When God Heals Body and Soul, Part 1

In the New Testament we read about the amazing miracles that occurred. So how about today is it God's will that everyone who suffers is healed.

If so, what's the key to receiving his healing touch base player behavior today on inside for loving Chuck Swindoll answers these questions and more in our continuing series called clinging to hold Chuck as written a brand-new book by the same title later on will explain how to receive a copy right now let's turn to James chapter 5, Chuck titled today's message when God heals body and soul James chapter 5 verses 13 through 16. Should be a little familiar to you today.

We were here last time. As we laid a foundation that would prepare us for a better understanding of these four verses found in this final chapter of James letter in your outline you will see those five foundational facts repeated so that you can refer back to them when you need to not forget them. But we want to build on that as we look deeper into the verses themselves, as James writes about the divine healing work of God. My hope is that these words that will be read and then later shared will be of of help and I would even add enlightenment to replace false information you have been given in the days in years past.

James 513 to 16. I'll be reading from the new living translation. Follow along beginning a James 513 for any of your suffering hard ship.

You should pray, or any of you happy, cheerful, you should sing praises or any of you sick.

You should call for the elders of the church to calm and pray over you, anointing with oil in the name of the Lord. Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick and the Lord will make you well and if you have committed any sin was, you will be forgiven. Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results you're listening to Insight for living to study the Bible with Chuck Swindoll. Be sure to download his searching the Scriptures. Studies by going to Insight.org/help and now the message from Chuck titled when God heals body and soul. If nothing else in my theological training I learned how to think biblically or put another way to think theologically much challenge now is to help others do the same. It doesn't come naturally and it doesn't come easily because we have all through our lives.

Learn to think emotionally or perhaps another word traditionally as other people have told us answers or given us information or maybe we could add culturally so that we might fit into the majority opinion, which is seldom right but there we are committed to thinking any other way, but biblically and theologically. It's hard work is a discipline that must be cultivated over time and as your trust in the Scriptures grows your ability to think biblically and theologically deepens and broadens and ultimately nothing else satisfies effect, you realize how wrong you have been so much of your life. This is especially true when we come to this subject of healing all sorts of misconceptions abound regarding healing questions can be asked and some of them are not difficult to answer. Can God heal.

Yes, of course, he can do anything with him. Nothing is impossible.

Can God healed in the 21st century absolutely, he can and often does every second bounce back from the flu. God is healed, no physician can heal no physician to cure physician can diagnose and can prescribe, but the healing is in God's hands. Every broken bone that man's God healed it every time every time we recover from a difficult maybe even lead to disease. God has enabled us to overcome. These are not miracles don't don't call them miracles.

They are not because we can explain them.

It has to do with a good immune system.

If you will a caring physician quite likely who properly diagnoses and prescribes for necessary good nursing good healthcare, and of course the power of God at work. He made us, no one is better able to give us good health and the one who made us. If he chooses to.

But he is not obligated to do that you cannot prove from the Scriptures that God wants you well hello you been told that all your life. It sounds so right. It seems so right, but it is a biblical so it isn't right when you think biblically you decide you're going to lay aside things that you've heard for so long, and regardless of who you heard it from. For example, there will be those who will say you are not well because you have hidden sin in your life. Not necessarily so, not necessarily because you're not walking in faith because you have not been willing to submit to the touch of a faith healer that isn't found in the Scriptures. So when you think biblically you have to come to terms with what you believe about so-called faith healers and you won't be popular among those who believe in them and want you to believe in them and want to declare that there is a miracle, a day that awaits you. There is not. I have a friend of mine says the miracles were that often built to be called regulars not regulars there. Very, very, very rare, and by the way when they happen you nor anyone can ever explain them if you could not miracles think biblically train yourself to think biblically. Here's the issue. God reserves the right to heal or not as he sees fit is his prerogative being the sovereign God of our lives. He is the one who has all voting rights on our health. If he is pleased to bring us back from illness.

We come back from illness. If he is pleased for us to die, we die. It is not his desire or his will that everyone be healed now. There are those who were very sincere, who believe otherwise Johnny Erickson as a an older teenage young lady took a dive off a barge in the Chesapeake Bay struck bottom and broke her neck and as a result has been since that time, a quadriplegic has a marvelous ministry to people who are disabled.

Johnny and friends. I don't know of a better ministry to the disable she tells the truth she surrounded by many who are trying to keep her from believing the truth listen to an account she tells in her book a place of healing. It was a beautiful Sunday morning and services were over. I was wheeling across the church parking lot toward my van. When a handsome young man who introduced himself as David stopped me or are you Johnny yes I smiled nodding yes oh great.

David exclaimed I am a visitor here, and I will.

I was hoping I would run into you today. I've really been praying for you. My eyes got wide really, what about your healing.

I'm praying for you to get out of your wheelchair. At that point, my spirit hesitated. David was a visitor he came to a church.

He came to church hoping to see me and he wanted to see me healed.

I can't tell you how many people I've met over the years who've done the same thing in churches on street corners in convention centers and in busy shopping malls. Some of those encounters have been a little overwhelming, almost frightening, but on not on this day with this young man still had to fight off eerie feelings several times. Years ago a group of men showed up at our farmhouse door in Maryland all having been led there by the Holy Spirit to either heal me or marry me so perhaps you can understand my reticence. This guy wasted no time getting down to business, launching into what sounded like a prepared speech. Have you ever considered that it might be sin standing in the way of your healing that you disobeyed in some way before I could answer, David flipped open his Bible. Both of us still in the middle of the parking lot and read from the gospel of Luke quotes some enjoying carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus when they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.

Luke 518 to 19. He closed his Bible and reminded me that the paralyzed man in the story was healed and I could be true.

If only I would but confess my sins, and have faith to believe he added Johnny there must be some sin in your life that you haven't dealt with yet. I told him that my conscience was clean before the Lord. He looked a little skeptical about that and reiterated that I always will and I reiterated I always welcome prayers from others.

I thanked him for his concern but I told him I didn't think this was a matter of faith for David that just didn't add up. Missing those words. Traditional thinking. It just didn't add up. According to what he had been taught. If I was a Christian and if there was no known sin in my life and if I had the faith that God could heal well then I would be healed. Then God brought everyone healed did Jesus want. Everyone will Johnny, you must have a lot of faith. I mean look at you are still in your wheelchair. I've always admired Johnny Erickson taught the for her patients and their willingness to deal with and be kind toward those who were misinformed. No one wants to be well more more than Johnny Erickson taught, but that is not God's will for her as it relates to her quadriplegia. She's come to terms with it and her ministry is worldwide issued ministries to the disabled.

Those who have lost hope.

Those who wind up in a wheelchair for the rest of their lives. So what does God say when you determined to think biblically we won't answer all the questions you have. We won't even answer most of them but maybe some of them will be answered from James 513 through 16.

If you haven't already done so, please turn to the passage of Scripture and notice in a rather simple way. There are three statements you can_that will at least begin to open up the passage for you. All three are questions in your pen ready.

The diverse 13 or any of you suffering I have that marked in my Bible I come back to it. A little later in the verse.

The second you may mark or any of you cheerful oriented you happy Mark that drop down to verse 14 and you will read or any of you sick obviously that can't be the same as suffering or it would be redundant. So think think biblically, there must be a difference between the suffering in verse 13 and the sickness mentioned in 14 through 16, and there is soliciting a little deeper track with me as we think theologically think biblically when we are suffering. Verse 13 begins the word is critical path that old long Greek word that translates into English suffering. It's a broad word, it means some type of misfortune. Stay with me normally is not used of a physical illness but his use of emotional or mental or spiritual struggles.

It is a reference to inner turmoil would include discouragement, doubt, anxiety that lingers even included financial hardship.

Worrying over a lawsuit that you're involved in. It could include a relational conflict with someone you love or someone you've met you.

Maybe were once close, you're not now in the breakdown as you suffering trouble agitated if the picture of an inter-struggle your enduring a troublesome situation so what you do look at the verse.

If you want to think biblically you will let the Scriptures speak and you will not read into them. You will let them speak to you.

Let's see what the Scriptures answer is our interview suffering. You should pray. End of sentence.

Now that's a is a profound answer because prayer woven through the fabric of Scripture is his magnificent subject magnificent II could in its broadest sense, assume that would include praying for endurance praying for insight praying for God to reveal how I might build a bridge back to one that I was close to but is not broken down how I might deal with this financial issue. I'm wrestling with unripe pray for encouragement. Recovery from this this dark doubt and anxiety that won't leave maybe even borderline depression.

So I pray when I'm going through times like this to be biblical and to pray and not to take it seriously. This is not a plaything isn't a cliché. You should pray that prayer on your heart on your lips in your mind regularly bombard the throne with your prayer, bring it up often this therapy and releasing the anxiety through prayer and I don't know how that works. I just know that it does is wisdom in the answer. Time doesn't allow us to amplify further but you get the picture.

If you are troubled answer is to pray and that isn't that casting off of the concern.

There's a deep compassion in the answer.

Pray the question is are you have you will you continue to that's the biblical answer and there are others as well, but for here that the answer is the second member cheerful, it gets even more simple doesn't it. Windward cheerful list of the opposite of the affliction I just described. This is one who is not anxious, not suffering some kind of hardship or trial or affliction is a picture of being filled with praise the kind of praise that comes over you when you hear magnificent music, let there be for B's home, let there be seen well.

These are definitely contrary and responses to pain-and-suffering and yet James assures us that following God's instruction will lead to peace and contentment you're listening to Insight for living. To learn more about this ministry, we invite you to visit us online at insight world.Ford will Chuck Swindoll titled today study when God heals body and soul. It's message number three in a brand-new series from Chuck titled, clinging to hope.

By the way, don't forget the Chuck wrote a book that runs parallel to this teaching series and it's available for purchase right now. People often tell us how much they appreciate Chuck's writing style is approach to tough topics is authentic and convincing and Chuck insist on staying true to what the Bible teaches and doesn't teach on the subject of hope.

If you're looking to introduce a friend to Chuck's teaching, or maybe searching for a book that suitable for your small group at church. This is the one to purchase a copy of clinging to hope follow the simple instructions@insight.org/hope or call us if you're listening in the United States, call 800-772-8888 just before we sign off all of us here at insight for living, would like you to know were asking God to use this study to infuse hope into your life and home. In that spirit were inviting you to join us in taking God's hope all across the country and even throughout the world through vision 195 to give a donation today go online to insight.org/donate or call us if you're listening in the United States, call 800-772-8888 forget this coming Sunday morning. You're invited to take a front row seat in the worship center stone briar Community Church thousands are taken advantage of this new weekend worship experience online. Not only is the here Chuck's Bible teaching, but the magnificent music that will fill your heart and soul with praise to find all the instructions@insight.org/some in March, 20, 23 insight for living ministries is hosting an unforgettable journey to Israel. Carefully plan to deepen your understanding of the Bible and draw you closer to God hears Chuck's window for thousands of years. No place is been more meaningful to God's children in the land of Israel. The rugged landscape reminds us to find refuge in God alone. The fertile valleys invite us to follow hardship. Jerusalem's position at the very center of the world announces the good news of Christ's to every nation, and now you can see Israel with Chuck Swindoll at insight for living ministries March 5 through the 16th 2023. Every time I visited the holy land of returned home with the refreshed part for God and a renewed vision for the world really. I mean it every time it's all want you to have the same life changing experience to learn more, go to insight.org/events occultist number 1-888-447-0444 insight for living ministries toward Israel is paid for and make possible by only those who choose to attend by Bill Meyer inviting you to join us.

When Chuck describes what to do when your recovery takes far longer than you wished Monday on insight for living. The preceding message when God heals body and soul was copyrighted in 2019 and 2022 and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2022 by Charles R. Swindoll.

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