Let Him That Is Healed Glorify God
The sermon emphasizes the importance of divine healing and its role in bringing us into living contact with God, leading to a life of consecration and joy.
Andrew Murray emphasizes the importance of glorifying God after experiencing healing, contrasting divine healing with healing through earthly remedies. He argues that while sickness may lead to a deeper communion with God, true healing is a manifestation of God's power and should inspire a profound response of gratitude and worship. Murray encourages those healed by faith to recognize their healing as a divine act that transforms their lives into temples for God. The joy of healing is not just physical but also spiritual, leading to a life dedicated to glorifying God in all aspects.
Text
''He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God'' (Acts 3:8).
It is a prevalent idea that holiness is easier in sickness than in health; that silence and suffering incline the soul to seek the Lord and enter into communion with Him better than in the distractions of active life. For these reasons, sick people hesitate to ask for healing from the Lord; for they say to themselves, How can we know whether sickness may not be better for us than health? To think this way is to ignore that healing and its fruits are divine. Sickness can glorify God only in the measure in which it gives occasion to manifest His power (John 9:3; 11:4).
Why should those who have been healed in answer to the prayer of faith glorify the Lord more than those who have been healed through earthly remedies? Here is the reason: Healing by means of medicine shows us the power of God in nature, but it does not bring us into living and direct contact with Him, while divine healing is an act proceeding from God, without anything but the Holy Spirit.
In the latter case, contact with God is the thing that is essential, and it is for this reason that examination of the conscience and the confession of sin should be the preparation for it. When the Lord heals the body it is that He may take possession of it and make it a temple that He may dwell in. The joy that then fills the soul is indescribable; it is not only the joy of being healed, but it is also joy mingled with humility and a holy enthusiasm that realizes the touch of the Lord and that receives new life from Him. In the exuberance of his joy, the healed one exalts the Lord, glorifies Him by word and deed, and his life is consecrated to God.
(Excerpted from The Andrew Murray Daily Reader in Today's Language, pg. 247)
Sermon Outline
- The Idea of Holiness in Sickness
- The Importance of Divine Healing
- The Joy and Consecration of the Healed
- The joy of being healed is mixed with humility and holy enthusiasm
- The healed one exalts the Lord, glorifies Him by word and deed, and their life is consecrated to God
Key Quotes
“Healing by means of medicine shows us the power of God in nature, but it does not bring us into living and direct contact with Him” — Andrew Murray
“When the Lord heals the body it is that He may take possession of it and make it a temple that He may dwell in” — Andrew Murray
“In the exuberance of his joy, the healed one exalts the Lord, glorifies Him by word and deed, and his life is consecrated to God” — Andrew Murray
Application Points
- As we seek healing, we should examine our conscience and confess our sins to prepare for divine healing.
- Divine healing is not just physical, but also spiritual, bringing us into living contact with God.
- The result of divine healing is a life consecrated to God, with joy, humility, and holy enthusiasm.