REVIEW
 
If one thing has been made crystal clear over the past several months, it’s that God certainly wants us to be made whole. No, there is not one part of our lives that God does not want healed and prosperous.
 
We see this threaded throughout God’s Word and have specifically been looking at it in First Thessalonians 5:23 where the apostle Paul shows us God’s will to “sanctify us completely” and that our “whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless.” 
 
So our Heavenly Father most definitely wants every part of us completely and wholly healed just like any good parent wants this for their children. Yes, there are no loving parents out there that don’t want the best for their children and that, if their kids were suffering with some illness or infirmity, wouldn’t take that thing from them if they could.
 
Well, our Father God is no different. He loves us more than any of us love our own children. So if we want our kids to be made whole in every area of their life, then you can be sure that God wants that for His children.
 
But the important thing to understand is that just because God desires this for His kids, doesn’t mean it’s automatically going to happen, or that He is going to make it happen. That part is apparent. No, love always gives free will, so God is never going to force wholeness on anyone. Just like you can’t make your kids make the right decisions for their well-being, God won’t do that with us either.
 
Now He will certainly show us how to be made whole. Yes, He will provide us with all the instructions necessary and has even paid the price for that quality of life – doing that by sending us His Word and healing us of all our infirmities. But making us drink from that well of salvation is not the way God does things. He will let us remain broken, busted, and disgusted if we so desire to continue down that road.
 
But again, the Lord is so good to give us His Word that is chalk full of examples as to how one is made whole and can receive the Father’s heart to see them blessed.
 
So each week, we have been looking at the various examples of how individuals were made whole in the Gospels, and last week, we looked at the last healing Jesus ever performed during His earthly ministry where, when He was being arrested in the Garden, the high priest’s servant, Malchus, had his ear cut off and Jesus put it back on for him.
 
We learned a bunch of good nuggets last week including how the name of Jesus has enough power to make the Lord’s enemies draw back, how receiving a betrayal like Judas’ kiss is not all that uncommon, and how the Lord tried to prepare His disciples for the temptation to come by asking them to get prayed up.
 
But when it came to Jesus’ last healing, we asked two very important questions: Therefore, this healing of Malchus’ ear teaches us two very important lessons:
 
1.WHO WILL JESUS HEAL?
2.WHAT WILL JESUS HEAL?
And essentially, we learned that if Jesus would heal this man who had come to arrest Jesus, then He’ll apparently heal His enemies. And if He will heal His enemies, how much more will He heal His friends?
 
On top of that, if Jesus would heal Malchus’ ear – a part of his body that wasn’t absolutely necessary – then wouldn’t He heal anything that might be wrong with us, whether it’s imperative or not?
 
So if you missed that teaching, do yourself a favor and go back and watch it, listen to it, etc. And while I’m on it, there are several ways you can do this:

1. On social media – Every week, we post the video of our Sunday AM message on our Facebook page @ 7 PM every Tuesday evening, and we also post the video of our Thursday AM Healing School every Thursday evening @ 7 PM.
2. On our website – At www.highpointmacon.com, we post the audio of these services. These are usually added on Thursdays, but they stay on the site perpetually for you to go back and either stream or download.
3. On USB, CD, or DVD – Some might not realize this, but we have a sign-up sheet in the foyer where you can request a copy of any service. These are available for gifts of any amount.

 
So there is no excuse for any of us to be able to say, “I never had a chance to hear the truth” – not at this church, at least. Yes, all of these things are available essentially for free and they’re convenient. So let’s take advantage of the technology we’ve been blessed with and continue in His Word. Amen?
 
THE BLIND & MUTE MAN
 
So today, I would like us to look at another account of healing in Jesus’ ministry – one that teaches us a lot about how things work in the kingdom of God when it comes to us being made whole. This morning, we are going to look at the example of the healing of the blind & mute man, a relatively obscure healing that we are told about in the Gospels.
 
So as we begin looking at this story, let me begin by talking about while physical & emotional healing are a big part of being made whole, there are other things that plague some people’s lives that are NOT physical nor are they psychological. Yes, there are some things that keep us from the healing & wholeness God wills for us that are spiritual in nature. 
 
In fact, if you study the life & ministry of Jesus, you see Him doing more than just healing people; you see Him spending a lot of time dealing with the kingdom of darkness, casting out demons. And this is something that I believe we have lost sight of in the church today.
 
You see, we have the tendency in the church today of looking at everything that is broken in one’s life as being either physical or psychological. Yes, every condition whether it be cancer, virus, diseases or depression, panic attacks, or seizures are given a name and labeled by the world as being purely physical or neurological conditions. But when one considers the truth we see in the Scriptures, there is obviously a big part the demonic plays in all of this – particularly when you see Jesus dealing with demons just about as much as He was healing people.
 
In fact, a lot of times we see Jesus healing someone of what seemed to be a physical condition by exorcising a demon from that person. Now that does not mean that every physical problem is demonic, nor does it mean that every physical issue is natural either. Sometimes a specific physical or psychological condition might be demonic, but other times, the very same symptoms might be simply natural. The key is having spiritual discernment to know when something is demonic or not.
 
But my point is that there are a lot more things that are demonic in nature than we have recognized, and we cannot expect the world to acknowledge that because how will they be able to recognize spiritual things?
 
But the fact is if there are more things that are demonic than we realize, then this is also a big factor with us being healed because we need to be freed from any and all demonic control or influence in order to truly be made whole.  
 
Now this healing takes place in just one verse of one Gospel – Matthew 12:22. This verse reads – “Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw.”
 
Notice that this verse begins with there being one brought to Jesus who was “demon-possessed.”
 
You know, there has been a lot of debate over the years over how much a born again, Spirit-filled believer can be affected by the kingdom of darkness. Folks will say, “A Christian cannot be demon-possessed.” But I think the issue is in the terminology here – demon-possessed –  it is important not to get hung up on semantics. The gist of the Greek word used for demonic “possession” is simply to be “demonized” – or, “to be under the control and dominion of an evil spirit.”
 
Now whether these demons are in someone or on someone is not the point of emphasis. The point is that there are people out there who are under the control of, or being influenced by, demons, and anyone who has been a Christian for any period of time can attest to the fact that there are other people in the church who have absolutely been under the control & dominion of demons at certain points. No, that doesn’t mean that their heads are spinning around and they’re spitting up pea soup; it just means that they have yielded themselves to the demonic and are under the sway of sin.
 
And sometimes this demonic presence manifests itself in certain physical & mental conditions – of that we can be sure because of all of the situations in the Bible of people being plagued with conditions and the demonic realm is specifically noted as the cause of these physical symptoms.
 
So I say all of this to say that there are certainly demonic issues that people have that have kept them from being made whole. And we need to learn how to deal with these spiritual issues in order to be completely sanctified & wholly preserved.   
 
So let’s look at this story now and learn some ways in which we can live free from the demonic and be made whole of not just the physical or mental things, but also the spiritual things.
 
Now in this case, notice that this man was “blind and mute.” So this guy had double trouble – not only could he not see, he couldn’t speak either.  
 
But I want you to notice that these physical infirmities were a direct result of a demon’s control and dominion over this person. This shows us that things like blindness, deafness, speech impediments, etc. are the fruit of the kingdom of darkness and are NOT the fruit of the kingdom of God. No, when people got healed of things like this, Jesus told them that the kingdom of God had come near to them. In other words, when God’s kingdom is in control, we see people being delivered and set free from these infirmities; but when the devil and demons are in control, we see people bound by these infirmities.
 
No, don’t let anyone fool you – none of these physical infirmities are a product of the kingdom of God being in control or having dominion; they are what happens when the devil is in control and has dominion. 
 
One thing worthy of noting here is that we see in some of the physical healings that Jesus performed, the person’s physical affliction was a result of the person being “demonized.” We see this in the healing of the woman with the spirit of infirmity in Luke chapter 13 and also in the healing of the mute man in Matthew chapter 9.
 
In fact, we see in the ministry of Jesus that He dealt with demonic issues a lot—and, like in this instance, sometimes those demonic issues were the source of the physical infirmities. I bring this to our attention because if this is what we see a lot of in the four Gospels, then we can conclude that a lot of what we see afflicting people today is also likely demonic in nature.
 
I believe that this is one of the reasons that we do not see the results in praying for the physically sick and mentally ill like we should: it is because we judge everything according to our own understanding and experiences. In other words, we put everything in our own little box—thinking that every time someone is diagnosed with some kind of illness that they need to be physically healed or thinking that every time someone has emotional issues that they need to be emotionally healed. This is not always the case when you look in the Word of God …
 
The fact is, sometimes these things are demonic in nature, so we need to be spiritually in tune enough to be able to sense what the root of the infirmity is. This is an important part of getting the results we desire. On the flipside of this, we don’t need to go into the other ditch of looking for the devil and demons in every negative situation either.
 
Sometimes people do this in themselves, thinking that every impure thought and feeling is “the devil.” Friends, you cannot crucify demons and you cannot cast out the flesh; you must crucify the flesh and cast our demons. Likewise, I believe sometimes we are trying to heal the demonic problem when we should be casting it out.
 
Notice then that this verse says, “and He healed Him …”
 
Now it is worth noting here that even though this blind and mute man was in this situation because he was demonized, this verse still says that Jesus healed him—showing us that sometimes when someone is healed, it was a direct result of a demon losing control over them.
 
Along these lines, and in a similar account of healing, we are told – “And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke” (Matthew 9:33).
 
I want you to notice that the demonic possession here and in other places (see Mark 9:17) was specifically tied together with being deaf, mute and dumb. Have you ever wondered why these demonic possessions resulted in these things? Do you figure it might be because the devil doesn’t want us to speak because he fears our words? Do you suppose it might be because the enemy does not want us to hear and see because he knows how powerful our ear and eye gates are?
 
Let’s focus in on the power of our words since that is the state of this healing we are looking at:
 
If you study the Book of Proverbs, you will find exactly why the enemy would want to “mute” us: Proverbs 15:4 says, “A wholesome (or, healthy) tongue is a tree of life…” What does this mean? Well, the tree of life did what? It gave eternal, everlasting life, right? So, how does one become satisfied with long life (see Psalm 91:16)? It is through a whole and healthy tongue!
 
We see this in First Peter 3:10-12 when he was quoting the 34th Psalm – how long life and good days all along the way is partly a product of refraining from injurious speech.
 
Proverbs 16:24 says, “Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones.” In other words, pleasant words have a similar effect on us as good honey does: they positively affect us both emotionally and physically.
 
Proverbs 18:20 says, “A man’s stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his mouth; from the produce of his lips he shall be filled.” This teaches us that our words have the capability of producing satisfaction and fulfillment within us.
 
Proverbs 18:21 says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” Notice that this verse specifically says that those who love it (love what? Well, this could refer to the power that is in the tongue or the life that our tongue has the power to produce [Compare Psalm 34- love life]).
 
You see, some have gotten what I call “spiritually superstitious” regarding their words. But it is not just the frivolous words we slip up and speak that holds the power; it is the words that we really mean and that come out of our hearts (i.e. love) that hold the power to life and death. It is those words that we “love” that we will eat the fruit of.
 
And, of course, we have the Scriptures in James chapter three that also teach us the importance of our words: he says in verses 3-4- “Indeed, we put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires.”
 
Church, these verses teach us the absolute power that is in the tongue! The subject matter is “turning” things—like the body of a horse or a ship. Likewise, we can “turn” our lives and our physical bodies through our words! Amen.     
 
Now back to Matthew chapter 12 …
 
After Jesus healed this blind and mute man, we are told how the people responded to this miracle. Verse 23 says, “And all the multitudes were amazed and said, ‘Could this be the Son of David?’”
 
By asking this question of could Jesus be the Son of David, they are questioning whether He was their Messiah. And because of the religious leaders’ jealousy, we see next how they responded …    
 
Verse 24 begins with – “Now when the Pharisees heard it …” Heard what? When they heard the multitudes wonder whether Jesus was the promised Messiah. So when they heard people leaning towards this, they rebutted those statements with something else.
 
You know, this is what jealous people with their own selfish agendas will do—they will attempt to tear others down with their words. And that same spirit that was working in the Pharisees here still does this today. Most of the time, when you hear people tearing down someone else with their words, spreading gossip and slandering them, what they are doing is trying to exalt themselves. In other words, what slander’s intention usually is, is not to tear the other one down, but to lift itself up—because in that person’s insecurity, they need others to come down, so that they don’t look as bad.
 
So what exactly did the Pharisees start saying? Verse 24 goes on to say, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.”
 
This name “Beelzebub” started with the Philistines in describing the god of Ekron. It originally meant “lord of the flies” by the Philistines and later came to mean “lord of the manure” by the Hebrews. So this describes Satan as the ruler of the pesky demon spirits (i.e. “lord of the flies”) and the ruler over environments where rottenness, stench, and waste prevails.
 
Then in verse 25, we are told that Jesus something – “(Jesus) said to them …”
 
It is important to note here that Jesus did not refute the Pharisees accusations to the multitudes, but rather to the Pharisees themselves. This is another good wisdom nugget – don’t try to defend yourself to others, but rather, in humility and love, go to the ones who are deceived and attempt to reason with them.
 
Now in verses 25-28, the obvious point that Jesus was making was that it was completely irrational for them to accuse Him of using the “ruler of demons” to cast out demons because that would be Satan pitting his kingdom against itself.
 
Well, how many of God’s people say basically the same thing about Him today? They say that God is putting a sickness & disease on one of His children to teach them something, to perfect them or to discipline them.
 
Well, since God has clearly revealed Himself in the Word as our healer and Jesus went about healing everyone who came to Him in faith, would it make sense for Him to be healing in one moment and then to put sickness on someone in another? Not at all! No, this would be as Jesus described it, a kingdom or house divided against itself.
 
Another example is when Jesus stilled the storm. How many people equate all of these natural disasters to being “acts of God?” Well, Jesus stilled the storm—proving to us that not all storms or acts of nature are of God because Jesus would have been acting against His Father there and they would have been a divided kingdom.      
 
Now Jesus’ statement that “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand” has another meaning to us: Of course, Jesus was specifically referring to how God’s kingdom and Satan’s kingdom cannot succeed when operating against themselves, but I believe that this has another very important truth contained in it…
 
If we, ourselves, are not set and solid on what we believe, we will have a hard time standing as well. This is why James said that a double minded man is unstable in all of his ways –because when part of you is saying one thing but another part of you is thinking another, you are not established and able to stand, and are therefore unstable. And this is a reason why you see so many of God’s people ruled over by the kingdom of darkness. It’s because they are trying to resist the devil on one hand, but are submitting to him on the other. No, we must, as James 4:7 says, submit ourselves to God and then resist the devil and he will flee from us. But if we are not truly submitting to God in our lives, then how will we be able to stand against the wiles of the devil?
 
Let me give you an example – Say, I am trying to resist sickness & disease in my body, but I am submitting to slander & gossip coming out of my mouth. How can I expect the sickness & disease to leave when I’m okay with the slander & gossip staying? Now this does not mean that we cannot be healed if we have any sin in our life. Don’t hear what I’m not saying. But we don’t need to confuse ourselves by trying to stand against some of the devil’s devices and then accepting other ones. 
 
So if you are a house divided against itself – trying to serve God with one foot in the kingdom of God but with another foot in sin – then your house cannot stand. And what does the Bible say your house is? It says that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, amen? So what do you reckon is going to happen to our body if we have conflicting behavior in our lives? It will be an uphill battle, I can promise you that. And you most definitely won’t be able to stand against the devil. And did you know that this is what the word “resist” – that’s used for resisting the devil – literally means? It means to stand against. In fact, it’s actually the word where we get the word antihistamine from, which is a medicine that is used to stand against the histamines our bodies produce which cause the things like runny noses, itching, swelling, etc. 
 
Well, if we want to be able to stand, we’ve got to have our house working together, not against itself. Amen?
 
But notice how Jesus then says in Matthew 12:28 – “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.”
 
Did you just see that? Jesus just told us how He had the power to cast out demons. It was not because He was the Son of God, but it was because of the Spirit of God.
 
Jesus confirms this in verse 31 when He talks about blaspheming the Holy Spirit. Jesus said there that people accusing Him of casting out demons by Beelzebub was blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. What this shows us is that Jesus equated His ability to cast out demons to the Holy Spirit working through Him. Therefore, if the Holy Spirit was the agent by which Jesus cast out devils, then He did not do it simply because He was the Son of God. Amen! 
 
So guess what this teaches us? That the Holy Spirit is the power by which we cast out demons! And if I need to chase off some demons, how do I do it? By yielding to, being led by, and flowing in the power of the Holy Ghost!
 
You see, the more full I get of the Holy Spirit, the less the kingdom of darkness will be allowed to reside. And at the same time, the anointing will destroy the yoke that the kingdom of darkness has erected in my life. Yes, like a house of cards, the Holy Spirit, with just the slightest move of His finger, can destroy everything that the devil has spent years building in one’s life.   
 
And notice how Jesus says in this verse “surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.” Again, when demons are expelled and driven out, this is a manifestation of the kingdom of God. You could say it this way – The kingdom of God is ruling when demons are no longer controlling and ruling a person or place.
 
Then in verse 29, we have the parable Jesus gives us of the binding of the strong man. Jesus said, “Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.”  
 
You know, we always hear this verse taught like the strong man is an evil, ruling spirit and we are the ones who must bind him in order to effectively exorcise the demonic influence from someone’s life.
 
Well, I’d like to offer a different perspective on this verse: When Jesus said, “how can one enter,” what if Jesus was referring to the one who is entering the house as the demon who had entered the person in the previous verses? On top of that, this “plundering” of someone’s house sounds more like what the thief would do, not the giver of life, right?
 
So let’s read this from a different perspective: How can an evil spirit enter into a person’s life and plunder it unless it first binds the strong man? Wow! Now that opens up a new perspective, doesn’t it?
 
You see, the “strong man” here is that strong spirit of a man, the new recreated part of us on the inside that it full of power, authority and glory. So the devil cannot just come in and plunder our goods. He must first have that strong man – the part of us that has all authority – bound.
 
Well, how does He do that? By tempting us to compromise and make wrong choices! If he can get our house divided against itself, our strong man is bound, and he can then plunder our lives.    
 
Church, we have been given much more authority than we realize! We can rule over sin, sickness, and brokenness by the power of the Holy Spirit and the power that is in our tongues. So with those “It is writtens”, using God’s Word, we have the power to destroy the kingdom of darkness and resist the devil.
 
This is how we can run off the works of the devil and become healed & whole like this blind & mute man did on that day. By seeing what we need to see and saying what we need to say. Amen!

REVIEW

So we have been learning how one can be made whole. No, not just the fact that He wants us healed & whole, but how we all can receive from God His will for us. 

And we’ve learned that God wants us healed & whole from our golden text for this series among many other Scriptures. First Thessalonians 5:23 saying, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

And each week, we have been looking at the various examples of healing in the Gospels – knowing that they teach us how one approaches the Lord for healing and walks away whole. We’ve looked at examples such as Peter’s Mother-in-Law, the Ten Lepers, the Woman with the Issue of Blood, Jairus’ Daughter, the Woman with the Spirit of Infirmity, among a few others. And last week, we looked at the healing of the Nobleman’s Son, learning the important role that walking by faith plays in receiving our miracle.   

Now this week, I would like us to look at an example that beautifully illustrates how this being made whole works. It’s the story of the healing of the paralytic carried by his four friends. 

Now this story is told in three of the four Gospels – in Matthew 9:1-8, Mark 2:1-12, and Luke 5:17-26 – and I want to highlight something from all three of them. 

Notice how each Gospel writer describes the reaction of the people to this miracle: 

1. Matthew 9:8 – “…they marveled and glorified God Who had given such power to men” - The word used for “power” here is exousia which would be better translated as “authority.” Now the authority that they were referring to was what Jesus said in verse 6 – “that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins” along with the authority that He exemplified through healing this paralytic man. And did you know that people still today will marvel that God uses the sons of men to do the supernatural? Why is this? It is because they just tend towards the belief that God is God and “I am just a man.” Therefore, we are not God. Well, while it is certainly true, we are not God (Thankfully!), it is also true that He has delegated His authority to us to do certain things for Him! And healing is one of those things!    
2. Mark 2:12 – “And they glorified God, saying, ‘We never saw anything like this” - Notice that this verse didn’t say anything about them glorifying God when he was still paralyzed. No, God was glorified when he took up his bed and walked! Now what they were saying was certainly true: they hadn’t seen anything like this. But do you know what our aspiration should be – for less and less people being able to say this by us bringing more and more of the healing power of God into this dark and perverse generation! Amen!  
3. Luke 5:26 – “…and were filled with fear, saying, ‘We have seen strange things today!’” – Notice how they were filled with fear. That’s an interesting response, isn’t it? Why would people get into fear when seeing a crippled man getting healed? Well, the answer to this question is obviously contained in what they were saying – “We have seen strange things today!” By strange things, they were saying that this miracle was uncommon and certainly unexpected.  

So this is one of the reasons why it is important to compare the various accounts of the same healings in the Gospels. It’s called harmonizing the Gospels. It’s because each Gospel writer has a different, unique perspective, and if you combine together all three of these accounts, you get a clear picture of what the crowd was truly thinking: They were freaked out, amazed, and marveled at what took place because of how God has apparently given this kind of authority to the sons of men! And they glorified God saying things like – “We’ve never seen anything like this! We have seen strange things today!”   
Needless to say, the people were awestruck and taken aback by seeing something done that transcended natural laws. And so let’s look specifically at what took place in this story – In doing this, we will primarily camp on Mark & Luke’s Gospel. 
Now the story begins in Mark 2:1 with – “And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house.”
So just like in the story that we looked at last week of the healing of the nobleman’s son, we are entering Capernaum again after some days. Then we are told that it was heard that Jesus was in the house. 
Now you thought that your kids or grandkids came up with that hip saying that such and such is in the house, didn’t you? But no, this Scripture says that Jesus was “in the house” a long time before your children ever said that! 

And I like to compare this statement with Jesus being in the boat from the example of Jesus’ disciples and Him being caught out in the middle of the sea when the storm arose. Well, just the fact that Jesus was in that boat should have assured His disciples that they weren’t going to sink & drown. No, Jesus’ presence in the boat ought to have produced in them the confidence that they were going to get to the other side. Likewise, if Jesus is in our boat – yes, if Jesus is in our house – then we are going to be okay if the Healer lives within us. Amen? 

Then in verse 2, we are told – “Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them.”

Notice that this verse says, “And He preached the Word to them”: Did you know that Jesus’ ministry generally consisted of three parts—teaching, preaching, & healing? Actually, the Gospels say that He was teaching (43 times), preaching (19 times), and preaching & teaching (6 times). This shows us the pattern that we should do about twice as much teaching as we do preaching. That’s why we do so much teaching & preaching here at our Healing Schools – because just like those who came to “hear and be healed” in the Gospels, we need to spend time hearing and hearing the Word so that the faith can come to be healed. 

But let’s look over at Luke’s Gospel again and notice who it was that Jesus was preaching the Word to …

Luke 5:17 says, “Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present to heal them.” 

Now how many of you know that these Pharisees and teachers of the law who had come to sit and listen to His teachings were likely not there listening with open hearts. Now there might have been a “Nicodemus” or two in the bunch who sincerely were seeking the truth, but from what we see throughout the rest of the four Gospels, the likelihood is that the vast majority of these religious leaders were there to accuse and find fault. On top of that, these religious leaders were taking up seats that people with faith could’ve had!

But I want you to notice that last sentence in verse 17 – “And the power of the Lord was present to heal them.” 

The Greek language indicates that the Lord’s power was in their midst (Greek en) for the purpose of (Greek eis) healing them. The “them” here implies that it was referring to those fault-finding religious leaders who were there just to criticize Him, right? So, this shows us that God’s healing power was in that house to heal even those who had assembled with wrong hearts. Wow! 

This shows us two very important things:

1. God’s healing power is available even to those who don’t deserve it. In other words, he will heal His enemies if they will just reach out and receive.
2. God’s healing power can be present and available, and no one receives it because we don’t have any record of anyone being healed before the paralyzed man shows up. This proves to us that this whole belief system that if God wants us healed, He will heal us is not 100% accurate. Yes, God’s provision of healing can be available and not received.    

But let’s move on to the one in this story who was in position to receive his wholeness …
Luke 5:18-19 says, “Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him. And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus.”

Now what if these men would have been like most believers – who might have prayed before they came and said, “Lord, if it is Your will to heal Joe, we ask you to open the door, but if it’s not, then close the door”? Well, they would have shown up and seen that the house was already filled and turned around and left, believing that it wasn’t the Lord’s will to heal their friend today.

But would that have been correct? Absolutely not! No, these men did not take a closed door as evidence that it was not God’s will for their friend to be healed and they sought a way to get him in and got the healing they desired. 

I wonder how many people never received their healing because they made this kind of mistake. Maybe they were not persistent enough or they let a circumstance, or a lack of manifestation convince them of a lie. Whatever the situation, I believe that there have been more situations in our lives where we did not receive what God has graciously provided than we would care to know about. 

But not these guys! This verse says that when they saw this “closed door” they hit the roof! Amen! And when they had “broken through” they made their own door!  

You see, in Mark’s account of this story, he specifically says, “So when they had broken through …” (Mark 2:4).   

No, these guys didn’t let the situation keep them from what they came for. They “broke through” the thing keeping them from Jesus, which depending what perspective you had, was the “ceiling.” 

I wonder how many apparent “ceilings” – that is, things that limit us from going higher – have kept God’s people from that exceeding, abundantly, above all they could ever ask or think (See Ephesians 3:20)? Again, it’s more than we would care to know. But again, those ceilings /roofs are not signs from God that he doesn’t want us to go higher. They are just things that we have to determine to break through. And God is all about these break throughs! 

In fact, in Second Samuel 5:20, we see the Lord called “the Lord of the Breakthrough.” This is yet another description given to us of God: He specializes in breaking through our enemies that are before us! Therefore, we cannot let a closed door, or a seeming wall, dissuade us from getting our healing. We have to be persistent and have bulldog faith, being undaunted by the obstacles! 

However, there is an important point that we need to learn from this account in 2nd Samuel: David inquired of the Lord before he presumptuously went up against these Philistines. He asked the Lord – “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will You deliver them into my hand?” And the Lord responded to him with- “Go up, for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into your hand.” (Verse 19). 

You see, hearing from God and getting a Word from Him is an important part of experiencing “break throughs” because we need to know the Lord’s manner of providing for us. 

However, the fact remains that we have no record that the four friends and the paralyzed man got a “Word from God.” They just pressed in and got what they came for, but there is certainly a place for asking the Lord and hearing from Him so that we are not spinning our wheels.    

But the fact remains that these four friends broke through the obstacle and did what they had to do to lower their friend into the house where Jesus was. 

Mark 2:5 says, and “when He saw their faith …” 

Church, true faith can be seen! James said that we can show others our faith by our works (James 2:18). It is easy for people to say that they are “in faith” but true, living faith is evidenced by her actions. 

So, how did Jesus see their faith? It was through their action of letting this man down through the roof. You only do something like this if you believe there is a reason to go through all of this. You don’t go to these kinds of extremes, lengths, etc. unless you are convinced that there is a good reason for it. This is how Jesus saw their faith. 

Now when it said that Jesus saw “their” faith, this did not exclude the paralyzed man either. How many of you know that this man had to have some faith to let His friends carry him up on the roof and then lower him down through it? 

But then a very important part of this story is the things that were said just before the miracle was performed:

Notice how after Jesus saw their faith, “He said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven you.’” Then we are told – “And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, ‘Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?’ But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, ‘Why do you reason about these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins’—He said to the paralytic, ‘I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” (See Mark 2:5-11)

To me, it is so interesting that this comparison to forgiveness and healing is being made by the Lord. And notice how He said in verse 9 – “Which is easier to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk?’” 

Well, the obvious answer to this question is, it’s easier to say “your sins are forgiven you” because you cannot see it. But if we were to say, “Arise, take up your bed and walk,” we would have to see some sort of miraculous manifestation in order to know something happened. But did you know that the miraculous healing of our bodies is just as easy to “say”, and I would add, “see” as the forgiveness of one’s sins? And did you know why? Because they come from the same source and in the same package! Amen! 

And that’s what I want to talk to you about today - How Healing Works! And the answer is - it works just like forgiveness & salvation works! 

You know, I hear questions sometimes regarding this subject of healing that indicate a misunderstanding of how God works. I’ve heard people ask things like – “Why doesn’t God heal me? Why didn’t He heal them?” and I’ve heard people say things like “I’m just waiting on God to heal me.” I believe this belief system, that we are waiting on God to do it, greatly decreases our likelihood of receiving from the Lord. Why? Because that is not how God has set it up. 

If we are going to learn to receive from the Lord more consistently, we must learn how He works. I understand that people see Him as a sovereign God and that He is, therefore, all powerful, but that does not mean that He is just up in heaven picking and choosing whom He is going to heal. This is not how He works! 

Although it is true that healing originates from God and that He alone has the power to heal, He did not set it up that He is going just do whatever He wants to do and that He would have the complete control. 

You see, we don’t ask questions like - “Why didn’t God save them?” or “Why won’t God save me?” do we? No, you don’t ever hear people say that. And why? Because we understand how salvation works, right? And we know it doesn’t work that way where it is just up to God. No, we understand that those who call on the name of the Lord are the ones who are saved, not just those who are called on by the Lord. 

Saints, the healing of our bodies happens the same way as the salvation of our souls! In fact, we find Scripture after Scripture that couples together our salvation and the healing of our bodies (Examples: Isaiah 53, Psalm 103:3, the ministry of Jesus, etc.) 

The words for “saved & salvation” come from the Greek words “sozo & soterion” which actually contain the reference to healing. Therefore, the very words that refer to the salvation of our souls are also referring to the healing of our bodies. And it is important to understand that the same way we are saved is the same way in which we are healed – for the word “sozo” means both (Colossians 2:6). Therefore, healing works the same way salvation does!

So how does salvation work? There are essentially four questions that we need to ask to answer this question:

1. Is it God’s will for everyone to be saved? 

And the obvious answer is - YES! 

Second Peter 3:9 says that God is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” (We see this also in Matthew 23:37 where Jesus made it clear that God often wanted to gather them under His wings, but they were not willing which can be compared with Malachi 4:2 which refers to the Lord having healing in His wings) 

First Timothy 2:4-6 states that God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (The context states that we are to be praying for all men including kings and all who are in authority- particularly to be saved. Now it is important for us to realize who some of these “kings” were! As ungodly as we think some of our authorities are today, they are nothing compared to the wickedness of those Paul was referring to. And I love how Paul goes on to say in verse 7- “for which I was appointed a preacher and teacher…” You see, near the end of chapter one, he describes the exceeding abundance of God’s grace in saving himself—who he says was the chief of sinners. But even this man, Saul of Tarsus, who murdered Christians, was saved and then, on top of that, was used to write 2/3rds of the New Testament.) 

So here, we have two witnesses that clearly indicate it is not God’s will for any person who walks on this planet to die in their sins, but it is His desire that all men and women receive the salvation that Jesus provided. So, it is the Lord’s will to save everyone! Therefore, we can conclude that if healing is a part of that salvation package, then it is the Lord’s will that every person be healed, and it is His desire to see all men and women to receive the healing that Jesus provided for them. Amen? (Compare the healing of the leper in Mark 1:40-45)

1. What are we saved by? 

Ephesians 2:8-9 say, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Notice what is mentioned first in these verses - the grace! Paul said, “For by grace.” You could translate this phrase - “because of grace.” 

You see, as important as faith is (and we will get to this in a moment), grace is the most important – for if there was no grace provided, there would be nothing for us to have faith in. So, grace had to come. The provision had to be made. The promise had to have substance. 

Now, comes the “through faith” part. Some that move over into error concerning the grace of God begin to believe that it is all completely by grace and then begin to believe that since salvation was provided for all men on the Cross, everyone must be saved. Well, this discounts this phrase “through faith.” You see, everything in the kingdom must be received. It is not forced on us. It doesn’t happen just because God made a way for it to happen. No, God has made the provision, but that provision of grace must come through a channel or an avenue, and that way is “through faith.”  

Now notice how this process of salvation is explained in the rest of verse 8 into verse 9: “and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Now we understand how this applies to our salvation – that no number of good deeds one does can qualify them to be saved. Our salvation is completely a gift of God – meaning we can’t earn it or work to obtain it, and God’s reasoning behind this is that no one would be able to boast and say, “Hey, I did all of this and look what I’ve earned.” No, we understand that salvation is a free gift, cannot be earned and no one will be able to boast saying they earned it somehow. 

So now, let’s apply this to healing by retranslating that one word “saved” in this verse: “For by grace you have been healed through faith, and that healing is not of yourselves; healing is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” So, first of all, we see that healing is all “because of grace” – meaning, it has been provided for us all because of the grace of God. This is the first thing we need to get our hearts established in – the grace of God has provided healing and wholeness. And we need to understand that although this healing is received through faith, it is not obtained nor walked in “of ourselves” – meaning, we do not need to see our healing as having anything to do with us. The reason I say this is because of the subtleties of our flesh to believe that we are healed because of our “great faith” or because of our dietary habits or because of our exercise routines or because of our own righteousness, etc., etc., etc. No, no, no! You must always remain sober to the fact that receiving and walking in divine health and healing “is not of yourselves.” Sure, these things might tend towards walking in health and healing, but I encourage you to incline your heart towards the truth that it is ultimately a gift of God and not a result of your own works. The reason this is so important to understand is because it is easy for our heart to be deceived and begin to believe that our own works of diets, exercise, applying spiritual principles and even our “believing” is what obtained the healing. And if that is how we believe, we are in danger of taking our eyes off of the object of our faith – the Grace of God Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is not a good place to be. Then, it is imperative that we know that it is all “because of grace” that we have been and can be healed. So grace is first then faith comes next. 

1. What are we saved through? 

Let’s again look at Ephesians 2:8-9 which says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Let’s address those two very important words that are involved in our salvation here - “through faith.” It is an undisputed fact, saints, the part faith plays in us receiving our salvation. Martin Luther, who was responsible for the great protestant reformation, began this movement by six very important words - “The just shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:17). This extremely important revelation shows us that it is not a bunch of religious duties and good deeds that save someone; but it is by our faith in the good deed of Jesus Christ on the Cross that wrought salvation for us. Therefore, we must now live by this faith! Amen! I don’t think I need to camp on this any further, right? We understand that we live by faith now and not by works, and that this is the only way we experience salvation! Amen? 

1. Is saving faith alone? 

The answer to this is an affirmative NO! It has been well-said that faith alone saves, but saving faith is never alone. The truth is: FAITH IS BOTH SEEN AND HEARD!  

The question is—Is a man justified by faith alone or is he justified by works and not by faith only? The key to understanding this is in understanding that Paul and James were referring to two different kinds of works. Notice that the apostle Paul was specifically referring to the works of the law and James never makes a reference in this passage to the works of the law. You see, there is what is called the works of faith that the Bible encourages. We see this reference in 1 Thessalonians 1:3 when Paul refers to their “work of faith.” As we’ve seen, Paul also calls these “works of faith” good works in Ephesians 2:10. 

So, what does this have to do with healing? Well, again, there is no difference between how we are saved and how we are healed, right? So, this shows that our faith for healing will contain some corresponding action! 

So, what are the works of faith? Well, one of the biggest that we see in the Word of God is the words of our mouth. You see, the Scriptures teach us that when one believes something in their heart and that truth is in there in abundance, the mouth will speak. In Second Corinthians 4:13, Paul said, “And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, ‘I believed and therefore I spoke,’ we also believe and therefore speak.” 

Finally, I want you to notice what Paul said in Romans 10:9-10 saves someone: Verse 9 says, “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” 

This is how we received Christ Jesus … We heard the gospel of our salvation in some shape, form, or fashion and then we believed in our heart the good news that Jesus is alive! Then we respond by confessing with our mouth with others to hear that Jesus is now our Lord and we make a public acknowledgment of the faith that is in our heart. This is how we were saved. 

Well, that is the same way we are healed, since salvation also describes healing … We hear the gospel of healing – maybe through a sermon or through a testimony – and then we believe in our heart that “gospel” that healing is available and has been provided. So then we respond by confessing with our mouth things like “I’m healed by the stripes of Jesus” or “If I can just get to that altar, something is going to happen.” Whatever we say, that is the confession of our faith, and that is what comes from faith in our heart. This is how we are healed.  

But notice how Romans 10:10 says specifically that with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

So do you know what this teaches me? It teaches me that you can be completely convinced and persuaded in your heart of a truth, you can believe with all your heart, and still not experience sozo – freedom, deliverance, healing, protection, and being kept safe and sound. Wow! That is so powerful! Allow that to sink in for a moment… 

You see, the belief in our heart is super important. Don’t misunderstand that. That is what brings forth the righteousness in our life. In other words, the faith in our heart is what produces that right standing with God. That is the first step! But faith in your heart is not what produces “salvation” – soterion & sozo – in our life. It is the faith in our mouth that produces salvation! Amen! 

So “sozo” occurs in our life as we, number one, believe in our heart what has transpired in our lives as a result of Jesus’ resurrection and, number two, confess with our mouth Jesus’ Lordship as a result. In other words, our hearts must be established in what was accomplished through His death, burial and resurrection, and then our mouth must declare that He is, therefore, Lord until all His enemies are made His footstool. Amen!   

Church, this is how salvation works, and if it’s like getting saved works, then it’s how getting healed and whole works. It’s as simple as salvation – by grace through faith. Receive your salvation today!