Healing - Check It Out

You may be sick or know someone who is sick and the doctors say there is no hope! I have good news for you ... there is hope for healing found in the Holy Bible. This article contains 2 parts.

A very important scripture in healing is found in the book of Isaiah, Chapter 53 (found in the Old Testament). These words were prophesied about 2,700 years ago.

Isaiah 53, verses 3 to 6 are set out below followed by meanings of some of the key words based on Young' s Analytical Concordance.

Isa. 53:3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

grief(s) ...choli ( Heb. ) meaning sickness, weakness, pain
sorrows ...makob (Heb. ) meaning pain
stripes... chaburah ( Heb.) meaning a bruise, bandage, scar
healed...rapha ( Heb. ) meaning to heal, be healed .
iniquity(ies)...avon ( Heb.) meaning perversity .
transgressions...pesha ( Heb.) meaning transgression, rebellion.

It is instructive to read these same verses in Young's Literal Translation, noting in particular verse 4.

4 Surely our sicknesses he hath borne, And our pains -- he hath carried them, And we -- we have esteemed him plagued, Smitten of God, and afflicted.

Also according to a Hebrew speaking friend of mine one can write a simple mathematical expression based on verse 5:-

His stripes = our healing

Also note Matthew 8: 16,17

16 When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick:
17 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias (Isaiah) the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.

Moving forward in time to approximately 65 AD, over 30 years after the cross Apostle Peter wrote the following:

Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. -­1 Peter 2:24

The Greek word used for healed ( iaomai ( Grk. ) ) is that from which we obtain the Greek word for doctor.

Based on 1 Peter 2: 24b, the Bible says we were healed not will be. In other words, if one is saved then we are the healthy trying to stop the enemy steal our healing not the sick trying to be healed!

You may say I can see that in principle but how does it operate in practice. To answer this question one testimony may be instructive.

In 1989, one well known preacher had sugar diabetes; his sugar level was so high that the doctor was surprised that he was not in a coma. He sent his wife out to procure every healing tape in the city in which he resided. He reported that God healed him and several years later testified to God' s healing power in this regard.

You may be still sceptical but I challenge you to be a Berean (Acts 17: 11) ... Check it out in the WORD for yourself.

Personally one of my daily confessions is, "Thank you Lord that I was healed from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet according to your Word, by whose stripes ye were healed. "

Phew, it was hot. Recently we were sitting on a train and over the PA system the announcement was made that cars outside were overheating in the high ambient temperature. The train was moving slowly, then stopping for several minutes then moving forward slowly...

At this time I remembered an illustration from the booklet called, " The Four Spiritual Laws 1 " In this publication is a simple diagram depicting a locomotive ( or engine ), a guard's van ( or caboose) and in between a passenger compartment section of the train. The locomotive represents Fact (God and His Word), the guard's van represents Feeling and the passenger compartment part of the train Faith.

The purpose of the illustration is to depict that the train is pulled by the locomotive, not by the guard's van. In the same way we are encouraged to put our trust in God and the promises He makes in the Bible. Fuel is to be put into the engine not the guard's van. The more fuel of faith (trust) that is put into the facts of God's promises, the more His power will be released. We are not to allow our faith to depend on how we feel.

With the above material in mind let us try and answer the question, " Does God heal today? " The Bible says, Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. ( Heb. 13: 8 ).

Who is Jesus Christ?

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
...
14 And the Word was made flesh ( Jesus Christ ), and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
( John 1: 1-14). { In verse 14 I added the words "Jesus Christ. " }
... Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; ( John 20: 31)

Let's Look At Some Bible Healing Scriptures Again

And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.

And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them. ( Matthew 4: 23, 24 )

Later on we read Matthew 8: 16, 17 When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick:
That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.

In the Old Testament we see verses such as:-
Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:
Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; ( Psalm 103: 1-3)

For I am the LORD, I change not ... ( Malachi 3: 6 ).

There are many more Bible statements showing that God will heal!
If Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. ( Heb. 13: 8 ) then His power to heal ALL our diseases and infirmities is available right now.

Only two or three days after the train journey mentioned above I was walking in the city centre. As I was taking a short cut through a side street I heard a voice shouting behind me and as I looked around there was a man standing about 25 yards away looking very joyful and waving a piece of paper up in the air. I recognised the man as a Christian and as he came up close he handed me a single sheet of paper and said, " I typed this out and my sister thought it was really good!"

On reading part of the typescript I learned that he had simply typed out some verses from the Bible ( with no analysis nor exposition ). One block of verses was from Exodus 15 and read as follows:-

22 Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. 23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah.) 24 So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, "What are we to drink?"
25 Then Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became sweet.
There the LORD made a decree and a law for them, and there he tested them. 26 He said, "If you listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you."
27 Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there near the water. -- Exodus 15: 22-27 NIV

As I meditated on the above scripture I thought about those in certain countries who write scripture on slips of paper to encourage each other in the faith.

The context of the above verses are as follows:-
After supernaturally delivering Israel out of Egyptian bondage, God entered into covenant of healing with Israel in the wilderness.

After travelling 3 days in the wilderness, we read the words above, " for I am the LORD, who heals you." (Exodus 15: 26b)
Later on Mount Sinai, after God had spoken and given them the ten commandments, He promised:-
"... I will take away sickness from among you, " (Exodus 23: 25)
Forty years later as they preparing to enter the promised land Moses reminded them of His covenant.
" The LORD will keep you free from every disease. He will not inflict on you the horrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but he will inflict them on all who hate you. " ( Deut. 7:15).

So Exodus 15: 26 " for I am the LORD, who heals you." is God's contract of healing. Also the blessings given to Israel come to everyone who receives Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.

"This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus." ( Ephesians 3: 6 )
( see also Ephesians 2: 11-22; 2 Corin. 1: 20-22 ).

It is a well known saying that a picture is worth a 1000 words. In this message ( Part 2 ) there are two simple pictures.

The first was that of a train and the main point here is that fuel should be put into the engine not the guard's van ... meaning that we should pay much more attention to the facts of God's promises NOT our feelings!

The second was of a man standing joyful in the street waving a sheet of paper ... meaning here the contract we have. So let us check out the covenant or contract we have with the Lord to see what it says about this important subject of healing, Amen!

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1.Campus Crusade For Christ, " Have You Heard Of The Four Spiritual Laws (1965)