes heals some of our diseases. The Word is very specific in what it says. So if we doubt His Word, then we would have to say, either He forgives all our sins, or He doesn’t. Either He heals all our diseases, or He doesn’t. Which is it? Does He, or doesn’t He? I think it’s time to delve into this subject a little deeper and get some better understanding, amen?

Last week I was asked, by whose faith was the Centurion’s servant healed? Was it Jesus’ faith, or the Centurion’s, or the sick servant? Let’s see what Jesus told the Centurion, in Matthew 8:5-13,
5 And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,
6 And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.
7 And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.
8 The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.
9 For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.
10 When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
11 And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.
12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
13 And 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.

So, whose faith healed the servant? According to verse 13, the answer appears to be the Centurion’s faith did.

Now, we have somewhat to consider here. In the occasion where the disciples failed to cast out a devil, where did Jesus lay the fault? Let’s read about it in Matthew 17:14-21,
14 And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying,
15 Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water.
16 And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.
17 Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.
18 And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.
19 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?
20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

Clearly, Jesus faulted the disciples for their unbelief because they could not cure the boy. He didn’t blame the boy, or the father, just the disciples. Now remember, Jesus had given them power to heal all manner of diseases and cast out devils, and yet they allowed unbelief to stop them in this particular instance.

However, in another instance, Jesus could do no mighty works in His own village. This wasn’t about His disciples, because He didn’t mention them. We can read about it in Mark 6:1-6.
1 And he went out from thence, and came into his own country; and his disciples follow him.
2 And when the sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands?
3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him. note
4 But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.
5 And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them.
6 And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching.

It didn’t say Jesus WOULDN’T heal them, He COULDN’T; AND HE MARVELLED BECAUSE OF THEIR UNBELIEF. Not His OWN unbelief, mind you, but THEIRS. Based on that, can we conclusively say the burden of faith lies entirely on the one ministering healing, or does the recipient bear some responsibility? Now we know it is the Father’s will to heal, because Jesus went around healing all those who came to Him, in every case. Did Jesus ever fail to heal? Yes, because in His own village, their unbelief stopped Him. So how did He heal all the multitudes who came out to Him? Apparently they heard He was healing, and their own faith brought forth the healing virtue of God causing the healing to take place.

That same power worked not only through Christ Jesus, but through those whom Jesus gave it, through the twelve, through the seventy, and down the ages right through to today. Last week I was asked about a particular man who has cancer, whom I ministered to and laid hands on, who has not yet exhibited any signs of being healed. Why didn’t MY faith heal him? That’s a tough one for me to answer, for everyone I minister to, I believe with all my heart they are healed, and many are, but not all. There is a fault somewhere, and if it’s me, then I’ll take the responsibility for it. Could I be in unbelief when laying hands on them? I really don’t think so, but only God knows for sure.

I do my best to explain healing, giving numerous examples from the Bible of healing, both in the Old Testament, and the New Testament. Remember, every healing Jesus did was still under the old covenant. The new covenant didn’t start until Jesus arose from the dead. We don’t have any record of Jesus healing any more sick after His resurrection, though. All subsequent healings were done by either the disciples, or those who followed their teachings.

When the Apostle Paul was met by Jesus on the road to Damascus, Paul was left blind by the experience. Jesus didn’t heal him, but rather, the LORD told a believer, Ananias to go lay hands on Paul and heal him. Ananias was not one of the twelve disciples, and this was the first mention of Him being a believer. And Paul received his sight back. Did Paul have any part in his own healing? Sure! He had to believe.

I use Matthew 10:8 quite often to show our authority for healing. Jesus said to His disciples, “Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils; freely ye have received, freely give.” Now, if Jesus commanded the disciples, which includes all believers who believed through them right down to today, then He would have also had to given the power to do these things in order for them to be able to obey His command. And that goes for us today, believers today also have this command, AND the power to carry it out.

Another thing I’ve never heard anyone else teach on, but in my studies, I noticed that Jesus never prayed for the sick. He never taught His disciples to pray for the sick, either. I think that’s why we don’t see more people healed. They don’t follow directions. Jesus commanded, HEAL THE SICK, He didn’t say “pray for the sick”. That’s something that “doctrines of men” started. We plead, we beg, we ask God to have mercy and heal so-and-so. We pray this or that, and wonder why God doesn’t heal them. It’s simple: do it like Jesus did, and it will work for you. He never asked anyone, “Can you get up and walk now?”  But ONCE, Jesus laid hands on a blind man, and asked him if he saw ought, and had to lay hands on him the second time before he saw clearly.  In other cases, He told them “Rise and walk.”, or “Stretch forth your hand”. He never asked them if they feel better. He never told them to lie there in bed until the healing was manifest. He commanded them, Be made whole….  

If you want the same results Jesus and the disciples had, you have to do what they did, nothing more, and nothing less.

Can unbelief on the part of the minister stop the healing? Yes. Can unbelief on the part of the recipient stop the healing? I believe the answer to that is also yes, reflected by Jesus’ own failure to do mighty works in His own village, because of their unbelief. Is blaming the recipient an excuse for the minister? NO! I believe the minister has a responsibility to prepare the recipient, however, no matter how carefully the minister tries to instill faith, it’s still up to that person whether they believe, or not.

I’ve encountered people who, no matter how much time I spend ministering to them, bring forth no manifestation of healing. And in the case of one particular person, they seem to actually try to come up with every excuse in the book why they’re not healed, saying they’ve been to every faith healer coming down the pike, and haven’t found any of them to be bringing forth healings. Well, I could certainly understand my own failure to heal this person, but ALL THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE PRAYED FOR THEIR HEALING? I’d have to say there’s another problem at work here, and it probably isn’t the multitude of ministers. I think the problem in this case is the recipient.

But I’m not here to say if you’re not healed, it’s your own fault. Yes, it can be the minister’s failure, but if you’ve been ministered to by numerous men and women of God who have proven track records of healing the sick, then you’d better have a look in the mirror, because you just might be the unbeliever.

There are a lot of people operating in the ministry of healing. Some seem to be more gifted at healing a particular kind of disease or affliction than another kind. Now we have authority over all kinds of sickness and disease, but some people just seem to manifest a much stronger faith in a particular area, like cancer, for example, than they do for blindness. I can’t explain why, but I’ve seen it a lot.

And yet, you don’t have to have a “gift of healings”, to heal the sick, according to Mark 16:17-18. Jesus said in some of His final instructions to the disciples before returning to heaven, 17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

Did you catch that? “And these signs shall follow them that BELIEVE. That’s the LEAST we are promised concerning healing….RECOVERY. I always believe for instant healings, but I’ll settle for “recover” when the person is on their death bed with cancer, for example. By contrast, these signs will NOT follow if you DON’T believe. “they shall lay hands on the sick, and they SHALL recover.” Not maybe, SHALL, if they believe. Who is the “they” shall recover? The recipient shall recover IF THEY BELIEVE. Can that mean, “no believe, no recover”? I don’t see the first part of verse 17 applying only to the minister, it says “them that believe”. That would have to include all parties involved.

If you’ve received ministry multiple times with no manifestation of healing, don’t give up. You must realize it gives God no glory if He leaves you sick. Take time to study what Jesus did, as well as what He didn’t do; what He taught His disciples, and what He DIDN’T tell His disciples to do. Much of what goes on today is “religious garbage”, and “doctrines of men” that Jesus warned people about. God IS good for His promises, but unless you know those promises, and follow the directions, you have not much to stand on. Study the Word of God, it will build your faith, and use that faith to get well and stay well.

Remember, the woman with the issue of blood in Mark chapter 5 didn’t have anyone pray for her or lay hands on her. She got her healing with her OWN faith. Even Jesus had to ask, WHO TOUCHED ME? She was so determined to have her healing that she just TOOK IT, and even Jesus himself couldn’t stop her. You need to be like her! Don’t let the devil talk you into “someday” you’ll be healed. You will have it WHEN YOU BELIEVE, and not a second before.

It’s nice to have a believer lay hands on the sick and/or anoint them with oil. But you can have your healing without all that. I’ve prayed with numerous sick people and simply “sent the Word”, just like Jesus did at times, and they were healed. Some have been healed by simply using their own faith. God gave unto every person the measure of faith, in fact, it’s THE measure, the same measure Jesus had, or I have, or you have, or anyone has. There’s only ONE measure, and you have it. But it won’t work unless YOU use it. Why put it off another moment? BE MADE WHOLE NOW IN THE NAME OF CHRIST JESUS OF NAZARETH, Y’SHUA MESSIAH!