Jesus Our Divine Healer-2

내 영혼아 여호와를 송축하라 내 속에 있는 것들아 다 그 성호를 송축하라 ² 내 영혼아 여호와를 송축하며 그 모든 은택을 잊지 말찌어다 ³ 저가 네 모든 죄악을 사하시며 네 모든 병을 고치시며 ⁴ 네 생명을 파멸에서 구속하시고 인자와 긍휼로 관을 씌우시며 ⁵ 좋은 것으로 네 소원을 만족케 하사 네 청춘으로 독수리 같이 새롭게 하시는도다….⁸ 여호와는 자비로우시며 은혜로우시며 노하기를 더디 하시며 인자하심이 풍부하시도다. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! ² Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, ³ who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, ⁴ who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, ⁵ who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. ⁶ The LORD works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. ⁷ He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel. ⁸ The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. (Ps. 103:1-5, 8)

예수께서 산에서 내려 오시니 허다한 무리가 좇으니라 ² 한 문둥병자가 나아와 절하고 가로되 주여 원하시면 저를 깨끗케 하실 수 있나이다 하거늘 ³ 예수께서 손을 내밀어 저에게 대시며 가라사대 내가 원하노니 깨끗함을 받으라 하신대 즉시 그의 문둥병이 깨끗하여진지라 ⁴ 예수께서 이르시되 삼가 아무에게도 이르지 말고 다만 가서 제사장에게 네 몸을 보이고 모세의 명한 예물을 드려 저희에게 증거하라 하시니라. When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. ² And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, "Lord, if you will, you can make me clean." ³ And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, "I will; be clean." And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. ⁴ And Jesus said to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof to them." (Matt. 8:1-4)

FCF: We tend not to believe Jesus as a Healer.

주제: 예수님은 우리의 치유자 하나님이시기에 치유를 위해서 예수님을 의지해야 합니다.

Theme: Because Jesus is our divine Healer, we should rely on Jesus for healing. 

Introduction: A nine-year-old girl cried for help out of extreme pain caused by Wilms tumor. Nine out of 10 children are cured by medical treatments. However, she was not given any medical treatment. Her father forced her to pray for healing. She was crying and wriggling in pain. But her dad refused to let her receive any medical help. As a result, she passed away in extreme pain. Her dad said she was with the Lord, which was good for her. He could have let her live in good health for the rest of her life if he had allowed her to receive medical help necessary to treat Wilms tumor. However, he kept trying to indoctrinate her that God would heal her if she had a faith great enough to impress God. He believed in divine healing for the faithful. But he was mistaken for believing medical treatments were against God’s will. In fact, I believed the same thing: if I have faith without any bit of doubt, God would heal me of diabetes. So, I quit taking insulin. I kept saying myself I was healed by faith. I was emaciated. I couldn’t stand by myself. I was always extremely thirsty. The more I ate, the more I lost weight. My parents were worried. My doctor said I should take insulin. But I refused to take it, believing relying on medicine was against God’s will. I vividly remember those old days I suffered foolishly due to my mistaken faith.

            What kind of faith do you have for divine healing? Do you believe you do not need God’s healing because you have doctors for your illnesses? Do you believe you need to have perfect faith so that you can experience God’s healing hand? Or do you believe a gift of divine healing has ceased since after the apostolic period? The Bible teaches Christ is our Divine Healer. This doesn’t necessarily mean that every disease of yours will be healed and your suffering of any disease indicates lack of your faith. As I said last Sunday, what matters is we should rely on Jesus for health and healing because Jesus is our divine Healer. Too many diseases and too much pain surround us throughout lifetime. All of us know what it means to suffer painful illnesses. Today, everybody wishes to live a healthy life. People value health more than anything else in life. Health seems to take the place of God among people. Without doubt, health is one of the most important things in life. As far as far health is concerned, God wants us to live a healthy and sound life by faith in Jesus Christ. In reality, however, we may suffer a variety of illnesses throughout our lives. Healing stories in the Gospels teach us who Jesus is and what He does for us. Also, they teach us to rely on Jesus Christ for health and healing. In life and death, we belong to Jesus Christ. We live by faith in Him for all things in life, including our health. Last Lord’s Day, we covered the first two points: 1) rely on Jesus’ compassion and 2) rely on Jesus’ willingness. Today, let’s look into the third point. Thirdly,

I.               예수님의 긍휼을 의지하라.

Rely on Jesus’ compassion.

II.             예수님의 흔쾌히 하시는 마음을 의지하라.

Rely on Jesus’ willingness.

III.           Rely on Jesus’ healing power.

예수님의 치유 능력을 의지하라.

Let’s look into the characteristics of Jesus’ healing power. He touched the leper. His touch was not only human but also divine because He was perfect Man and perfect God. His touch was not only loving touch, but also transforming touch. So, His divine power was working through His hand. His hand represents God’s power, who creates, restores, and transforms everything. When He touched the leper and said, “I will. Be clean.” The divine healing power was immediately manifested to the leper. He was immediately cleansed. There was no process of healing. It was an instantaneous healing. The divine power of healing eradicated the root of leper. He was completely restored. We see here Jesus’ healing power manifested through His divine hand and word, which reveals Jesus as the Son of God. There is nothing that can resist the powerful hand and word of Jesus. His divine hand is a hand of the Creator. His divine word is a word of the Creator. All of us agree Jesus possessed divine power. We have no problem with believing the historicity of the healing story here in the text. But if Jesus asks us this way, “Do you believe I can heal any of your diseases?” If you are healthy, you can easily say, “Lord, yes, you can” because you don’t need to test your faith in Jesus’ healing power. You don’t need to apply it to yourself right away. However, if you have an incurable disease such as terminal stage-cancer, how would you answer the Lord? Or if you suffer something you need to take medicine for your treatment or ease of pain, how would you answer Him?

We can be assured of the Lord’s divine power which worked for others when we hear a lot of miraculous testimonies. But if we try to apply the Lord’s divine healing power to our cases, we may feel hesitant to say “Yes, Lord, you can immediately heal me.” Even though we say affirmatively because we wish to be healed, what would we say if nothing happens after we say “Yes” to the Lord. Is the same healing power for the leper applicable to all of our diseases? From this story, can we draw a conclusion that Jesus will definitely heal us of all kinds of illnesses? Even though we may affirm Jesus’ divine power, we can’t be sure whether the Lord will instantly bring us healing as we wish or pray. If the Lord wills us to be healed as seen in the case of the leper, we will be healed. But we are not sure of the Lord’s specific will. But we know He wants us to rely on Him as our divine healer. What we need to do is to obey Him and rely on His promises. The Lord still says, 너희가 내 안에 거하고 내 말이 너희 안에 거하면 무엇이든지 원하는 대로 구하라 그리하면 이루리라. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you (Jn. 15:7). What a wonderful promise!

Our primary problem is lack of faith, due to which we don’t even try such a wonderful promise. Many don’t really believe what Jesus has promised and what He can do, not knowing what He will do. If they do not believe Him revealed in the Bible, they try to believe Him as they wish or in the way they desire. So, they create their own Jesus according to their own images. They limit His power. They adjust the Jesus of the Bible to their own levels or understanding. So, they are truly not believing the Jesus of the Bible. We must believe the Jesus of the Bible. We must ask Him to do according to His will. We can pray that He should do His will for God’s glory. We must bring all our diseases to Jesus and ask for His mercy. He must remind Him of His promises and ask Him to do according to His promises. Here we must trust His divine love and power. Even when we remain unhealed, we must continue to trust Him as we ought to. We shouldn’t doubt His goodness and power. Whether we are healed or unhealed, Jesus deserves our trust and devotion.

We must affirm Jesus is not one of the healers in the world. There have been a number of people who performed an act of miraculous healing for those suffering from incurable diseases. They were known as faith healers. Some were given a gift of healing whereby they performed great things for people. They had a great number of followers and enjoyed popularity. Wherever they went, the invalids flocked together around them to be picked up by them and experience miraculous healings. Unfortunately, they became idolized and went corrupt with sexual or monetary scandals. So, people in general condemn such faith healers and regard them as religious charlatans. We should be careful of such prosperity, wealth and health gospellers, who claim to have healing gifts and ask for money. They argue we will be healed of any diseases if we have faith. They fail to consider God’s providence under which we may suffer illnesses. They simply regard a disease as a curse and health as a blessing. But under God’s providence, a disease may be a blessing and health may be a curse. There are a lot of healthy people who forget God and live for their own pleasures. They are a lot of Christians suffering from all kinds of disease who are faithful to the Lord. God uses all things, including diseases and health, for His glory and our good. Therefore, we should not follow the lies of false prosperity gospellers.  

On the other hand, the majority of people seek help only from authorized doctors. They never resort to God for healing. They regard it as superstitious. They just want something scientifically proven and approved. They are not wrong for seeking medical help. But excluding divine healing is wrong. God heals people through His supernational power. Also, He heals us through medical doctors. All things are under God’s sovereign control. So, God’s healing is not limited to God’s supernational, direct healing. God allows us to seek every possible medical means for healing, expecting us to be thankful for any type of healing. If we are healed of a bad cold by cold medicine, we should turn credit to God for healing and give thanks to Him. If we are healed of incurable cancer by God’s direct intervention, we are to be thankful to God for it. 

No healing and unanswered prayers do not refer to God’s powerlessness or God’s lack of love. They are related to God’s mysterious will, which we don’t understand. A twenty-seven-year-old daughter was dying with fullness for trust of God, whereas her mother couldn’t understand why God was taking her. Her daughter was so faithful that she never complained against God because of her excruciating painfulness. She didn’t want to bargain with God for healing. She simply trusted God and committed her destiny to God’s will. She rested in God through her pain. We see here how God’s merciful power worked within her soul. The power of divine love transformed her fear into her fearlessness even before death. But her mother couldn’t understand why God was not healing her despite all the prayers of her church. She even asked God to take her rather than her daughter. She was a nominal Christian. She admitted even the last night her daughter died she dozed off. She was disappointed with herself because she couldn’t even be awake while her daughter was slowly dying. God said to her heart, “If I take you rather than your daughter, I will take you to hell. You are not ready yet. That’s why I am taking your daughter.” She really came to know she was a sinner who needed to be forgiven by the blood of Christ. God’s power was working in her soul.

We are likely to focus on healing itself or God’s healing power itself. But God’s power works in many different ways. It heals our weak bodies. Also, it heals our sick souls. It works through us to comfort those who suffer. She was able to comfort those parents who lost their children to diseases and accidents. God’s power works through us to comfort those in suffering. Paul says, ³ 찬송하리로다 그는 우리 주 예수 그리스도의 하나님이시요 자비의 아버지시요 모든 위로의 하나님이시며 ⁴ 우리의 모든 환난 중에서 우리를 위로하사 우리로 하여금 하나님께 받는 위로로써 모든 환난 중에 있는 자들을 능히 위로하게 하시는 이시로다. ³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God (2 Cor. 1:3-4). God’s power was revealed in saving the lady from sin and death as He took her daughter to be with Him. God’s power was revealed in her comforting those in suffering with God-given comfort. God works all things out for the good of those whom He loves according to His good pleasure.

God is certainly not powerless. Her daughter was faithful. But it was according to God’s will that she was taken to be with the Lord.. But such things happen according to God’s perfect will at God’s perfect timing. God makes no mistakes. So, we must trust God for who He is and what He does. He must trust God as He is. However, it is hard for us to understand such verses that seem to promise divine healing to us. Surely, we can hold unto them by faith. At the same time, we must surrender ourselves to God’s perfect will, resting in His mercy and love. There are those who are restored to full health by God’s power, as seen in the case of Job. There are those who remain unhealed until they are taken to be with God, as seen in Paul. Paul prayed thrice for healing. But God kept him unhealed so that His power remained with Paul. God kept him unhealed so that Paul remained humble and would rely on God alone. Paul made an amazing statement of faith as follows: ⁷ 여러 계시를 받은 것이 지극히 크므로 너무 자고하지 않게 하시려고 내 육체에 가시 곧 사단의 사자를 주셨으니 이는 나를 쳐서 너무 자고하지 않게 하려 하심이니라 ⁸ 이것이 내게서 떠나기 위하여 내가 세번 주께 간구하였더니 ⁹ 내게 이르시기를 내 은혜가 네게 족하도다 이는 내 능력이 약한데서 온전하여짐이라 하신지라 이러므로 도리어 크게 기뻐함으로 나의 여러 약한 것들에 대하여 자랑하리니 이는 그리스도의 능력으로 내게 머물게 하려함이라 ¹⁰ 그러므로 내가 그리스도를 위하여 약한 것들과 능욕과 궁핍과 핍박과 곤란을 기뻐하노니 이는 내가 약할 그 때에 곧 강함이니라. ⁷ So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. ⁸ Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. ⁹ But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. ¹⁰ For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Cor. 12:7-10).

As we trust God’s power for healing, we must trust God’s providential goodness in which we may continue to suffer illnesses and weaknesses so that we remain humble and rely on God alone. Paul wanted to be with the Lord instead of remaining on earth. But he knew he would be here little longer for the sake of the gospel ministry. Whether on earth or in heaven, he wished to please the Lord. He wished to suffer for the glory of God. Certainly, he healed many by the power of God. He experienced God’s mighty power working through him as he preached the gospel. So, what matters is to trust God revealed in the Bible. We must trust God revealed in the Bible. Oswald Chambers said, “We say—‘If I really could believe!’ The point is—If I really will believe. No wonder Jesus Christ lays such emphasis on the sin of unbelief. “And He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.” If we really believed that God meant what He said—what should we be like! Dare I really let God be to me all that He says He will be?” We must exercise pure faith in the God of love and power.

Indeed, we must pray for divine healing. James says, ¹⁴ 너희 중에 병든 자가 있느냐 저는 교회의 장로들을 청할 것이요 그들은 주의 이름으로 기름을 바르며 위하여 기도할찌니라 ¹⁵ 믿음의 기도는 병든 자를 구원하리니 주께서 저를 일으키시리라 혹시 죄를 범하였을찌라도 사하심을 얻으리라 ¹⁶ 이러므로 너희 죄를 서로 고하며 병 낫기를 위하여 서로 기도하라 의인의 간구는 역사하는 힘이 많으니라. ¹⁴ 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. ¹⁵ And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. ¹⁶ Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working (Jas. 5:14-16). As we pray for healing, we must admit God may keep us unhealed for His divine purposes. We don’t need to say God keep us unhealed due to lack of our faith.

Even with unwavering faith in Christ, we may not experience divine healing. Joni Ericson Tada became quadriplegic on account of a diving accident. She believed she would walk again. She followed the message of faith healers. However, she was unable to walk again. The more she exercised her faith for healing, the more she was depressed by the fact she remained crippled. Afterward, she trusted the Lord and found a reason why she was paralyzed. She found an organization “Joni and Friends” through which she has been ministering to millions of the handicapped and preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to them. On the contrary, a one-time Olympic gold medalist in pole vault, who became wheelchaired by accident, sill was praying for divine healing. Feeling quilt-ridden for his lack of faith for healing, he lived in depression. Instead of accepting his paralysis, he still visualizes his healing by faith. Despite all of his prayers, he still remains wheelchaired. We must remember there is God’s providence in which we may suffer diseases for God’s hidden purposes. Like Paul, we may minister to those suffering illnesses and comfort them with divine comfort.

If we don’t accept this fact, we may spend our precious days wondering why God keep us unhealed. In fact, we may spend days in disappointment with God. Philip Yancey records his disappointment with God in his book  “Disappointed with God” as follows: “Even back then I was searching for hard evidence of God as an alternative to faith. And one day I found it--on television, of all places. While randomly flipping a dial, I came across a mass healing service being conducted by Kathryn Kuhlman. I watched for a few minutes as she brought various people up on the stage and interviewed them. Each one told an amazing story of supernatural healing. Cancer, heart conditions, paralysis--it was like a medical encyclopedia up there. As I watched Kuhlman's program, my doubts gradually melted away. At last, I had found something real and tangible. Kuhlman asked a musician to sing her favorite song, "He Touched Me. That's what I needed, I thought; a touch, a personal touch from God. She held out that promise, and I lunged for it.  

Three weeks later when Kathryn Kuhlman came to a neighboring state, I skipped classes and traveled half a day to attend one of her meetings. The atmosphere was unbelievably charged--soft organ music in the background; the murmuring sound of people praying aloud, some in strange tongues; and every few minutes a happy interruption when someone would stand and claim, "I'm healed!" One person especially make an impression, a man from Milwaukee who had been carried into the meeting on a stretcher. When he walked--yes, walked--onstage, we all cheered wildly. He told us he was a physician, and I was even more impressed. He had incurable lung cancer, he said, and was told he had six months to live. But now, tonight, he believed God had healed him. He was walking for the first time in months. He felt great. Praise God! I wrote down the man's name and practically floated out of that meeting. I had never known such certainty of faith before. My search was over; I had seen proof of a living God in those people on the stage. If he could work tangible miracles in them, then surely he had something wonderful in store for me.  

I wanted contact with the man of faith I had seen at the meeting, so much so that exactly one week later I phoned Directory Assistance in Milwaukee and got the physician's number. When I dialed it, a woman answered the phone. "May I please speak to Dr. S_____," I said. Long silence. "Who are you?" she said at last. I figured she was just screening calls from patients or something. I gave my name and told her I admired Dr. S_____ and had wanted to talk to him ever since the Kathryn Kuhlman meeting. I had been very moved by his story, I said. Another long silence. Then she spoke in a flat voice, pronouncing each word slowly. "My...husband...is...dead." Just that one sentence, nothing more, and she hung up.  I can't tell you how that devastated me. I was wasted. I half-staggered into the next room, where my sister was sitting. "Richard, what's wrong?" she asked. "Are you all right?" No, I was not all right. But I couldn't talk about it. I was crying. My mother and sister tried to pry some explanation out of me. But what could I tell them? For me, the certainty I had staked my life on had died with that phone call. A flame had flared bright for one fine, shining week and then gone dark, like a dying star.”

On what ground do you lay your faith, a physical healing or the person and work of Jesus Christ? I still remembered one of my classmates who suffered leukemia. He was confident he was healed by the Lord. He preached his testimony powerfully. We thanked and praised God for healing him. But after a long summer break, he didn’t come back to school. I asked someone about his status. She said he passed away out of complications of leukemia. Afterwards, I heard several cancer patients who claimed to be healed by the Lord on TV shows and died of cancers later. I couldn’t explain why. They claimed they were healed by faith; but afterwards they died of cancers. Which was wrong, the Lord or they? The Lord can’t be wrong. The Lord never makes mistakes. But people make mistakes. They are likely to trust the certainty of their faith. But they don’t know how feeble they are and their faith are. We can’t trust the certainty of our faith because our faith fluctuates, depending on our external circumstances. We must continue to trust Jesus Christ and all His promises, whether we are healed or not. What matters is our present relationship with Him. Jesus truly loves us and may heal us according to His perfect will. He is powerful enough to heal us, physical and spiritual weaknesses. We should simply commit all of our life to Him because He is good and powerful.

Conclusion: I used to long for healing. When I was a high school senior, I was diagnosed with diabetes. For the first time in life, I felt like dying soon. So, I began to attend church for healing. In the course of time, I met with Jesus as my Savior. I continued to pray for healing but I still have diabetes. For the first five years, I was focused on healing. I declared myself to have been healed by faith. I quit taking insulin. But my condition got worse. Changing my mind, then, I regarded medicine as a gift of God and tried to keep my health by controlling my sugar levels. I have been living with diabetes for 36 years. Now, I don’t live in despair, accepting diabetes as part of my life. I live in forgetfulness of my diabetes. Of course, I still ask the Lord for healing when I feel weak and sick. But I neither doubt nor complain against the Lord even though I remain unhealed of diabetes. Due to my diabetes, I rather try to live in reliance on the Lord alone rather than myself. In fact, I can’t deny God’s providence under which I came to know the Lord through diabetes. Though I have forgotten about healing, I would come to think of healing each time I read healing stories in the Gospels. I would long for divine healing every time I see people suffering from sicknesses at church. Jesus is the same yesterday, and today, and forever.

We can’t argue that we don’t need divine healing in this modern world of advanced medical knowledge though the Lord performed a lot of healing miracles for ancient people who had no medical benefits. Healing miracles in the Gospels offer the evidence that Jesus is Christ the Son of God. Nonetheless, who can say that Jesus’ divine healing no longer occurs on account of modern medical developments? Should believers today really pray for divine healing? The apostle James exhorts us to pray for one another that we may be healed (James 4:14-16). Prayer for divine healing never implies that we are to reject modern medicine to receive divine healing. Modern medical developments are under God’s sovereign control. So, we must receive them by faith. At the same time, we should appeal to the Lord’s love and power by faith for all diseases, including incurable diseases modern medicine can’t cure. We must pray the Lord’s will should be done. Whether we are healed or not, we must rely on the Lord’s absolute goodness and faithfulness. And we must let our maladies deepen our relationship with the Lord rather than destroy them. It is because in life and death, we belong to the Lord. Certainly, the Lord heals us by the power of love. This is what we must unquestionably believe with all sincerity. We must trust the Jesus of compassion, willingness, power, and love. So, Jesus Christ deserves our unwavering trust and joyful worship. Let’s repent of lack of faith and pray for divine healing. Let’s trust the Jesus of the Bible in life and death. I want to leave you with the following scripture: 그가 찔림은 우리의 허물을 인함이요 그가 상함은 우리의 죄악을 인함이라 그가 징계를 받음으로 우리가 평화를 누리고 그가 채찍에 맞음으로 우리가 나음을 입었도다. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed (Isa. 53:5).         

Benediction: ²⁴ 여호와는 네게 복을 주시고 너를 지키시기를 원하며 ²⁵ 여호와는 그 얼굴로 네게 비취사 은혜 베푸시기를 원하며 ²⁶ 여호와는 그 얼굴을 네게로 향하여 드사 평강 주시기를 원하노라. ²⁴ The LORD bless you and keep you; ²⁵ the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; ²⁶ the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace (Num. 6:24-26).