This sermon emphasizes the importance of understanding God's sovereignty in healing, highlighting examples from the Bible where sickness was used to humble individuals and bring glory to God. It discusses the role of faith, the gift of healing, and the need for discernment in praying for the sick. The speaker also addresses the balance between trusting in God's healing power and utilizing medical resources, emphasizing the ultimate importance of living in alignment with God's will and serving Him faithfully.

We'll begin with a verse in 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 23. God is a trinity, but he is three persons, separate persons in one God. He made man in his image, and he made man a trinity in another way. Not three separate persons, but three parts. All of us are three parts. 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 23. It says, the God of peace will sanctify you wholly. May your spirit, soul, and body be preserved complete without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. It says, the God of peace will sanctify you wholly. May your spirit, soul, and body be preserved complete without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. If you have studied the Old Testament tabernacle, there were three parts in the Old Testament tabernacle. The outer court was visible to everyone, and the two parts of the tabernacle were covered. That tabernacle is a picture of man, the dwelling place of God. The outer court is the part of us that everybody can see, our body. The two covered parts were a picture of the soul and spirit, which cannot be seen. But God, in the time of the tabernacle, did not dwell in the forecourt. He did not even dwell in the holy place. He dwelt in the most holy place. So when I say that God dwells in us, He does not dwell in our body, He does not dwell in our soul, He dwells in our spirit. But because His spirit is within us, we can say God dwells within us. But it's very important to understand, He's not dwelling in my body, He's not dwelling in my soul. And it is my spirit that I have to keep, my heart or spirit, that I have to keep clean all the time. I can be weak in my body and weak in my mind, and still God can dwell in me. But I have to keep all this without blame, it says. In my spirit, I have to keep my conscience always without blame. I need the power of the Holy Spirit for that. The Holy Spirit comes to dwell within my spirit. In that Old Testament tabernacle, there was a veil, which was covered in the Old Testament, covering the most holy place. But then when Jesus died, that veil was torn. Showing that the way into my spirit was opened. Now the Holy Spirit could come and dwell in my spirit. That is the meaning of that rent veil. God is interested in my mind, which is part of my soul, and my body. So today we want to think about how God wants us to be free in our body as well. Free from blame. It says here, our body must be preserved without blame. There's another place in Hebrews, in chapter 10. Where it speaks about our coming into God's presence. Hebrews chapter 10, verse 22. Let us draw near with a sincere faith, a sincere heart and a full assurance of faith. Having our heart, which is our spirit, sprinkled clean from an evil conscience. And our bodies washed with pure water. What does that mean? It's not talking about having a bath or a shower. It says Jesus cleanses the church by the washing of water with the word of God. Ephesians 5. So that water is a picture of the word of God. So to have my body washed with pure water. Is to use my body in line with the teaching of the word of God. So what does the New Testament teach about my body? I want to show you a few verses. 1 Corinthians. And chapter 6. It says your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. People talk about a church as the house of God. No building is the house of God. If there is a house of God on earth today, it is our body. See, just like the temple in Jerusalem, that was the house of God in the Old Covenant. You must recognize that your body is the same as that holy temple that was in Jerusalem in Old Testament times. The pillar of fire, which is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, dwelt on that tabernacle. And the glory of God dwelt upon that temple. The Holy Spirit now dwells in this temple. You wouldn't think of committing a sin inside a church building. But I say, this is the church building, the temple. People say I will not smoke inside a church building, but you can't smoke in this body either. You don't sit inside a church building and watch pornography. Well, this is the temple of the Holy Spirit. We have to recognize first of all, this body of mine is the temple of the Holy Spirit of God. And it says in Romans chapter 6, that the body of Christ is the temple of the Holy Spirit of God. And then it says in Romans chapter 12, What should we do to show our gratitude to God for all that He has done for us? We think, oh, we should thank Him with our lips, that's good. Maybe we should give some money for God's work, that's good. That was there even in the old covenant. They praised God, they gave money for God's work, that's all old covenant. But in the new covenant, it is something more than that. Romans 12, verse 1. In view of all the mercies of God, what shall we do? In all the previous 11 chapters, He is talking about the wonderful salvation God has purchased for us. How shall we respond? Just by singing praise on Sunday morning? Just by putting money in the box? No, much, much more than that. Present your body, a living, holy sacrifice to God. That is your spiritual worship. We don't worship God just with our lips. That is in the Psalms, old covenant. Hallelujah, praise the Lord. Clap your hands. Shout, blow the trumpet. All in the Psalms. You can do it. But it is still old covenant. New covenant worship. Jesus told the woman in Samaria. The time has now come when you will worship in spirit, in truth. Here it says, you present your body. Lord, I'm going to worship you now. And I worship you by giving you my body. My eyes. How do I worship God with my eyes? You know in the old testament, when they offered a burnt offering to God upon the altar. That is a picture of worship. The burnt offering was different from the sin offering. Burnt offering was an expression of gratitude to God. They could not take an ox or a bullock and put it on the altar. They had to cut it into pieces and put it piece by piece by piece on the altar. We say, what's the point putting it piece by piece when you're going to burn it in any case. To teach us a lesson. When you say, present your body to God. You must cut it piece by piece and give it to God. When you say, Lord, here's my body. That's easy to say that. Hang on, let's do it piece by piece. Lord, here are my eyes. I've used these eyes to look at so many filthy sinful things for so many years. I have spent enough years worshiping you by giving money and singing songs. Now I'm going to worship you by giving you my eyes. This is much more difficult, Lord. Singing was not a sacrifice. I earned so much money that I put a little bit in the box is not a sacrifice. But here it says worship is when I present my body as a spiritual offering of sacrifice. Lord, this is really a sacrifice. Because I like to look at so many things. Now I'm going to worship you. Real spiritual worship. Then I say, I give you my eyes. Never again for the rest of my life do I want to look at something that you don't want me to look at. I'm talking to you about healing today, but this is where we begin. A lot of people like to jump to healing. Hang on, we'll get there. If you don't start here, you won't understand it properly. Because a lot of people don't know what it means to present their body to God. They say, heal my body, heal my body, heal my body. But wait a minute, have you presented it to God first? You tell a surgeon, cut me, cure the cancer, cure the cancer, but don't put me on the table. I'm not going to give my body to you. You say to the surgeon, oh cure me, remove the cancer, but you don't want to put me on the table to have surgery. And the surgeon says, if you don't give me your body, how can I remove the cancer? You have to give me your body, only then can I cut the cancer away. And I want to tell you, many people will surrender their body to a doctor, who will not surrender their body to God. And that doctor cannot heal them then, and God is not able to heal them either. So here is where we begin. Lord, here are my eyes. I like to read all types of stories. Stories that stimulate me in a wrong way. I have done that for years. Lord, now my eyes are yours. I never again want to read a story that stimulates me and turns me away from God. I don't want to look at anything or read anything that's going to dishonor God. I don't want to read something that Jesus cannot read with me. I don't want to look at a picture or a person whom Jesus cannot look along with me. Lord, from today onwards, this is how I'm going to worship you. And now Lord, I'm going to give you another part of my body. And that's my tongue. Oh, I have used my tongue exactly as I like. I have said what is written in Psalms. It says here in the book of Psalms. Psalm 12 and verse 4. The last part. Our lips are our own. Who is Lord over us? Our tongue is ours. Who is Lord over us? Verse 5. Who is Lord over my tongue? That's me. Lord, it's been like that. But no longer. I'm going to worship you with my tongue. Not only by singing praises on Sunday morning. But by putting it on the altar. And to say from today onwards. I never want to tell a lie. I never want to say something which you will not want me to say. I never want to express anger with my tongue. If anger comes up in my heart, I'm going to kill it with the power of the Holy Spirit. Before it has reached my tongue, it will be dead. Lord, here is my tongue. Not only will it not do bad things. But my tongue will speak good things to people. My eyes are not only going to stop looking at bad things. I'm going to use them to read your word. That is spiritual worship. Lord, I've committed so many sins with my hands. I'm ashamed of all the sins I've committed with my hands. The letters I've written and so many other things with my hands. Dirty things I've done with my hands. Lord, I cut it and put it on your altar. From today, this hand is yours. My legs have taken me to many, many places. Which I should not have gone to. Lord, from today my legs are yours. This is how we present our bodies as a living sacrifice to God. When we give ourselves like that to the Lord. We read in 1 Corinthians 6. 1 Corinthians in chapter 6. And verse 13. In the middle of that verse. The body is not for immorality, but for the Lord. I want to ask you. Do you use your body for immorality? Or can you honestly say. My body from head to foot is for the Lord. I said that to the Lord many years ago. I was just like any other rotten sinner in my unconverted days. I don't look down on anybody. But Jesus saved me. He not only saved my spirit. He saved my soul, my mind. He saved my emotions. And he saved my body. So I said Lord, this body is for the Lord. And then. The rest of that verse. Says the Lord is for the body. Wow, what an exchange that is. Do you want the Lord for your body? Well first of all your body has got to be for the Lord. And I told you how you got to do that. Your tongue. Your eyes. Your hands. Your legs. Your energy. Your health. Everything in your body. It is for the Lord. And the Lord says. Oh, then I am for your body. This is the relationship. It's a beautiful verse. I have claimed that many, many times. I want to tell you something which is better than healing. That is health. Health is better than healing. Any doctor will tell you that. Prevention of sickness is better than curing sickness. Prevention is better than cure. Health is better than healing. So if you can understand there are certain laws God has made for our body. If you follow those laws. Your body is blessed. So my body is for the Lord. Then the Lord is for my body. So if I can say to the Lord. Lord, I never want to take this body to any place where you don't want to go. And every place where you want to take this body. I am ready to take it. The body is for the Lord. Don't say that too quickly. Think about it. It means you are not going to seek your own convenience with your body anymore. As I get older. I find the body gets weaker. But I still say the body is for the Lord. However many aches and pains and difficulties I may have in my body. And the Bible says the outer man decays as time goes on. I must not seek my own comfort. With my body. If the Lord wants me to go and serve somebody. I can't say. Oh Lord, I'm tired. Or Lord, I'm hungry. It's time for me to eat lunch. I don't have time to go and counsel that person. I have spent many hours counseling people. Completely forgetting about lunch, dinner, everything. And not thinking about it. If you stop counseling with the Bible because it's time for lunch. Then you are totally unfit to be a servant of the Lord. Then you are a servant of your body. Your body is not for the Lord. And the Lord is not for your body. So be careful before you say my body is for the Lord. It's wonderful to say my body is for the Lord. I will not think of the tiredness of my body. I will not think whether my body is hungry or thirsty. It is for you. It is a sacrifice. You know what a sacrifice means? A sacrifice is something painful and costly. It's a wonderful thing when you give your body as a sacrifice to the Lord. We read in the book of Ezekiel, sometimes the hand of the Lord was on Ezekiel. And he didn't want to go somewhere but the Lord took him and he went. Because he was submitted. Give yourself to the Lord like that. It's the most wonderful way to live on this earth. And you will have no regret when you get up to heaven. And you will spend your earthly days profitably. God is a loving father. He's not a dictator or a torturer. He will never ask you to do something which he does not give you power to do. I'll tell you my experience. There are many times when I had to go and speak somewhere and I'm thoroughly exhausted. But I know the Lord wants me to go. There are many places when I have to speak numerous times in a day. And I have often taken this verse. Psalm 71. In the King James Version it reads like this. Psalm 71 verse 16. I will go in the strength of the Lord God. Is it like that in the Dutch? Not exactly. In the King James Version I believe that's the right translation. I will go in the strength of the Lord. I have said that many times. I'm tired and exhausted. Sleepy. Overcome by jet lag. And I have to get up and speak. Psalm 71 verse 16. I will go in the strength of the Lord my God. You can say to the Lord. Lord my body is for you. And I believe you are for my body. The second thing we read in 1 Corinthians 6. If the body is for the Lord, the Lord is for my body. There are three things in 1 Corinthians 6. First is verse 13. My body is for the Lord and so the Lord is for my body. Verse 15. My body is a member of Christ. Do you not know that your body is a member of Christ? Say Lord I thought only my spirit was a member of Christ. No. My body is a member of Jesus Christ. I say that's wonderful. The Lord please take care of this member of yours. Recognize that your body is a member of Jesus Christ. It's not just your heart. It's not just an inward thing. Your body is a member of Christ. The third one I already mentioned to you. Verse 19. The body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. So there are three wonderful things written about the body in these last few verses in 1 Corinthians 6. And very often I quoted these verses to myself to encourage myself. But I have to follow the laws of the body. You know I remember this importance of discipline in the body. 1 Corinthians 9. Paul says Verse 24. Don't you know that those who run in a race, everybody runs, only one receives a prize? 1 Corinthians 9.24 Run in such a way that you will win. People who want to win the marathon race in the Olympics. 40 kilometers. You know how they win it? Usually somebody from Ethiopia or Kenya wins it. But do you know how they win it? They get up in the morning and run 40 kilometers every day. Do you want to win the Olympics? Do you want to win the marathon? Yes, you have to do something for it. You can't be lazy and sleep and say I want to win the marathon. And so it says here, run in such a way that you will win. And then verse 25. Everybody who participates in a race, that was the Olympic Games at that time, they exercise self-control. That means they don't feel like getting up in the morning at 5 o'clock, they get up. And they don't eat everything they feel like. Because if you eat everything you feel like, you'll be so fat, you won't win the marathon. So they discipline themselves to get those days a wreath on their head, today a gold medal. But we are getting an imperishable reward if we discipline ourselves. So he says, I also run this race in order to win. And how does he do it? Verse 27. I buffet my body and make this body my slave. The Living Bible paraphrases it beautifully. I make this body do what it should do and not what it wants to do. My body wants to do many things, but I don't allow it. Because my body is not my master. My body is my slave. My body says, I want to eat that. And I want to eat that. I want to eat that. I tell the body, no. I'm not saying you can't enjoy an ice cream or anything like that. But you have to be disciplined. And I tell you, it's a lack of discipline in many Christians that leads to sickness and ill health. So Paul says, I discipline my body and make it my slave. I don't allow this body to do whatever it wants to. I make this body do what it should do, what God wants it to do. Otherwise, I'll go around preaching to so many people and in the final, when I reach the finishing line, God will say, disqualify. Otherwise, Paul says, I'll go around preaching to so many people and in the final, I'll disqualify myself. That sometimes happens in the Olympic Games. Sometimes, you know, at a certain race, they have to stay within the track. You have to stay within the same track for 400 meters. And then someone has won, and he runs, and he breaths the tape first. And he waves his hand, thinking he's first. And the referee says, disqualified. You see that video there? You crossed the line over there. And he says, I will be disqualified. So I'm going to discipline my body. He talks about it in Philippians chapter 3. Philippians 3. He says, there are some people, verse 19, verse 18, many walk, I told you, and I often tell you, weeping, they are enemies of the cross of Christ. Enemy of crucifying the self. And one person, and one characteristic is this, verse 19, their God is their stomach. Do you know that some believers actually have their stomach as their stomach? They worship their stomach. Oh stomach, what do you want? I want this. Okay. What do you want now? I want that. Okay. That's idolatry. He says, their God is their stomach. They are an enemy of the cross of Christ. Their mind is set on earthly things. So there are some things said about the body in the New Testament. What is God's will about sickness and healing? The Bible says that Jesus was tempted in all points as we are. Hebrews 4.15. He wanted to sympathize with what we go through. He doesn't say he faced all our circumstances. For example, some people have drunken fathers. Jesus never had a drunken father. Some people have evil mothers. Jesus did not have an evil mother. In many circumstances we face like road rage and the traffic in the roads. Jesus never had that. But the temptations we face, he faced all of them. In different circumstances, but the same temptations. Man has been tempted in the same way from the time of Adam. Adam's circumstances were different. Ours are different. Jesus was different. But the temptations are the same. Temptation to be angry, to be bitter, to be unforgiving, to gossip, to backbite, to lust, to tell lies, to hate your enemies. Same temptations always. And sometimes temptations are more when we are sick. Many years ago when my children were small, I had a headache once. And I was lying in bed with severe pain. And I said, Lord, did you ever have a headache when you were on earth? And I wanted to get an answer from the scripture. And the answer was yes. He was tempted like me. And I said, Lord, why this headache? Is that taking you to a higher class of victory over sin? See, when your children irritate you, by the grace of God you overcome that irritation. Okay, you're past that class. Now I'm going to give you a headache and your children irritate you, you're not going to get irritated. That's a higher level. It's more difficult to overcome irritation when you've got a severe headache. So, I realized the headache was a higher class. I said, praise the Lord. God's teaching me to overcome. So where did I learn that Jesus had a headache? Now, you know, you've already heard me say some shocking things in this conference. But all from scripture. We must be willing to change our mind according to scripture. You all know this verse. Matthew chapter 8. It says here in Matthew chapter 8. When Jesus healed all who were ill in verse 16. Why? So that verse 17 what Isaiah spoke might be fulfilled. He himself took our infirmities and carried away our sick diseases. People who don't read the scriptures carefully. They say that happened on the cross. That on the cross he took our infirmities and carried away our diseases. It doesn't say that anywhere in the Bible. It says here when he healed these sick people at that time. There were maybe 500 sick people there. All were healed. And the Holy Spirit says at that time this verse was fulfilled. Which verse? He took away our infirmities and carried away our diseases. He is not saying he took it all into his body. That is all misquoting scripture. You know when it says earlier on in Matthew 1. He was born in Bethlehem so that the scripture might be fulfilled. Or Matthew 2. He came out of Egypt so that it might be fulfilled. Or Matthew 2. He came out of Egypt so that it might be fulfilled. Everywhere when a scripture is quoted it is fulfilled there. He was born in Bethlehem so the scripture must be fulfilled. He came out of Egypt so the scripture might be fulfilled. It's not happening at a later time. It's happening right there. The last verse of Matthew 2. He lived in Nazareth so that it can be fulfilled. He was called a Nazarene. And here is another verse that is fulfilled right there. He healed all who were sick so that the scripture might be fulfilled that he took away our infirmities and carried away our diseases. It's got nothing to do with Calvary's cross. But there he took our sins not our diseases. He took them away when he took it away from these people. He didn't take it and put it on himself. It doesn't say that. He took it and threw it away. Whenever you see a verse quoted in the New Testament if you're a careful Bible student you will go back to the Old Testament and see what does it say there. When you study the scriptures like this like I have done for 50 years you understand the truth accurately. If you're too lazy to go back and check with the Old Testament you will not get the bread of God's word. God told Adam by the sweat of your brow you will earn your bread. If you're not willing to work hard you won't earn your bread. And if you're not willing to study hard in the scriptures and sweat you are not going to get the bread of life from here either. So I see this verse he took away our diseases carried our sicknesses he bore our sicknesses I go back to Isaiah chapter 53 this verse is quoted from Isaiah 53 verse 4 and it says there Surely our griefs he bore and sorrows he carried for which he bore our sicknesses and then it says at the bottom the real Hebrew word is sickness it says sickness our example is even better than that of Brother Zach in the English translation there is no sickness but there is sickness but we decided to put griefs some of these translators are not really honest so our sickness he bore now the same word used for sickness in verse 4 is also used in verse 3 I don't know whether the Dutch people are bold enough to write that there he was despised and forsaken of men a man of sorrows acquainted with sickness is it? it is oh wonderful I take my hats off to the Dutch translators what does it mean when it says Jesus was acquainted with sickness what does it mean when it says Jesus was acquainted with sickness in simple words it means he was sick he was acquainted with pain he knew sickness how can that be how can Jesus be sick he was sinless who said that sickness is the result of sin you know why sickness has come to the earth because of the curse on the earth if there was no curse on the earth there would be no sickness let me ask you something you know why your body is sick it's not because you sinned it's not because of demons sometimes it is we read that the devil put sickness on Job it's true sometimes that happens but one thing we read in Job it was with God's permission God cannot Satan cannot put sickness on a child of God without God's permission so if Jesus had a body which was made of the same dust that Adam's body was made of and there was a curse on that earth then Jesus got sick I will prove it to you another way one of the results of this curse because our body is made from the dust of the earth in Genesis 3 the Lord told him in Genesis 3 verse 17 he didn't curse Adam but he said in verse 17 middle curse it is the ground and you are made from this ground and so the thorns and thistles will grow up and hurt you let me ask you something if Jesus walked barefoot somewhere do you think a thorn would have pierced his foot or not you want to pray and fast and think about that I don't need to pray and fast his body was like mine there was no sin in it but if a thorn pierced his foot it would pierce him not because of sin but because he humbled himself and came to an earth which is under the curse ok another thing another part of the curse verse 19 is by the sweat of your face you will earn your bread Nazareth can be pretty hot in the summer and when Jesus was working and working as a carpenter for 8 hours do you think he perspired or not what do you think do you think Jesus could work in the heat without perspiring I know the answer he perspired why should a man without sin perspire there was no sin in his spirit but his body was just like the body of any other human being if other human beings perspire he perspired ok another question did Jesus ever get tired did he ever feel sleepy do you know you are not going to sleep in heaven you need to sleep only now on this earth I don't believe Adam needed to sleep when he was in a sinless body what I am trying to say is Jesus identified himself so much with us that he experienced tiredness hunger and he was sleepy and let me say it reverently he had to go to the toilet Jesus don't think that he was so holy that he didn't do all these things if he was not like us then he didn't experience any of these things I am humbled when I think almighty God came down to this earth and to go to the toilet like me Lord how much you humbled yourself for me you perspired you became sick to see how I feel when I am sick thank you Lord Jesus I never knew you loved me so much that you want to identify with everything I am going through not every single sickness that man has but to some degree so that he can identify with pain when Adam did not sin he did not feel pain when they had drawn the nails into the hands of Jesus did he feel the pain or not do you believe in a real Jesus who was a man like us he was acquainted with sickness God may allow you and me also to taste it to give us greater compassion for other people who are sick and in his mercy he heals also you know in the old testament there was a promise saying I am the Lord your healer but do you know that not everybody in the old testament found healing one of the greatest prophets in the old testament who did more miracles than anybody else was Elisha you know how he died 2nd Kings chapter 13 verse 14 remember this is the great man of faith he was healed remember this was the great man of faith who healed so many people and raised the dead do you know that Elijah raised one dead person and Elisha said give me a double portion of your anointing and Elisha raised two dead people one was a dead boy you know who the other one was anybody after he died they buried his bones in a grave and some moabites or some people threw a dead man into that grave the dead man touched the bones of Elisha it's here in 2nd Kings 13 verse 21 and he stood up there was more anointing in the dead bones of Elisha than in a lot of people today his bones could raise a dead man but how did he himself die 2nd Kings 13 verse 14 Elisha became sick with the illness which he would die Elisha why can't you say the Lord is my healer I claim healing he was not a blind Pentecostal to just claim verses like that he knew God he was in touch with God and he knew when to claim a promise and when not to claim his bones could raise a dead man but he himself became sick and he was not healed he didn't just blindly claim a verse saying the Lord is my healer I'm healed I want to say my brothers and sisters our God is sovereign he controls everything all circumstances all people all the germs that float around this world and he says in Romans 8 verse 28 he makes everything work together for my good what is that good that we saw the other day in the next verse he has predestined me to become like Jesus Christ many of you know Romans 8 verse 28 you must never think of that verse without verse 29 you know so many misquote that verse oh I want to marry that girl she married somebody else but Romans 8 verse 28 God will give me a prettier girl now no he may give you an uglier girl but a more spiritual one I lost that job God will give me one with a better salary no Romans 8 verse 28 he will give you one with a lower salary so that you don't love money so much he is interested in making you like Jesus not giving you pretty girls to marry and plenty of money in your job so God makes everything work for my good to make me like Jesus and if some sickness will help me to become like Jesus I say thank you Lord he was also acquainted with sickness look at the example of the apostle Paul I told you yesterday that if you are humble God will be behind you and push you forward but if you become proud God will come in front of you and push you back he is the enemy of the proud even if you are a proud believer and do you know when God uses us mightily we are in danger of pride do you think the apostle Paul was in danger of pride very much so he had healed the sick raised the dead written scriptures planted churches got up to the third heaven and heard things over there he experienced things almost no other believer experienced and God saw this man is in danger of becoming proud I have to keep him humble so that I never become his enemy and the only way almighty God found to keep Paul humble was by giving him a sickness Paul doesn't tell us what it is he calls it a thorn in the flesh 2 Corinthians 12 he says God gave it to me 2 Corinthians 12 verse 7 God has given me a thorn in the flesh given means it was a gift from God can a thorn be a gift from God can a sickness in my body be a gift from God yes if it keeps me humble if it ensures that God can keep on supporting me if that is the only way to keep me humble thank God for that sickness he calls it a messenger of Satan in the same verse that proves it is definitely a sickness and I pray Lord get rid of this messenger of Satan isn't God going to drive away a messenger of Satan 3 times he prayed and God said no no you need that Paul otherwise you will be proud and then I will become your enemy he says that in verse 7 to keep me from exalting myself Paul you are such a whole hearted brother and you are in danger of spiritual pride Paul would say in my flesh dwells nothing good yes even I was in danger of spiritual pride I want to tell all of you none of us can say we are not in danger of spiritual pride if God is using you I exhort you to keep your face in the dust all the time you are in danger of spiritual pride especially if God is using you more than other people in your area I know God has had to give me a thorn in the flesh more than once sometimes because it pleased him to use me and he sees that I am in danger and I thank God and many times when I am sick I have said Lord you either heal me or give me grace because you didn't remove Paul's sickness you said my grace is enough for you his sickness did not prevent Paul from serving God and no sickness of mine has ever prevented me from serving God okay we have weakness we have sickness but we still serve God I have had fever and gone to speak in a meeting it doesn't stop me from going to the meeting I say Lord either heal me or give me grace if you think healing is better give me healing but if you don't give me healing you have to give me grace one or the other sometimes it's healing sometimes it's grace I leave that choice with God because when I am weak Paul says when I am weak then I have the mighty power of Christ and I have discovered one thing in my life that the weaker I feel in myself the stronger I can experience the mighty power of Christ so that's one reason why God allows sickness now I want to show you in Acts chapter 16 Paul was traveling in Galatia Acts 16 verse 6 he didn't want to stop there Acts 16 verse 6 he was passing through the Phrygian and Galatian region to go somewhere else he was going to Asia but the Holy Spirit stopped him read that verse he was passing through Galatia to go to Asia but the Holy Spirit stopped him that means when he was in Galatia the Holy Spirit stopped him don't go there stay in Galatia now the question is how did the Holy Spirit stop him turn to Galatians Galatia is an area where he planted churches because the Holy Spirit stopped him there he writes later to them Galatians 4 Galatians 4 and verse 13 you know that it was because of a bodily illness that I had that I preached the gospel to you the first time have you read that how did the Holy Spirit stop Paul in Galatia he came to Galatia and he couldn't go he was sick maybe he had severe fever maybe he had diarrhea with all the rotten food you eat in those places and he couldn't move even though Luke the doctor was with him he couldn't help him so he couldn't go Lord why you made me sick you stay here preach here and churches were planted but in Acts it says the Holy Spirit stopped him when I read Galatians I read the Holy Spirit stopped him through a sickness praise the Lord for sickness that helps you to plant a church somewhere it's wonderful and what was the sickness we get a little hint because in the next verse it says my trial which is my sickness my bodily condition you did not despise it verse 14 but you received me as an angel of God still he's talking about a sickness which stopped him in Galatia he says I know verse 15 you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me so I see Paul had some sickness in his eyes which made other people loathe him it says in verse 14 I don't know what it was but maybe he had some sickness in his eyes which always made a drain pus coming out of his eyes or something you know I've thought if I'm a preacher and I'm always standing here and pus is coming out of my eyes all the time and I was thinking imagine I'm a preacher and I have such eyes and the pus is coming out and people look at me and say oh how disgusting I don't want to see that that word in verse 14 despised or despised is a very strong word you did not despise me you saw my condition and you were ready to pluck out your eyes and give them to me I can imagine take this away why should I have this that's to humble you Paul so that people don't worship you so that you'll always be a broken humble person that's how God used the mighty apostle Paul with sickness think of Timothy another mighty servant of God Paul said to the Philippians there's nobody like Timothy he's my best full-time worker you read that in Philippians 2 19-21 what was Timothy's thorn in the flesh 1 Timothy 5 verse 23 don't only drink water but drink a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments he was frequently sick why didn't Paul say come on Timothy claim Jesus as your healer he had already laid hands on Timothy a hundred times perhaps Timothy I prayed for you I laid hands on you I claimed healing you're still sick take some medicine you're frequently sick why does God keep some of his finest servants like this to make them weak so that they can experience his grace so that they can sympathize with other people who are going through sickness so that other people don't admire them and worship them as some type of God so Timothy has got frequent sicknesses he's frequently speaking and frequently lying in bed after that what's wrong with you Timothy oh my stomach aching like anything I've been suffering it for years you mean Jesus can't heal you can't Jesus heal you Timothy says Jesus can certainly heal me but for some wonderful reason he prefers to give me grace and keep my sickness I accept the Lord's will 2 Timothy 4 Paul says in his last letter one of the last words he says verse 20 Erastus remained at Corinth Trophimus I left sick Paul didn't you pray for him oh I certainly did I rebuked the sickness in the name of Jesus but he's still sick he couldn't travel with me he was so sick I had to leave him there doesn't that hinder God's work Paul nothing can hinder God's work Paul would say I remember when I was sick in Galatia and God did a work through me there maybe Trophimus has to fulfill a ministry in Miletus if he was healthy but God made him sick so he had to stay there Philippians chapter 2 it says here about one of my co-workers Paul says his name is Epaphroditus Philippians 2 verse 25 wholehearted brother Epaphroditus my brother fellow worker fellow soldier your messenger and minister what a lot of wonderful titles he gives to this wonderful brother Epaphroditus but it says he was sick verse 26 27 he was sick almost to the point of death it got worse and worse and worse and worse but God had mercy on him and finally healed him when you read these things about Elisha and Paul and his co-workers these are some of the finest servants of God in the Old Testament and the New Testament they did not go around thinking I can claim healing and I'll be healed they prayed and God said my grace is enough for you they accepted it I want to say one more thing there is a lot of teaching today that if somebody has prayed for you they must believe that you are healed even if the pain is there you must say no there is no pain and even if you are sick you must say no no no I am not sick I am healed is there an answer for that in the New Testament yes there is an answer for everything you know the story of a man who was once a blind person Jesus came and touched him we read and his eyes were not open his eyes were not fully open and Jesus asked him can you see and he said no I can't see properly I see men like trees walking we find that in Mark chapter 8 verse 22 a man in Bethsaida there is a blind man and they are begging him to heal him and they take the man out of the city because the city was full of unbelief Jesus took him out of there Mark 8 verse 23 pay attention Jesus laid his hands on that man can there still be sickness if Jesus lays his hands on somebody can there still be a half healing if Jesus lays his hands on him and he asked do you see everything and that man was honest he said I see men like trees walking what did Jesus say if Jesus was like today's Pentecost he would say no don't say that say I am healed say that I can see everything clearly you must confess that you are healed then you will be healed but that would have been forcing him to tell a lie Jesus never made people tell lies Jesus never made people say I am healed when they are not healed that happened only once and that has been written in scripture because the Holy Spirit knew that two thousand years later people will be teaching this type of nonsense that even when you can't see you must say I see clearly otherwise why should there be such an incident written here this type of teaching arose only in the last hundred years and this one incident was written particularly for the twentieth and twenty first century to teach that you never need to confess a lie if you are not healed you have to say I am not healed this man was honest how can God ever ask a man to tell a lie this is Jesus laying hands on a person and he asked can you see he said I can't see this is okay I will pray for you again Jesus had to pray a second time touches him again can you see now now I can see clearly there are so many things like this if you read scripture carefully you will find so much of teaching going on today that is not according to the word of God what about the gift of healing 1 Corinthians chapter 12 1 Corinthians 12 it says to God gives verse 8 to one he gives the word of wisdom to another a word of knowledge to another faith to another gifts of healing verse 30 30 all do not have the gifts of healing do they today there are people going around saying just go and lay hands on people and they will be healed can you see have you read 1 Corinthians 12 verse 30 that all do not have the gifts of healing it is given to some very few maybe one in a million Christians with all those million Christians going around the streets laying hands on people ok you are healed see this has been going on for many years people trying to teach everybody to heal the sick they are really leading people astray from the Lord because so many people imagine they are healed and a little later all those signs come back very often the so called healings are just some little pain in the leg a little lack of hearing or invisible things Jesus did not heal like that Jesus opened the eyes of people who were born blind people who were lame from birth he cut them up this type of fooling people that you see on YouTube and video and all it is all a deception and you know here is the video man taking a photograph this man is supposed to be healing somebody and he did not take it properly so he got to do it again okay I am going to do this again are you sick? he has to act now yes I am sick have you got that video okay? I am going to heal you are you alright now? yes I am alright got it? okay let's go to the next one they take about 50 videos 4 or 5 of them somebody say they are healed what about the other 45 videos? throw them out because people will lose faith if they see 45 people not healed just put on the YouTube the 5 cases that were healed healed of what? healed of what? a little pain in the leg pain in the elbow and there are so many blind stupid Christians watching this and saying wow this is healing shall I mention the names? I won't because Jesus never mentioned names he only said Pharisees Sadducees he never said Ananias Caiaphas I have 1000 videos on YouTube I never mentioned names I follow Jesus example I say deceiving TV evangelists deceiving YouTube evangelists names but you say Paul told Timothy and Titus some names like Hymenaeus and Philetus Hymenaeus Philetus I say yes when I speak to my close coworkers personally I do mention names to them but Paul never mentioned it to the Ephesians or the Corinthians or the Galatians in public he never mentioned anybody you don't need to know names these principles have been adopted by many deceivers through the centuries don't be deceived pursue godliness God will give you enough health to serve him I have experienced that for 50 years in the service of the Lord by the grace of God I have never missed a single meeting due to sickness or any such thing health is better than healing so God can do that for you my brothers I don't understand why some people are born lame my mind is like a cup God's wisdom is like an ocean for some reason why God permits it my mother had five sisters they were nominal Christians my mother was saved and is in heaven but her other sisters I don't know whether they were saved I don't think they were but one of them got cancer very severe cancer as a young lady she admitted in hospital in that severe sickness she turned to the Lord and got saved really born again she died went to heaven the others never got cancer that auntie of mine will thank God with all eternity for cancer that she got I saw that with my own eyes so I have seen that the wisdom of God is way superior to yours and mine well that's not a complete covering of the whole subject of healing I have disobeyed Arian and spoken longer than I took okay this is an important verse James chapter 5 verse 13 to 15 I am an elder in our churches and we always follow this verse James 5 verse 14 is anyone among you sick let him call for the elders of the church read slowly think a man is sick he calls for the elders of the church saying please come home what does that teach us that teaches us he is so sick that he cannot come to the meeting he is not someone coming forward to the front and saying pray for me let him call for the elders of the church this is not somebody who has got a little fever and a cold and came for the meeting and asked for prayer he can ask the Lord to heal him but here is somebody who is so sick he is lying in bed at home and he calls the elders please come and they come to his house and they pray for him taking some oil which is a symbol of the Holy Spirit saying this body is the temple of the Holy Spirit we anoint him in the oil in the name of the Lord and the prayer of faith will restore the sick now my question here is who is praying it is not the sick man who is praying the elder is praying the elder is praying and if he has faith he will heal and Romans chapter 12 says each of us has got a different level of faith like children in different grades in the school first grade, second grade third grade, tenth grade I can only pray according to the level of my faith and according to the level of my faith that man will be healed if it is beyond the level of my faith I don't have faith for the healing but I can never blame him and say because you don't have faith you are not healed that is not what is written here there are cases where Jesus said you don't have faith so he can't heal you well that's alright Jesus can say that but here I can't say that it is the elder who is praying and the prayer of if he has faith he will be healed and if the person is not healed we have to say the elder is maybe in the first grade he does not have that much faith I have done that many times every time if somebody is so sick at home you know I will tell you a recent case there was a young girl in our church who was very seriously sick in hospital what is the name of that sickness the blood what Rachel Babus daughter had blood it is the sickness of the blood which my wife who is a doctor says she has never seen anybody healed septicemia ok septicemia and she was so seriously sick in the hospital I went to see her and her parents and my wife had gone out to consult with the doctors and I sat there with this little girl the water swelling up in her in her legs and coming up up to the lungs and she said uncle Zach can you please read take the picture bible and read I said sure where do you want me to read read where the next chapter my mother finished the previous chapter so I think a paper was there I turned to that chapter where till then she had read I said ok let me read this is Jesus going to the house of Jairus to raise up her little daughter from the dead I said wow this is for you my girl it looks as if you are so serious you may die here is a promise you yourself asked me to read this I am going to pray for you this thing I didn't choose this passage God opened this passage for me I am going to believe that Jesus will touch you as well he who touched Jairus' daughter will touch you and we asked the church to pray it's not just my prayer I don't believe in my prayer alone I believe in a body Jesus was one body today the body is the church so we pray as a church and the girl was healed completely perfectly healthy to me it was pretty close to raising the dead the prayer of the church I have seen other cases there was another case of another lady who was almost given up for dead because she was breathing with asthma and severe problem the doctors gave up hope prayed in the church and God raised her up there are other cases where we prayed nothing happened person died I prayed I laid hands on them prayed they died some type of cancer I don't lose faith I say Lord I am not Jesus Christ if Jesus was here he would do so many things I cannot do his faith was infinite the principle is according to your faith be it unto you someone whose faith is infinite like Jesus anybody who touches he will be healed but Jesus did not pray for everyone he listened to the Father he went to the pool of Bethesda you read in John 5 so many multitude of sick people lying there Jesus is in touch with his Father Father all these hundreds of sick people shall I heal all of them Father says no that man lying there he has been sick for 38 years heal him Jesus heals him anybody else Father Father says no go all the other sick are there who said that Jesus healed everybody and now I will tell you another example in Acts chapter 3 we read of a man who was sitting in that beautiful gate of the temple and the Bible says he was lying there for 40 years begging for money and Peter came and he asked for money Peter said I don't possess any money Acts 3 verse 6 but I give you what I have in the name of Jesus Christ rise up and walk he got up and walked what is the result we read here in Acts 4 verse 4 5000 people came to know the Lord because they knew this man has been lying there for 40 years and he is jumping up and walking 5000 people got converted I want to tell you something before Peter came there for 3 years Jesus walked through that beautiful gate of the temple every time it must have been 50 times he went through that gate and he saw that man Jesus please give me some money Jesus never healed immediately Father what shall I do don't heal him give him money so Jesus said Judas give him some money goes on next week Jesus comes by the temple again that man says Jesus give me some money Father should I heal him Jesus says no ok Judas give him some money that happened for 3 years now tell me supposing Jesus had disobeyed the Father and healed him you know the result 5000 people would not have been converted later on you see how we have to heal according to the will of God a lot of people don't understand that you have to be so much in touch with God through the Holy Spirit before you go around praying for the sick people act like magicians they are going around here and laying their hands on people Jesus never did that you study the scripture carefully you see all these things and here is a classic case how Jesus could have hindered 5000 people from getting saved by healing somebody before God's time I could spend many hours here talking about healing the sick but I leave that to you to study the scriptures remember God is a good God his basic will is that we should be healthy and if we are sick let's trust him to give us grace and we must not be afraid to use medicines medicines are chemicals and plants in which God has put healing properties they are foods good for our body so use medicines God has given us doctors who have wisdom and one last thing I will say if you live in the will of God you cannot die before your time not by cancer not by car accident not by plane accident nothing God has numbered the days you have to have on earth present your body as a living sacrifice to God and you will live right up until your last day it may not be in perfect health but you will do the will of God let's pray Heavenly Father please help us to honor you thank you that you have given us bodies with which we can serve you give us health the measure of health we need to serve you pray in Jesus name Amen Thank you