Sermon Notes

I am Willing; Be Healed - Sunday – 12^th November, 2023

Overview

1. Introduction – Jesus is willing to heal us
2. To the one who fears the Lord – Lord Jesus will rise with healing in His wings
3. Three generations - three kinds of sickness
4. Healing will spring forth speedily if the Glory of the Lord is your rear-guard
5. Healing will be available to the one who worships God with intimacy
6. Where the King of Glory is – there will be healing
7. Where the Word of God is - there will be healing
8. The prayer of the Apostolic Leadership will bring healing
9. Conclusion

Introduction – Jesus is Willing to Heal Us

Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

Matthew 8:3 (NKJV)

November is the month of healing and the Bible says that Jesus is Willing to heal everyone. In the Gospel written by Matthew, the apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, chapter 8 and verse 3 we see that Jesus is stretching out his hand and touching a leprous hand saying, “I am willing, be healed.” Even today Jesus says, “I am willing to do a miracle in your life”, however,

• • Are we available to receive that miracle in our life?
  • Are we close to Lord Jesus Christ to receive that miracle?
  • Do we believe that Jesus can do a miracle in our life

The God of the Bible is a God who heals. He does not give us sickness to suffer from, nor does he delight in our sufferings. He is Jesus Christ who took all our pain and shame on the Cross of Calvary. The God of the Bible is a God who heals. He is not a God who gives us sickness to suffer, nor He is a God who delights in our sufferings. But He is Jesus Christ, who took all our pain and shame on the cross of Calvary. Additionally, Isaiah 53 says that He has taken away the sickness on the cross and that we are healed.

When we go through the passage of Mathew 8, we see that when Jesus came down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. Multitudes means countless. There were countless people but this sick person was noticed by Jesus and in the following verses Jesus says, “I am willing; be healed.” The Holy Spirit wants us to know that despite the fact that there are millions of people on Earth, our God is a God who see us individually. He is El Roi, a God who sees us.

A. To the one who fears the Lord – Lord Jesus will rise with healing in His wings

A plethora of beliefs have emerged within Christianity, and one may wonder if it is scriptural to believe that God can heal.

But to you who fear My name, the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings; And you shall go out and grow fat like stall-fed calves.

Malachi 4:2 (NKJV)

This is God’s Word and it declares that everyone who fears Him has a great promise from God. This fear is not one in a literal sense but one of awe, reverence, and worship towards God. So for a remnant of people who revere and worship God, the Sun of righteousness, Lord Jesus Christ, will rise upon their life with healing on his wings. And they will grow fat like stall-fed calves, i.e. their physical body shall be perfectly perfect.

Three generations- three kinds of sickness

God hates sin as well as sickness. While many people were saved during Jesus’ ministry on Earth, we also see that a greater number of people were healed by Jesus. We pray and believe for a generation in which no one will suffer from illness. In the generation that preceded us, the majority of the people suffered from diabetes and hypertension. And these were considered to be normal in the life of an elderly person. But the Bible has something to tell us about this situation because Moses was 120 years old and had no physical ailments. The reason was - he was a man who feared God, worshipped God, and lived in the presence of God.

Sickness has taken a different form in the younger generation, particularly in young girls who are sick in their reproductive systems – PCOD, irregular periods, no children following marriage, etc. In case of young boys, they appear strong, but there would be differences in blood counts and vital rates when test results from hospitals are received. One of the reasons could be that we give in to the sickness / embrace the sickness rather than trusting in God’s ability to keep sickness out of our bodies.

The current generation is seeing a different form of sickness / attack on them. The term “Autism” or “developmental issue” were unheard of in the past. However, NIH reports that 10% to 15% of pre-schoolers experience developmental delays in their childhood. In reality, it is the devil’s strategy. If diabetes and hypertension caused heart attacks and kidney problems in one generation, in the next generation the attack was on the reproductive systems, delaying the fulfilment of God's promise to multiply and bear fruit. And now the current generation is being attacked with developmental issues so that they would never reach their God-given destiny, or even understand about God and His purpose.

If the church takes a stand, the system in the world will change. According to Matthew 18:18-20, "Whatever the church binds on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever the church loses on earth will be loosed in heaven." Heaven is a place of perfection, so we must pray the Lord’s prayer for everything on Earth to be fulfilled exactly as it is in heaven. Then with healing in His wings, Lord Jesus will come down upon His church, willing to heal and transform every deformity into perfection.

B. Healing will spring forth speedily if the Glory of the Lord is your rear-guard

Then your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you; The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.

Isaiah 58:8 (NKJV)

Here the Word of God says that when the Glory of God is our rear guard, protecting us, our healing will spring forth speedily. The physicians and medical guidelines have a set timeframe for recovery / healing, however, the Bible says that our healing will come speedily, faster than the normal set time. The God who created everything in six days will accelerate the healing process and ‘Now’ is the time God has set for our healing.

C. Healing will be available to the one who worships God with intimacy

And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”

Matthew 8:2 (NKJV)

The leper came and worshipped Jesus. We as a church should understand that we are created to worship Him. Angels in heaven are always worshipping God, but God is pleased when people worship Him out of a sense of relationship, rather than out of obligation.

There are angels in heaven worshipping God continuously, but God is happier when people worship out of a relationship than out of those who have been obliged for as a duty. As per the Jewish tradition, no one other than the Father God can be worshipped, but the leper is came forward and worshipped Jesus.

This shows that there is a secret in worshipping God in Spirit and in Truth. Real worship is a sense of reverence, honor, love, and more than everything, it is intimacy. Out of this great multitude who was following Jesus only to receive solutions to their problems, there was a leper who came into a one-to-one relationship with Jesus. He realized who Jesus was and he believed in Jesus. When the faith of the leper operated, Jesus stretched out His hand and said, “I am willing, be healed.”

D. Where the King of Glory is – there will be healing

Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”

Matthew 11:5-6 (NKJV)

Jesus responded to John the Baptist's questioning about Him by citing the healing miracles He performed during His earthly ministry.

E. Where the Word of God is - there will be healing

The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.

Matthew 5:8 (NKJV)

Here we read about a centurion’s son being healed by the Word of God. The Word has the power to heal. More the Word of God, healing miracles will happen even without someone laying their hands on you. Psalms 107: 20 says, “I will send my word, and heal them and deliver them from all their destructions.”

F. The prayer of the Apostolic Leadership will bring healing

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. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

James 5: 14-15 (NKJV)

The Bible explicitly says that if anyone is sick, call the Apostolic Leadership of the church to pray. They will lay their hands and pray and anoint them. Anointing according to Psalms 133, is Unity among brethren. Aaron - the apostolic leadership, the dew of Hermon – is the glory descending from the mountains of Zion and a blessing – Life forevermore. The blessing of standing together with the apostolic leadership is health and life forevermore.

The Word of the Lord again says:

“Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.”

1 Peter 2:24 (NKJV)

Jesus has already released the healings for a specific cause. As long as we can manifest righteousness, we will live and not die. Jesus did not simply take away the sickness on the Cross, but He took it so that Jesus himself, who is the Son of Righteousness can be revealed through our life.

Concluding Prayer

Dear Jesus,

We believe that You are willing to heal us and that we have already received our healing in every area of our lives through your sacrifice on the Cross. Help us decide to be available for you, believe in Your Word and grow in intimacy with you to receive the healing. Holy Spirit we pray to you that you help us.

In Jesus’ name

Amen