DO as He did and let’s see what God can do. Heal the sick. We are to do what Jesus did. See the Scripture where Paul outlines our responsibility and privilege to be the hands and the feet of Jesus in this world. 2 Corinthians 5:18 And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” 21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. We are to be joyful ambassadors of the kingdom / of the good news. And our greatest message is, “God is for you.” So, “come back to God.” This is not a job. This is an identity. You are the message! How powerful are we as ambassadors of God’s kingdom? One time Jesus told this to Peter; Matthew 16:19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Don’t underestimate what God can do through your life. Luke 9:1 And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. Hanging around Jesus was great, but there was more to do. Being with the other disciples was great, but there is more to do. Believing the right things was important, but there was more than that. Notice Jesus tells his disciples to do three things; defeat demons, proclaim the kingdom of God, and heal people. Today we move onto the last part of this commissioning that Jesus gave to his disciples; heal. Heal the sick. There is a Scripture about healing that really impressed me. Mark 1:40 And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” 41 Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” Those words, “I will,” moved me deeply. Jesus wanted to do this. He deeply felt for this man. Out of the abundance of Jesus he received abundance. About three weeks ago, I was here praying with the men on a Monday night and was impressed upon my heart to pray for a restoration of the healing ministry of Jesus to at least this church. What I mean by that is that I was impressed to pray that God would grant us, by his grace, the ability to pray great prayers of faith for people’s healing. So, today, my goal is that I never want you to hesitate to ask God to move in the midst of any medical situation, any mental situation, any physical situation, or any emotional situation. Asking God for restoration and rescue. So let me get to the Scripture let’s talk about healing. Luke 9:1 And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. Jesus gives these disciples power to heal diseases. That is clear. Luke 10:1 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. 8 Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. 9 Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ Healing was a sign that the heavenly King had invaded the earth and was reversing the consequences of sin and all it brought upon us. The kingdom of God is a kingdom of healing and wholeness. But what we must realize is that we are living in an in between time; that simply means that we get God’s blessings now, but we will get them fully later. You are absolutely assured the ultimate healing of your body, but that will not take place until Jesus sets up his kingdom on this earth. When we read the New Testament and the accounts of Jesus you cannot get past the fact that Jesus miraculously healed lots of people. For every story that we’re talked about, there may be a thousand untold stories. The sick, the diseased, the paralyzed, the demonized, all sought Jesus out for a life altering touch. Sometimes he touched people and healed them. Sometimes he just spoke a word and healed them. Sometimes people touched him and were healed. Jesus crashed the party that sickness and disease and Satan had brought into this world and showed the power of God’s kingdom to take back the ground disease had stolen. Jesus came to make people whole in every sense of the word. But always remember this; the primary reason Jesus came to this planet was that we might enter into an eternal relationship with our heavenly father. He came to give us life. He came to dwell within our souls. Everyone that he ever healed of a disease eventually died of something. Always remember what they writer of Hebrews said; Jesus Christ is the same yesterday today and forever. Healing power continued with the apostles. Acts 4:29 And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, 30 while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 31 And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. The apostles recognized that these healings were a result of God’s outstretched hand. And these healings would happen where God chose them to happen, how God would choose for it to happen, when God wanted it to happen and for what purpose God would have it to happen. I think it’s important to stop here for a moment and realize that God is free to heal or not to heal. What God chooses to do is according to his loving purposes – not according to what we need in the moment. These things rest in the hands of God. And every action of God is guided by love. And these gifts of healing or miracles are a divine gift, not a right. Remember that not everybody in the New Testament got healed of things. Paul himself bore the scars of being beaten and stoned. He also freely testified of having some sort of thorn in the flesh that he couldn’t shake but it didn’t hinder what God wanted to do. He complains about his eyesight when he writing one of his letters. Paul was ill in Galatia (4:13). Paul’s protégé, Timothy, suffered some sort of stomach ailment. Paul talks about others who suffered illnesses that hindered them, and they were apparently not immediately healed. We just don’t know why some people are healed and some are not. So where does that leave us today? I want to make this very simple; God still heals today. Typically, we are healing in three different ways… Naturally. Medically. Miraculous healing. When Paul is writing to the Corinthians he is telling them how the body of Christ, the church, resembles a human body. He is telling us that all of us have a role to play in this body. We have all been given certain gift things that we can use for everyone else. And one of those gifts is healing. 1 Corinthians 12:7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good… 9 to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit… James 5:13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 14 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. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. We are told that there should be an expectation of God’s healing hand. Is anyone sick? We are told to take the initiative and call for the elders. Call for the trusted spiritual leaders to come and pray a prayer of faith. It doesn’t say wait till the elders seek you out and put you on a prayer list. It says that we are to call for the elders. And the elders are to pray. And the elders are to anoint. And they are to do this in the name of Jesus. We haven’t lost the gift of healing after all because Jesus is the same yesterday today and forever.. Maybe we’ve just lost the vulnerability and humility to call upon the elders to come and pray for us. And once we pray, let’s just leave it in the hands of God. He has heard. He has heard. Healing is supposed to happen more, but how can it unless we do it his way? Let’s see what GOD can do! Pastor Brian Harrell