Of Faith and Healing

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 27th of January, 2019 at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Look for the video of this and our other services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

You know, family, I am always amazed when I hear someone say that women should have no significant role in the church, when they hold so many prominent positions in our Bible.  There’s the woman at the well in Samaria who brought her whole village to salvation.  There’s Priscilla, who was instrumental in giving Apollos a better understanding of Jesus and God’s plan.  Last week we read about the “sinful woman” who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and dried them with her hair.  Jesus used her example to stress the link between our faith and forgiveness.

There are so many more, but let me read to you of a desperate woman, who let her need and her faith overcome her fear, and who Jesus used as a lesson in healing.  Please listen and follow along as I read from the Gospel account of the Apostle Luke, chapter 8, verses 43 through 48, from the Modern English Version of our Holy Bible…

43 And a woman having a hemorrhage for twelve years, who had spent all her living on physicians, but could not be healed by anyone, 44 came behind Him, and touched the fringe of His garment. And immediately her hemorrhage dried up.

45 Jesus said, “Who touched Me?”

When everyone denied it, Peter and those who were with Him said, “Master, the crowds are pressing against You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’”

46 But Jesus said, “Someone touched Me, for I perceive that power has gone out from Me.”

47 When the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling. And falling down before Him, she declared to Him before all the people why she had touched Him and how she was healed immediately. 48 Then He said to her, “Daughter, be of good cheer. Your faith has made you well. Go in peace.”

--Luke 8:43-48 (MEV)

Let us pray…  Father God, this woman could have been any one of us.  Often, Father, we are desperate for Your healing touch.  Help us to have, and show, the same strength of faith as this humble woman.  Speak to us this morning that we might hear Your word and understand Your message.  This we pray in the blessed name of Your Son Jesus.   Amen.


Fred Craddock, in an address to ministers, discussed the practical implications of consecration, saying:  "To give my life for Christ appears glorious, to pour myself out for others, to pay the ultimate price of martyrdom -- I'll do it!  I'm ready, Lord, to go out in a blaze of glory!"

Craddock continued:  "We think that giving our all to the Lord is like taking a $1,000 bill and laying it on the table.  'Here's my life, Lord.  I'm giving it all.'  But the reality for most of us is that He sends us to the bank and has us cash in the $1,000 for quarters.  We go through life putting out 25 cents here and 50 cents there.  Listen to the neighbor kid's troubles instead of saying, 'Get lost.'  Go to a committee meeting.  Give a cup of water to a shaky old man in a nursing home.  Usually giving our life to Christ isn't glorious.  It's done in all those little acts of love, 25 cents at a time.  It would be easy to go out in a flash of glory; it's harder to live the Christian life little by little over the long haul."


I’ve often heard folks say to someone they love, “I’d die for you”.  Or in the case where their loved one is dying, they might say, “I would gladly trade places with you.”  Well, you know, when you get right down to it, dying is easy -- It’s living that is hard!

Even dying for Jesus, being a martyr for Him, is just a matter of standing firm in our belief while someone working for Satan kills us.  But Jesus doesn’t ask us to die for Him, or for anyone else.  He asks us to live for Him.  In chapter 12 of his letter to the Romans, the Apostle Paul implores us to make of ourselves a living sacrifice.  Jesus want us to give of ourselves as we live for Him, 25 cents worth at a time.


Reading the Gospels in our Bible, it’s easy to think that the cornerstone of Jesus’ ministry on earth was healing people.  But I think of it more as a draw, something to pull the people in so He could really do what He was sent to do.  And in fact, He began His healing ministry right at the start.  Listen to the passage the Apostle Matthew recorded for us in his Gospel account, from chapter 4 verses 18 through 23…

18 And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19 Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 They immediately left their nets and followed Him.

21 Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.

23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.

--Matthew 4:18-23 (NKJV)

Jesus gathered His core disciples to Himself and set about healing folk all across the region of Galilee.  He healed them so He could talk to them, teach them about the ways of God and how to secure salvation.  The more He healed, the further His reputation spread, the more people came to Him, the more He could teach and preach.

Jesus was sent by our Father, His Father, God, to educate us about God and to offer salvation to the world.  He paid the price so that God’s new covenant with us could be sealed and sanctified.  And to help with His mission, God gave Jesus the power to heal, the power of God’s own Holy Spirit.

Of course, there’s more than one kind of healing that mankind needs.  There’s our physical bodies, sure, and Jesus healed a lot of lameness and blindness and deafness and the like, even bringing a few back from the dead.  But our hearts, our minds, our spirits are also very often in need of His healing touch.  And He did a lot of that, too, throughout His walk.


So God sent Jesus, giving Him the power to heal as sort of a drawing card.  Did you know that Jesus sent us?  The Apostle John recorded in chapter 20 of his Gospel account that after His resurrection, Jesus appeared to His disciples and told them that just as God the Father sent Him, He was sending them.  And since John saved it for us to read, it applies to us too.  As believers of Jesus, we are His followers, so we are also His disciples, just as were those men He spoke to directly.

Just as God sent Jesus, Jesus sends us.  Does that mean that we too have the power to heal?  Listen to what the Apostle Paul wrote in his 1st letter to the Corinthians, chapter 12, verses 4 through 11 and 27 and 28…

4 There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. 6 And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all things in all. 7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: 8 for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.

27 Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually. 28 And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. 

--1 Corinthians 12:4-11, 27-28 (NKJV)

We all have some gift, including the gift of healing.  We all have the same Spirit living within us.  And family, this is the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead!  We have that same power living with us.  We just need the faith to fully use that power.

I’m not saying we all have the gift of physical healing, that we should all become faith healers.  But there are other ways for someone to be healed, and ways we can help them in healing.  We can smile, can’t we?  If someone’s heart is aching, a simple smile can help ease the pain.  A hug can help someone along the path to healing emotional hurts.  A cold sandwich or a warm coat can heal a homeless person’s feeling of self-worth, of self-worthlessness.


Do you see where I’m going with this?  God sent Jesus to teach and preach about the truth and to offer salvation through belief in His Son, and He gave Jesus the power to heal as a way to reach the people.  Jesus sent us into the world to make disciples, to teach them all about Him, to offer them the means of salvation through belief.  And we can use healing as a way to reach them, just as Jesus did, although maybe not as spectacularly.  Like the woman in our scripture reading, maybe we just need to stretch out of our comfort zone, past our self-imposed limits, and let the power of Jesus flow into and through us, so that we too can help others heal.

By our faith, we are healed.  And by our faith, we can help others heal.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, You sent Jesus to earth with a very important mission, to carry out Your plan of salvation for mankind.  And You gave Him the power to heal all manner of illnesses and diseases that afflicted us, so that we would come to Him and listen to what He said.  Thank You, Father, for having so much compassion for Your creation, for providing us a means to be healed, and for giving us a way to redemption.  Please forgive us when we fail to reach out in our faith to help others, to use the gifts You gave us, to employ Your own Holy Spirit living inside us.  Forgive us when we are too timid, too afraid to let You take full control.

Please hear us now, Father, as we come to You in the silence, speaking from our hearts, promising to turn from our sin, seeking Your forgiveness for our disobedience…

Lord Jesus, You used the power of God’s Holy Spirit to heal people of whatever afflicted them, whether in body or mind or heart or spirit.  You did this not only out of compassion for them, but so that they would be able to listen and hear the critical message You carried.  And then, Jesus, You sent us out to make disciples of others, teaching them all about You.  We too can help them heal, giving us a chance to bring Your message to their ears.  Thank You, Jesus, for giving us this ability and wonderful opportunity to serve You.  Forgive us when we fail to take advantage of it, when we don’t think we can offer any form of healing, when our faith just isn’t quite strong enough to step outside of our comfort zone.  Please help us to believe in ourselves, to believe in the power within us.  Help us serve You by serving others.

This we pray in Your glorious name, Christ Jesus our Lord and Master.  Amen.

Of Faith and Forgiveness

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 20th of January, 2019 at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  All services and activities for the 13th were canceled due to an impending ice storm.  Look for the video of this and our other services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

Some weeks back, when we looked at how our faith prompts us to love and leads to peace, I mentioned the “sinful woman” who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and dried them with her hair.  Jesus told her to go in peace, that her faith had saved her, that her sins were forgiven.

I’d like to return to that story this morning as we look at how closely our faith is linked to forgiveness.  Please listen and follow along as I read from the Gospel account of the Apostle Luke, chapter 7, verses 36 through 50, from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible…

36 Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him. And He went to the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to eat. 37 And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, 38 and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil. 39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, “This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner.”

40 And Jesus answered and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.”

So he said, “Teacher, say it.”

41 “There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?”

43 Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.”

And He said to him, “You have rightly judged.” 44 Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. 45 You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. 46 You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. 47 Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”

48 Then He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

49 And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”

50 Then He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”

--Luke 7:36-50 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, by our faith and our belief in Your Son Jesus we are forgiven of our sins and saved.  But Father, too often we don’t want to change our behavior.  Help us be more obedient to Your word while staying strong in our faith so that we not fall back into our old ways.  Speak to us this morning that we might hear Your voice, Your word, and Your message.  This we pray in the blessed name of Your Son Jesus.   Amen.


In his book, I Surrender, Patrick Morley writes that the church's integrity problem is in the misconception "that we can add Christ to our lives, but not subtract sin.  It is a change in belief without a change in behavior.  It is revival without reformation, without repentance."

Jerry Bridges, author of The Pursuit of Holiness, adds: "Faith and holiness are inextricably linked.  Obeying the commands of God usually involves believing the promises of God."


Bridges says that our belief in God and our voluntarily setting ourselves apart for Him are, or at least should be, linked together.  If we truly believed in the words of God, the promises of God, then it would be pretty dumb of us not to obey the commands of God, wouldn’t it?

But Morley tells us that sometimes we are dumb.  We want to believe in Jesus and in God’s promises, but we don’t want to turn away from our sins and live as God would have us live.  We want to be saved, but we don’t want to change anything in our lives, our behavior.  We don’t want to inconvenience ourselves.  We don’t want to love the unlovable.  We want Jesus in our lives, but we want our favorite sin too.

The world sees all this, and calls us hypocrites.  And you know, the prophet Daniel would probably agree.  In his book of prophecy, chapter 9 verse 8 through the first part of verse 10, Daniel writes…

8 “O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. 9 To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. 10 We have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God…”

--Daniel 9:8-10a (NKJV)

Daniel says, “Shame on us!”  God offers us forgiveness, yet we do not obey Him.  We sin against Him.  Jesus, who was without sin, took all our sins upon Himself and left them in the grave when He rose again from the dead.  Unfortunately, too many of us dug them back up again, or found new ones to replace them.


Looking at our scripture reading again, in verse 49 we see where the guests at the dinner party questioned just who this  was that would even forgive sins.  Indeed, there were a number of times when the Pharisees and others questioned Jesus' authority to forgive sins.  The Apostles, including Paul, make it clear just where that authority comes from.  Listen to what Paul said in his letter to the Colossians, chapter 1, verses 13 and 14…

13 [God] has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

--Colossians 1:13-14 (NKJV)

We are redeemed through the precious blood of Jesus, who died so we could be forgiven of our sins through our belief in Him, our faith in God.  By our faith, we are forgiven.

Last week our good brother Jim Neese shared his insight into the Lord’s Prayer.  In that prayer, we ask God to forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.  We ask for the same measure of forgiveness that we ourselves give!  I’m afraid for some, that wouldn’t amount to much forgiveness.

If we want God’s mercy and His forgiveness of our sins, we must be willing to forgive the sins of others.  It is not our job to judge – that’s way above our pay grade.  It’s our job to love and to forgive.


And speaking of forgiving others, in just a few minutes we will share Holy Communion with our Lord.  In chapter 11 of his 1st letter to the Corinthians, Paul warns us not to come to the Lord’s table in an unworthy manner.  We are to be right with God.

One way to be unworthy is to come to the table while still holding a grudge against someone.  To avoid being unworthy in that way, simply forgive them for whatever they did.  We don’t necessarily have to go up to them and tell them, just silently, in our heart, release them from whatever debt we feel they owe us.  Just as Jesus told of the creditor and his two debtors, release them, forgive them, and come worthily to sup with our Lord.

In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, You gave us a means to be forgiven of our sins and to again find favor in Your eyes.  You gave us Your Son, who took away our sins by His sacrifice.  Thank You, Father, for showing so much mercy to us pitiful sinners.  Please forgive us when we fail to continue to live as Jesus left us – clean of our sin.  Forgive us when we return to our old ways, even if only temporarily.  Please help us turn from our sinful ways, to repent and be more righteous in Your sight.  Help us be more loving, more forgiving of others.

Please hear us now, Father, as we come to You in the silence, speaking from our hearts, promising to turn from our sin, seeking Your forgiveness for our disobedience…

Lord Jesus, You brought light into this world, but too many prefer the darkness.  You forgave us of our sins, but too many simply return to their old ways and sin-filled lives.  Thank You, Jesus, for giving us another chance.  Forgive us when we fail to obey You as our Lord, when we want the salvation You offer but don’t do as You command us.  Please have mercy when we seek Your forgiveness but find it difficult to forgive others.  Please help us to fully believe, fully obey, fully love.

This we pray in Your glorious name, Christ Jesus our Lord and Master.  Amen.