209: HOW TO RECEIVE YOUR HEALING

Nr. 209:

HOW TO RECEIVE YOUR HEALING

On the Jericho road sat a blind man named Bartimaeus. He was a beggar. Bartimaeus had heard how Jesus had healed the sick, opened the blind eyes, and caused the dumb tongues to praise the Lord. But this was his first opportunity to meet Christ. When Bartimaeus learned that Jesus was passing by, he cried out, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me (Mark 10:47). Bartimaeus had met with no opposition as, day by day; he sat by the road, cup in hand. People never meet with opposition as long as they suffer and are patient in their afflictions. But when one begins to cry out to Christ for help - pressing his way through to victory - all Satan's forces are turned upon him in opposition. However, greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4). Jesus said, I give you power...over all the power of the enemy (Luke 10: 19). Do not be defeated. Christ within you is greater than the power of the enemy that is in the world.

Do not give up-be persistent

The moment Bartimaeus cried out to the Lord for help, many charged him that he should hold his peace (Mark 10:48). They were trying their best to, discourage Bartimaeus from receiving his healing.

Notice the faith of Bartimaeus (verse 48). He would not be discouraged. He was determined to have his eye's opened. He knew that Jesus was the only one who could help. The more people tried to discourage him the louder he cried, Thou son of David, have mercy on me.

When Jesus saw that Bartimaeus would not be discouraged, He stopped and commanded him to be called. When they brought him to Jesus, He said to him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? Bartimaeus replied, Lord, that I might receive my sight.

Then Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way (Mark 10:52).

Had Bartimaeus listened to the people, he would have been turned away and never been healed.

God is the rewarder of them that diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). One must not be discouraged. A real determination to persist until victory comes is very important. If a person has prayed through to real victory before he enters the prayer line, nothing will discourage him. He will press right on until he receives healing.

Remember Calvary

David said, Bless the LORD, O my soul and forget not all his benefits (Psalm 103:2). That means, "remember all His benefits." To be reminded of all God's benefits, we must go back to Calvary. The benefits mentioned by David include forgiveness of all sins and healing of all diseases - not part of our sins or part of our diseases, but ALL - every sin and every disease! This is the benefit of Calvary.

Seven hundred years before Calvary, Isaiah looked forward to the cross. Upon that cross he saw a man dying – shedding His blood - for the sins of the world. But He was dying with His back bruised and bleeding from the stripes, which He bore that we might be set free from sickness as well as sin. Speaking as he was moved by the Holy Ghost, Isaiah cried out in Prophetic utterance, He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed (Isaiah 53:3-5). So, at Calvary, we are healed by His stripes.

Sixty years after Calvary, the Apostle Peter declared, Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed (I Peter 2:24).

What difference does it make whether it is sixty years after Calvary or nineteen hundred years after Calvary? Time cannot change God's eternal Word. The fact remains that, at Calvary, ye were healed! The work was finished there. All God asks us to do is to believe it, then receive it.

Only as a sinner believes in Calvary for the atonement of his soul can he receive salvation from sin. And only as you, dear sick and suffering friend, believe in the stripes can you receive healing for your body. Jesus Christ shed His blood to atone for all sins. The sufferings of His body were not for that purpose.

Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot (1 Peter 1: 18,19).

In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace (Ephesians 1:7).

For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood [not the flesh] that maketh an atonement for the soul (Leviticus 17:1 1).

Christ did not suffer in His body for our sins. He shed His blood for that. The stripes were for our healing! David says so. Isaiah says so. Peter says so. Christ himself says that it is so and that should be sufficient.

Thanks be to God for Calvary! At Calvary, we find atonement for the soul. But we cannot stop there, for that is merely half of the benefits of Calvary. The other half is healing for the physical body.

Many today have forgotten His benefits. Many remember part of His benefits, but they have forgotten the part that provides deliverance for our physical bodies. As far as they are concerned, they make the sufferings of Christ to be in vain. Paul refers to this very thing when he tells us why Christians are sick. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep [die prematurely] (I Corinthians 11:30). The cause is found in verse 29 - failure to discern the Lord's body. That is, not understanding, or failing to remember that His body was bruised and broken so we could be healed. In this scripture, Paul is referring to the sacrament. Going back to the teaching of Christ on this same subject, we find that Jesus took bread and blessed it and brake it and gave it to the disciples. He said, Take, eat, this is my body (Matthew 26:26). In verses 27 and 28, He took the cup, and gave thanks and gave it unto them saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. Here Christ shows a distinction between the body and the blood. This distinction is the reason that both the bread and the wine are included in the symbolism of the sacrament. The wine symbolizing the blood shed for our sins and the bread symbolizing the body broken for the healing of our sicknesses. Failing to discern the Lord's body (see 1 Corinthians 11:29) means forgetting half of Calvary's benefits - failing to remember that it was by His stripes that ye are healed (see Isaiah 53:5). No wonder so many were weak and sickly in the church at Corinth. They neglected the provision God had made for their healing. And it is for this same reason that many Christian people are weak and sick today. They have forgotten the benefits of Calvary.

Jesus’ last words on the cross, before He gave up the ghost, were, It is finished (John 19:30). What did He mean? He meant just this: He had borne the sins of the world and carried its sorrows. Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses (Matthew 8:17).

Since Christ bore your sicknesses, you no longer have to be sick. You can be released from sin and sickness by remembering that Christ finished your redemption from both - once and for all - at Calvary.

It's time to be healed!

Now you are ready to come for prayer, believing that the moment hands are laid upon you in Jesus' name, according to His word, you, shall recover. For Jesus said, These signs shall follow them that believe...they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover (Mark 16:17,18). Also remember that James said, The prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up.

The moment hands are laid upon you, remember Calvary and claim every one of its benefits. Begin, by faith, to act healed. Start doing the things your affliction kept you from doing.

It is important to recognize that the one who is laying hands upon the sick is doing so under divine authority. Remember that this believer has been authorized by Christ to loose you from your infirmities. Christ has given him power and authority over your affliction. He is acting under divine commission. Christ himself said, Behold, I give unto you power...over all the power of the enemy (Luke 10:19). He...gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases (Luke 9:1).

The man of God who is to bring deliverance to you has full faith in Calvary's victory over Satan. He believes in the power of the blood to cleanse from sin. And he believes in the power of the broken body of Christ to set you free from sickness. He believes it because God, who cannot lie, said, These signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues...they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover! (Mark 16:17,18). He knows that, in the name of Jesus, Satan must retreat. By faith, he can bind, rebuke, and command Satan to remove the affliction, in the name of Jesus, and Satan must respect that name! And the victory at Calvary applies to your case. So what is the next step?

Believe

Just simply believe! Believing is faith. Faith does not just know that God is able. Faith is believing that God does it. You believe it simply because God said He would do it, and you know that God cannot lie.

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews I 1: 1). Faith is reaching out into the unseen, getting hold of that which is not, and holding on until it becomes that which is. Faith is believing that we possess that which we cannot see or feel. Although it is as yet unseen and unfelt, we believe it is already done. This kind of faith brings deliverance!

Believe, even though you are in pain. Believe, even though you have tried to walk and could not! Keep on believing and trying to act upon your faith. It is believing that drives out the pain and brings you forth from your bed.

The unbeliever says, "Let me feel and I will believe."

God says, "Believe, and I will let you feel."

Real faith is believing without being able to feel. We are healed according to our faith, not according to our feeling. Feeling comes after faith has been exercised. So do not look for feeling, look for healing!

Faith for healing is believing absolutely that we are healing in spite of such things as weakness or pain. It is simply believing that we already have the thing for which we prayed before we see it or feel it. This is exactly what John meant when he said, This is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him (1 John 5:14,15).

Faith without works is dead (James 2:20). In other words, faith that doesn't work is dead. Since real faith is alive, it is active faith. It works - it acts. When you absolutely believe that by His stripes you were heard, you begin to act on God's word. Joy comes into your heart as the realization of what God has done for you sweeps over your soul. Faith always brings rejoicing. As you rejoice in your victory, stand upon your feet! Rise up, in Jesus' name, and walk! Do the thing that you could not do. Leave your wheelchair. Throw away your crutches. Walk and run and leap for joy! Speak! Hear! See out of obscurity and darkness. Do it in Jesus' name. Because you believe, you are healed and you can and will do the things you could not do.

Act your faith

Step out on the promise of God. Quit talking about your faith and begin to act your faith. If you have real faith, you won't have to tell people about it - they can see it.

Four men brought a palsied friend to Jesus to be healed. They had faith that could be seen. And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee (Luke 5:20).

People who have real faith act, instead of bragging and talking. Do not declare that you have "all the faith in the world," when you are still sick and afflicted. If you have that much faith, you ought to be bringing deliverance to the multitudes of sick and suffering people!

Do not say, "If I can only believe." Leave the "if" out. Quit "trying to believe." Simply believe and act on the Word of God. Be ye DOERS of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves (James 1:22).

Talk about your healing. Talk about the goodness of God. Talk about God's promises. Quote every scripture promise of healing you know.

Do not talk about your failure and defeat. Quit talking about your doubts. Quit talking about your pains. Throw away your medicines. Quit telling people what a wonderful job the devil has done of blinding you with sickness. Quit glorifying the devil and testifying to his power.

Speak of your faith in God's promises. Tell people what a wonderful work the Lord Jesus has done in making you whole and driving away the power of Satan. Let your testimony glorify God. We overcome the devil by the word of our testimony (see Revelation 12:1 1).

At this point, someone might say, "But Brother Allen, I have pain." The pain declares that the sickness is not healed. But we care not what your pain declares or what your feelings say. God's Word says by his stripes ye were healed! God's Word declares one thing. Your pain declares another. Which are you going to believe - God's Word or your pain? What do you declare? What is your testimony? This is what it should be: "BY HIS STRIPES I AM HEALED!"

Some might think this is a lie, but it is not, for God's Word cannot lie.

Many times, after a person has gone through a healing line, a friend or loved one who is standing close by will ask, "How do you feel? Do you really feel any better? Can you hear out of that ear now?" They are unaware of the fact that they are helping the devil.

Don't let the devil make you think or talk in terms of what you feel, unless your feelings agree with what God says. Feelings are good if they agree with the Word of God. But God's Word is greater than your feelings. If your feelings do not yet agree with the Word of God, ignore them. Refuse to speak of them. Quote God's Word instead. Stand on it by faith and tell those who ask, "By His stripes I am healed."

You do not have to lie about your pains. It is wrong to lie. Do not say, "The pain is gone," when the pain is still there. Do not say, "I can hear everything clearly," when you cannot. If you feel bad, it is a lie to say, "I feel good." If you still have pain, don’t lie about it - just refuse to discuss it. Quote God's Word, for it is truth. Real faith must be based exclusively upon the Word of God. You are not to believe that you are healed because the pain is gone. And you shouldn't refuse to believe that you are healed because you still feel the pain. That pain has nothing to do with your faith. Feeling is not faith and faith is not feeling. Faith is believing that you are healed because God says that you are healed!

If a person should say, "I believe I got healed because the pain is gone," that person would immediately lose faith should any sign of that pain return. Then he would say, I thought that I was healed, but I was not. The pain is back again."

Faith is never afraid to take a stand with the Word of God. Let God be true and every man a liar (Romans 3:4). If our feelings do not agree with what God say, then our feelings lie. A person who walks by faith ignores the testimony of his senses, unless it agrees with the Word of God.

Make this your testimony: "God says it is done. I believe it...it is done! It is finished. I am healed because God, who cannot lie, declares that I am healed!"

This is the way to receive healing. It comes, not by feeling, but by faith. If you follow these steps, God guarantees to heal you!