Jesus at the Center of Freedom
Physical Healing •Message 3
Bryan Jones
February 4, 2024
A. Introduction
(Luke 4:18-19)
As we continue our series, Jesus at the Center of Freedom, we are looking at what ministries Jesus had in Luke chapter 4. In Luke chapter 4, we have been showing that Jesus doesn’t just want to save you for heaven, but He wants to help you on earth, but most people don’t know what that means…
So in Luke chapter 4 there are 4 things we see Jesus doing:
- Inner peace/emotional healing
- Breaking strongholds
- Physical healing
- Salvation
Today we are looking at the one people struggle with most… the physical healing…
Luke 4:18-19 (NLT)
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
for He has anointed Me to bring Good News to the poor.
He has sent Me to proclaim that captives will be released,
that the blind will see,
that the oppressed will be set free,
and that the time of the LORD’S favor has come.”
The one we tend to struggle with the most, or the one people are most confused by, is physical healing. Some commentators say that Jesus spent 1/3 of his ministry healing people. No one would deny Jesus’ healing people but what about now? Is healing still a part of our ministry? Does it still happen today?
Thomas Jefferson who was the 3rd president of the United States of America, did something that became known as the Jefferson bible. He took a razor-sharp pen knife and cut out all the passages of Jesus’ miracles and the supernatural in the Bible. He kept the teachings of Jesus and the wisdom of Jesus, but he tore out what he struggled with.
Now, I don’t know many people who would physically tear out parts of the Bible, but I wonder if mentally you have skimmed over or cut out mentally certain parts of the Bible. The church is sometimes painfully silent on the miraculous or supernatural side of Jesus because it’s often complex and uncomfortable… So let’s talk about it… And today I want to simply answer some questions to help us…
B. Physical Healing
- Does physical healing still happen?
(1 Corinthians 2:4; 4:20; Ephesians 1:17; 1 Thessalonians 1:5)
There are really two camps…
- Cessationism – Miraculous gifts ceased after the Bible was created (tongues, healing, prophecy and miracles).
- Continuationism – Miraculous gifts are still in continuation today. Now, there are variations of people in this camp… I have heard several people say that they are a charismatic with a seatbelt. Or a bapticostal…
But I want to tell you why I believe the gifts of the Holy Spirit are still in operation today… Why I believe miracles still happen… and it goes along with what I mentioned last week…
I preached on this at Jesus in the Center of the Church (encourage you to go and listen to it) … but Paul calls the church of Thessalonica a model church… If something is a model, then Jesus wants us to continue that…. So why was it a model church…
1 Thessalonians 1:5 (NIV)
because our Gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake.
Gospel went forth in word and power…
The Gospel is two pedals on a bicycle. It goes forth in word, which is theology, and it goes forth in power—which is salvation, deliverance, healings.
This is what it says… It was a word and power church… and that’s what I believe God has called us to be…
Word
This is doctrine, theology, creeds, wisdom, and knowledge; it’s training, and classes. It’s truth. I want more of this. I want more people to learn the truth of God so they don’t fall away from faith, or get swept up with false beliefs
Ephesians 1:17 (NLT)
asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God.
Power
This is miracles, it’s signs, and wonders, it’s an outpouring of the Holy Spirit; it’s the supernatural. I want more of this… I want encounters with God that would cause our faith to awaken to deeper levels, that would cause the cynicism and the secularism in the church to shut down because people can’t deny God’s at work…
Listen to what the Bible says about the power of God…
1 Corinthians 2:4 (NIV)
My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,
1 Corinthians 4:20 (NIV)
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.
See, there are two wings on an airplane… to fly right, you need both… Or it’s two peddles on a bicycle. It turns out you really need both to go forward.
God called us to be a word and power, a word and power, a word and power church, amen… We aren’t going to neglect one for the other.
- What is the purpose of miracles?
(Luke 7:16; John 2:11)
John 2:11 (NIV)
What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which He revealed His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.
This is important… The reason Jesus performed the miracles was so that He would get the glory.
Listen to what it says after Jesus heals the widow’s son…
Luke 7:16 (NIV)
They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help His people.” This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.
Why doesn’t God heal everyone? Head story of God not healing someone… Cats and mother in laws.. in all seriousness-
I’m going to come back to this, but I want this to free you up… God is some Rubix cube or equation to solve… Physical healing is dependent on God, not on you… I want you to see…
The purpose of the miracles isn’t physical healing it’s the glory of God. People see God at work, and they give Him glory…
I believe God wants to do miracles, church… I believe it.. but here’s why…
I believe God wants to do miracles, not so my faith looks big, but so my Heavenly Father does… Listen, miracles aren’t about magnifying our faith… it’s about magnifying the Father…
Most of us are so concerned about how we will look if we ask for a miracle and it doesn’t happen… But what if we were most concerned with how Jesus looks? Let’s get our eyes on Him…
- How does God heal?
(Matthew 9:1-2; 1 Corinthians 15:54b-55)
This is really important…
God heals by:
- Changing your circumstances. (cancer goes away, anxiety is removed, sickness is gone) He heals, naturally; think about it, white blood cells. He also heals medically, and He heals miraculously.
- Changing you spiritually.
Jonah wasn’t delivered from the belly of the whale; rather, he was delivered in the belly of the whale. The point is some of God’s richest work happens in physical pain or suffering… Do you know why the early church exploded? Because Christians were being killed, but they had joy… They had hope… They had been changed in the persecution and suffering and that change had changed others… The point is sometimes God doesn’t want to change your physical sickness; He wants to change you in… We should always pray for it… always… and what I’ve noticed is that physical healing, when it does happen, is almost always attached to this inner healing…
We are always looking for God to change our circumstances, but often, what He's looking to change us.
Matthew 9:1-2 (NIV)
Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to His own town. Some men brought to Him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”
Notice He starts with changing this man before his circumstances…
Notice Jesus heals this man, but He says, your sins are forgiven. Jesus was interested in this man’s soul… Why? Because life here is temporary but heaven is eternal, and He wants to spend eternity with you…
- The Ultimate (the resurrection is the greatest healing. That’s why Paul says this…)
1 Corinthians 15:54b-55 (NIV)
“Death has been swallowed up in victory.” [Isaiah 25:8]
“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? [Hosea 13:14]
See remember you aren’t made for this earth… You and I have a better home that awaits us… there is no little Jesus boy running around that once healed by Jesus. Physical healing is always temporary, but ultimate healing is available to everyone in Jesus. We can spend an eternity with Him…
When you look at this… Healing always happens if you have faith… God will always do one of these for His followers always…
- How do we pray for physical healing?
(Mark 9:23-24; James 4:2)
When I was in Illinois, I had a guy that I used to golf with… and every time someone would go short on putt, he would say one of the most annoying phrases. If you go short, you miss 100% of the time. Literally, every time… Remember, if you go short, you miss 100% of the time. I just wanted to say, get behind me, Satan… But the truth is I have never forgotten that phrase. Partly because it’s just annoying, but also because it’s true. When I would play with him, I never wanted to hit the ball short because I didn’t want to hear that, but the truth is I made some shots because of that comment…
Remember what Jesus says in James, you don’t have because you don’t ask… [James 4:2]
It seems like Jesus is saying something similar. If you don’t take a shot and pray for people, you will always miss the miracle…
The first thing to ask is God to help your unbelief…
Remember the story of the father asking Jesus to heal his boy… and he says to Jesus if You can… can You heal him?
Mark 9:23-24 (NLT)
What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.”The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”
Ask God to grow your faith… when you doubt anything… His goodness, His power, your future… pause and say this: God, I believe, but help my unbelief…
The other thing is ask God for healing…
The other day, my son was sick, and I prayed. I felt like God said, I’m going to heal him… and I told my wife… and she called me that day and said Tristan was up and at ‘em and it didn’t make sense…
Like when my wife tells me she’s sick… I won’t even hesitate now, I will lay hands and pray healing over her… I don’t give all these theological prayers, like if it’s your will, and if possible… I ask…
You know, my daughter walked up to me the other day, and very boldly, she said, Daddy, get me a cookie… and you know what I said… Ok… She probably shouldn’t have had that cookie, but I love blessing my children. There are times she asks for things, and I say no… But I do know that if she doesn’t ask then she will always miss out on that possibility…
Again, I asked God for healing. Sometimes He does it how I went or when I want, but I don’t get rattled when He doesn’t…
The day I wrote this sermon, almost two months ago… when I wrote it, one of my family members was going to surgery to have cancer removed… The day I was writing this I just felt God say, pray for complete healing… I got a text right after I finished the sermon that the doctor went it and was surprised at how quickly they got the cancer out… I wasn’t surprised because God heals naturally, medically and miraculously, and I think He did all three there because we prayed.
Emily…. God healed because so many of you asked, I believe…. The amount of stuff I hear people being set free from is amazing… we just had two weeks of prayer meetings... and ask…
In the game of baseball, if you fail 7 out of 10 times, you are a good hitter… Fishing, you can go to the same spot, do all the right things and nothing happens. You show up the next day and do the same thing, and something amazing happens… I want to keep showing up because you never know…
Church, I don’t want to get to heaven and say to God… Hey, how come here in Simpsonville we didn’t see more salvations? How come You didn’t heal more people? How come You didn’t power out Your Spirit in such a mighty way? How come you didn’t free more people, or save more marriages… and then have God go… you didn’t ask…
Church, may we bold and unapologetic to ask for healing and more of God… may we not be rattled when things don’t happen… and may we not become prideful when He does… It’s all about Him… It’s all for Him. It’s all because of Him… Jesus is the center of freedom… He’s the center of history. Jesus is the center of it all… AMEN… AMEN.
I was talking with a lady in our church… she loves the Bible and she really does get the power of God… she started talking about the power of God awakening us and tears began to fill her eyes as she said, I just want God to awaken our church, I see so many people come down for prayer and I want Gods healing and power to fall. She was a woman who was a 1 Thessalonians example…. She was word and power, and she wasn’t content with where the church was… she said to me, I love what God is doing but I want more…
Do you want more? Do you believe more is possible?
Whatever you want for your life… God wants more.
Whatever you want for this city… God wants more.
Whatever you want for this church... God wants more.
Let’s ask Him… Come down front…
I was sick this week, and I asked a few of our staff to come anoint me with oil and pray over me…
James 5:14-15 (NIV)
Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.