A Biblical Case for Healing, Part 1

While he was on Jesus performed amazing miracles didn't stop after his ascension to heaven. Once the Holy Spirit, the apostles were empowered to bring life to the lifeless their astounding miracles are recorded in the book of acts and beyond. So what happened to those special powers does the Holy Spirit still perform miracles today. These are the questions will tackle for the remainder of the week on Insight for living it's part of Chuck Swindoll's teaching series on the Holy Spirit. He titled this portion of our study of biblical case for healing as many of us are so confused about the topic of healing that we have a tendency to reach two extreme. For example, some of us back away from seeking medical help and rely instead on the premise that if we pray in faith, expecting and trusting God to heal. Then he will heal us, and then to their those of us who run to the doctor without ever giving prayer for healing a second thought.

It's too religious, too far-fetched to believe that God would actually heal, and that is that's the way some people think one of the apostles, wrote, is anyone among you suffering let him pray. Is anyone among you sick let him let him what what right here would you recommend let him what some homemade elixir plenty of rest and vitamin C, perhaps a poultice or a favorite faith healer or the telephone number of a medical specialist to find out what remedy the Holy Spirit inspired the apostle James to write.

Let's turn together to the fifth chapter of the epistle of James.

Clearly, as we read James's instructions in verses 13 through 15 of this fifth chapter he has two patients in mind two categories of people in real pain if you just step into his office with us now will listen in on the specific treatment.

James prescribes for each person. I'm going to read for you. James five versus 13 through 60 is anyone among you suffering that he must pray. Is anyone cheerful. He is to sing praises. Is anyone among you sick that he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sin. They will be forgiven.

Therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be the effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much the Bible with checks and I'll be sure to download his searching the Scriptures. Studies by going to Insight.org/studies and now the message from Chuck titled a biblical case for healing.

Something occurred in February 1975. I will never forget Cynthia and I along with a number of alumni from Dallas seminary were returning from 1/50 anniversary celebration.

We were on board a large plane back in those days they flew 747s from Dallas back to the West Coast. Some of you will remember and so there were on that particular flight. A number of empty seats.

Our group sort of sat together in the front part of the coach section, but we noticed sitting several rows behind us was a couple that was rather quiet throughout the early part of the flight. She was sitting and he was lying down.

Actually he was taking up about four or five of the seats across we had pushed the they had pushed the armrests up so he could be comfortable there.

And as we were back and forth I getting something to drink or going to the bathroom or making conversation with various passengers.

We we we met this couple we noticed that his color was not good. She was extremely serious as we talk with her and when she discovered that that the people in our group were involved in various kinds of ministry. Her interest in us-as we struck up a conversation and she felt more comfortable with us. She told us her story, they were from Louisiana and the man was a deathly sick with cancer.

They had been in touch with a so-called faith healer on the West Coast whose name you would know if I called it, and they had been promised that if they would come in if they would bring money he could she could guarantee that the husband's relief from pain and he would he would no longer have the cancer they in response to this promise had sold everything they own, including their home. They also had pulled from their entire retirement fund. The amount of money that they had saved through the years and in fact she showed me the actual bag of cash that she had an in her purse that she was bringing with her and she said with tears and sincerity. She said I I am willing to give everything up that she called his name that he might be healed and then she asked that ominous question that was of the very delicate nature. She said what do you think of such thing. I'm sure you can appreciate the that the moment that passed between us.

She looked deeply into my eyes with a longing of assurance because she had talked with very few people they were actually not church people as she put it, but they had watched this woman on television.

They had seen her do her wonders and they were so convinced of this and yet with with an enormous amount of tact and yet I had to mix it with absolute honesty I open the Bible and I shared with her the things that that I believed. I'll never forget saying to her as I finished she she sighed and she said I don't mean this the wrong way but I I hope you're wrong because she said we have we have tried everything else and we put all of our hope in this, so I'll tell you what.

And at that time I carried a little card that had my name on and I wrote my home number on it and I wrote the church number on this card and I said this is my name.

These are my phone numbers will you promise me that if your husband is healed, you will call me and she said with a smile. Absolutely I I will call you and you and I can celebrate an asset.

I will celebrate with I'm still waiting for her call was back in 1975. My phone is never wrong with her. On the other end of the line. Do I believe that God can heal. I hope you will hear me correctly and will pass the word correctly to others. With all my heart. Do I believe that God does heal the answer is a resounding yes yes I do believe that. Have I seen cases where God has healed. Yes, rarely, but yes, and I'll share a couple of them in my message today but do I believe that God has placed his healing powers in a few individuals the claim to be divine healers. I do not, I have expressed in the former message on healing the healing work of the spirit. Some of the sources I feel that these so-called healings can come from in a day of divine healers that is not a popular position to take. I realize that but I think you will do me a disservice and you will do truth a disservice if you pass a rumor that Chuck Swindoll does not believe in a God who heals or believes that God can heal or that he has ever seen God healed her. All three of those things should be answered yes with all my heart. My difficulty comes in focusing attention on a person or on a series of emotionally strong and overpowering events that surrounded a so-called healings service. My plea remains the same. Why don't those individuals simply leave the altar and visit the hospitals and do their best work. Among those who have lost all hope and carry out their ministry there. Then I would have reason and you as well to believe that they are workers of God. Why do they not do it completely without a need for any money whatsoever. How could anyone have the audacity to ask of a couple Louisiana to bring their money with them that she might carry out the healing that she has the power to do. I would like for you to follow along if you will, through a time of review and then I will get into some thoughts from James chapter 5 on the subject of healing itself.

As I understand, God teaches from his word. Let me give you six statements by way of review, lest you have forgotten them, or have never heard them. They all tie in with us with the symptoms with the sickness sinfulness issue and they are all related.

And for that reason, I want to repeat that now and I'll do them rather hurriedly because this is review, primarily, there are two types of sin.

There are original sin.

There is original sin which we got from Adam and there are personal sins which we commit original sin were born with. When Adam fell in. In fact, we all fell out when when Adam and Eve found themselves distant from God. They are original parents caused us to be born distant from God. Contrary to the liberal position.

We are not born right with God. We are born wrong with God. We are not born spiritually alive. We are born spiritually dead as a result of original sin, we find ourselves as human beings, unable to stop sinning. We send by practice. We sin by habit we sin by thought, by word, by deed, we are sinners by nature and because we have the sinful route within us, we act out in sinful fruit in our daily lives. Second, original sin, introduced sickness, suffering and death head Adam and Eve never send.

I am convinced they would never have known sickness, suffering, or that they would've ever died but with the entrance of sin came sickness, disease, all kinds of human affliction and the ultimate plague of life that is the reality of all of these statements have scriptural basis, take time to give that I've done that before. Number three. Often there exists a direct relationship between personal sins and sickness David admitted. Finally, when he came to the reality of his adultery and hypocrisy and the murder of Uriah, the husband of Bathsheba. He finally admitted to his sin and as a result, he found himself getting well.

Until then there had been an extended period of illness and heartache and guilt and shame.

I believe the man suffered from insomnia. He struggled in his rulership over the nation Israel. There was a direct relationship between his sinfulness and the sickness that he went through number four sometimes there is no relationship between personal sands and human afflictions. When the when the disciples happened along a man who was born blind date, they said, Lord, who send him or his parents, and Jesus said neither one sin. The man is not blind because somebody sin if there is a common response to from couples who experience a birth of a child and that birth is outside the realm of what we commonly call on normal birth or a healthy birth.

Frequently, the couple struggled with where have we sin that this should happen to us and it is mine, and many of our jobs is people in ministry to reassure the couple that they are not "punished for this and that that is a broader base of reasoning than that sometimes there is no relationship between personal sands and ends and affliction. By the way this a good time to warn all of us against the tendency when we are dealing with people who are sick and they can't get over there sickness of guarding against the temptation to do his Job's counselors did and try to find the sinfulness of their lives. That is not our place that is not our responsibility. I found that the Lord is well able to communicate with those who were sick. Whatever area of wrong may happen to be in their life. Sometime it is not related at all. Number five, there are occasions to get this when it is not God's will that we be healed that that flies in the face of the whole idea of divine healing or divine healers because that there is a tendency on the part of many to guarantee healing that if you have enough faith and you come to me and I have been given the gift of this of this ability to bring back health then there will be a connection and I can virtually guarantee that you will walk out of your whole and healthy again when in fact it is not God's will that everyone be healed.

Remember, Paul left trough. It must still he deliberately walked away from him, though at that time the apostle who who had such gifts in the era of the apostles. Such gifts existed. I could have healed a man, but he did not call himself that I prayed three times that that I might be relieved of this thorn in the flesh in the Lord never relieved him of the thorn in the flesh. I believe he died some form of terrible I disease some form about Lomeli.

It is not God's will that everyone be healed and I think it is a weak theology that teaches otherwise. Number six, there are other times, however, when it is God's will that we be healed and he does so miraculously and immediately be sure that you add those two words for they go together when God is involved in the healing. It is an immediate thing and it is a miraculous thing Peter and John happened upon a man who was afflicted, sitting beside the temple asking almost and he was hoping for a few shekels and they said to him there's no money to be exchanged between us we have no money, silver and gold.

We have done, but what we have.

We give you in the name of Christ stand up and walk in. The man stood up and immediately miraculously and no one in that vicinity had ever seen him walk before and he walked and I'm convinced it stayed permanently healing in his life. I have a friend who has now died. He was a longtime friend of mine fellow Marine from years past. We established a friendship back in the late 50s and our friendship only grew as time passed while I was ministering in the state of Massachusetts. A number of years ago had a pastorate in the Waltham, Massachusetts, received a call from my friend who lived in Texas. He said to me in a rather grim voice he said, I need your prayers as I've never needed to before and I said what is what's the nature of the need. He said I have been diagnosed as having cancer of the tongue. He said I he broke his voice broke. He said I have been to the best medical assistance I can find here in the city of Dallas have been to his doctor is Dr. recommended a specialist. He had gotten a second opinion and there were x-rays. In fact, he was carrying with him to Mayo and he was hoping that by the time they got to Mayo's. They could do. He and his wife could meet with the width of the best authorities in the land and have surgery and hopefully he could come out with at least a portion of of his tongue.

After the surgery was done, he said, would you just go down to your basement and said I'm asking about for other close friends and would you and Cynthia just pray that I'm not announcing the need I I know that God can bring healing if it is will if it is is will I have nothing in my life chart that I that I feel has has caused this to occur. All I know is I have this disease.

It is on the is in the x-rays and II just want you to pray that God will bring about a change and I said I'll do that fact soon as I put the phone down and went right down the basement have a place down there, but often go for quiet time and for prayer. Cynthia went with me for a while and she left to care for a little children and I stayed and I prayed. I had a sense of reassurance. I did not get any voice I did not hear any sound. I did not see the vision but I had a reassurance and I didn't tell him anything about that list I get his hopes up, but I have a sense of peace about it didn't feel the need to extend the prayer prayed for perhaps 30, 40 minutes and then I left it with God was a couple three days later my phone rang again and I heard the same voice on the other end of the line. By then he was in Minnesota calling me from Mayo's and he said I have great deal it was possible.

What is is a well when I got here about the x-rays with me and I have seen the specialist and he said my wife and I just met with him and we've come back to the room here and I just want to call you along with my hope for other friends who prayed for me. He said that there is no cancer said that this is crate tell me said, well, actually they have taken x-rays they done all the tests and they deny the fact that I brought with me. My x-rays because the x-rays they have taken disagrees so much with what I brought with me and he said I have before me.

Two sets of victory one shows it as it was, as they were taken in Dallas and the other shows it as it is missing in Minnesota so we said we had a remarkable flight from Dallas to Minnesota somehow in some remarkable way is gone and by the way it was miraculous.

It was instantaneous and it was permanent.

He never again had a problem with this pain or the growth in his tongue. I can explain that I have no powers within me that produce healing and anyone else but the God I know is the God you know in the God I called on for his will to be done for his glory only for the man was still young man had many wonderful years in front of him and in fact he lived them to the fullest. His death was of another reason altogether. All of this prepares us for a wonderful passage of Scripture in James chapter 5 I like to have you open your Bible if you will to these 13 through 16 verses verses 13 to 16 of James five and I just kinda want to walk through the section with you and let you see with your own eyes the process a person goes through as a Christian when we get sick. I think it might be a little bit eye-opening for some a little bit reassuring her son when he read the verses five verse 13 of James is anyone among you suffering let him pray. Is anyone cheerful let them sing song, sing praises. Is anyone among you sick let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who was sick and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. Therefore confess your sins one to another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much were midway through a message from Chuck Swindoll about a biblical case for healing. Please keep listening because there's much more the Chuck wants to address on this important topic you're listening to the daily program known as Insight for living. To learn more about this ministry, we invite you to visit us online@insideworld.org the free resources we offer.

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