Morning Moments

I would like for us to examine a little more closely the subject of Divine Healing. We certainly have made clear that God can heal whom He wishes, when He wishes, how He wishes, with or without faith, and with or without a human instrument.

There has been such misunderstanding in the area and our TV evangelists for the most part have not clarified it. So, briefly, I want to meditate on some thing regarding the subject from a non-denomination, non-biased and scriptural perspective.

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."

Our text has clear reference to Isaiah 53:5 -

Isaiah 53:5 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.

There is another text I want us to consider along with these -

Hebrews 12:13 And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.

These verses become quite confusing to some who have difficulty understanding how the Bible can say we are healed and yet so many saints of God suffer physical affliction. Is Divine Healing a myth or a miracle? Can we depend upon Him who revealed Himself as Jehovah Rapha (the Lord our healer) to heal us or not? Now before you go jumping to any conclusions, let's carefully examine God's revelation, for we are either an extremely faithless people to be sick at all, or we don't comprehend the subject of Divine Healing.

Even before we offer a clear definition of "healing" as revealed in Scripture, there are some observations we should make concerning the body itself. It is right there where our journey into truth about Divine Healing really begins.
The Body We Have -
It Is A Body of Clay -

In Creation
Genesis 2:7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

In Covenant
Isaiah 64:8 But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.

In Christianity
2 Cor. 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

It is A Body of Humiliation (vile) - A result of the fall-

For the Redeemed
Philip. 3:21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

For the Royal
Luke 1:48 For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.

For the Redeemer
Acts 8:33 In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.

For the Rest
James 1:10 But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.

So what are we to learn from our journey into truth thus far?

We are all made of the same stuff and have been from the beginning. Saints and sinners all reside in the same kind of body - of flesh and blood.

Regardless of our prosperity or position or progeny, we live in bodies that we not designed to live forever as they are.

If we, as believers, are to never experience sickness, then God must make our bodies different from everyone else's.

If it is a sign of faith for us, as believers, to never be sick, then we must conclude that every believer who ever died ill was faithless.

If, on the other hand, it is a sign of faith for one to never be sick, then we must conclude infidels who are never sick really have faith.

The Bottom line is that God's gifts and acts of healings are to serve a specific and particular purpose, and are not merely to display His ability to heal. The most important "healing" you can receive, as we shall see, is the healing of your heart and soul. That healing can begin today for you. It will begin by an unquestioned commitment of your life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.


Matt 8:16 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 the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare [our] sicknesses.

One of the evidences of Jesus Messiahship was His power to heal. Our text is often used to support the teaching that what Jesus did for our sins, He did also for our sicknesses. There are some problems with that teaching which need to be addressed if we are to understand Divine Healing.

The Text - What does it say?

Before we can understand the text we must discover what it really says. The scene was Capernaum just after Jesus had healed Peter's mother in law. The crowd again responded to such an extent that Jesus had to withdraw from them.

The Delivered - They were possessed

These were they who had conditions that were brought about through demonic activity. They had opened themselves to his activity somehow. He had laid the trap and they had fallen into it.

The Diseased - They were powerless

These were they who by natural causes rather than supernatural ones had become weak and ill. The distinction between infirmities and sickness is an important one. Paul said he gloried in his infirmity.
The Trouble - What does it mean?

What does the text mean by what it says. It nowhere has reference to the death, burial, and ressurection of the Lord. When we compare our previous texts, we discover some distinct differences. Our transgressions and our trespasses are the subject of them, but now it is our infirmities and sicknesses or diseases.

The Sympathy - "take" and "bare"

The writer of Hebrews says that we do not have an high priest who cannot be "touched" with the feelings of our infirmities. Infirmities are simply human weakness, deformities, and deficiencies. When you have a tooth ache, Jesus feels it. When you have a headache, Jesus feels it. Paul had an infirmity of dimished vision.

The Sign - A testimony

Our text is telling us that Jesus took and bore. In other words, the Messiah would be one who would feel the pain and problems of God's people. Did Jesus expel the demons from every soul in Israel? Did He heal the diseases of every person who was sick? What if those in our text had not been brought to Him? It was a testimony to His Messiahship, just as it was a testimony to Elijah's and Elisha's prophetic ministry, just as it was a testimony to apostleship.
The Timing - When does it occur?

Why did not Jesus wait till He was on the cross to make this statement? Because covers the entire spectrum from Jesus birth to His burial and beyond to His blessed resurrection and this is just one part of it.
After Commission - It was continuos

Was the text Jesus quoted just for the people before whom He quoted it? Obviously not! He had expelled demons before and healed the sick before, so the quote indicated a continuous action after His commission (beginning with His baptism). It referred to all His acts.

Before Calvary - It was not a part of Calvary

The cross dealt with the issue of sin which came as a result of the fall. To be sure, had there been no fall there would have been no sickness, suffering and sorrow. But to say that the cross was to eliminate all that is not only unscriptural, but unrealistic. It is not true to life. The purpose of Calvary was to eliminate sin. Now in so doing some sickness would certainly be effected, but to punish sickness, which is no sin, would be to punish the punishment itself. All humanity is subject to the devastating effects of sickness whether saved or lost, but not all humanity is not subject to the devastating effects of sin - the saved certainly aren't. I don't mean that aren't effected by it but they are not longer condemned by it.
The Truth - How does it effect us?

There are scores of examples Biblically and otherwise of saints suffering and dying from disease. But we must make a distinction between sin and sickness or we have a world of sinning saints who have no hope of deliverance.




The Sin Issue

Every one of us is born in sin. There is nothing we can do about it. One man sinned and death passed upon all men for that all have sinned. It is our nature to sin because we have a sinful nature. But Jesus died for our sins and was raised from the dead that the sin nature might no longer dominate or control us. Sin is independence, denial of Jesus' Lordship, and defiance of God's authority.

The Sickness Issue

The sickness issue is quite different. A baby with the colic is not sick because of personal sin, anymore than a child with a disfigured body is a result of personal sin. Suppose your child swallowed something that made him/her sick. That might be the case of not knowing better but it is not the case of personal sin.

The same is true of us all. There are natural elements, air, water, wind, etc. that effect us all differently. The sickest I ever was was in Madrid, Spain when I drank the water. Was it a sin for me to drink it? Obviously not because there were scores of people drinking it. It might have been unwise, but not personal sin.

It is critical for us to be honest with Scripture and not to take a text our of it's context to make it a pretext for proving our point of doctrine. Jesus was touched and is touched with our sickness, suffering, sadness, and sorrow, and one day He shall free us from it all, but He died for our sins.

God can heal medically (surgery, treatment, therapy), medicinall, and/or miraculously. But NOBODY puts God in a box and limits Him as to what He can do, how He can do it, and with whom He can do it.

The truth demands that we put up or shut up! If you can't go into the hospital anc clean it out or walk the streets and heal along the way, in a way that cannot be denied, then do diligence and study the Bible a little more.