The Word of God on Divine Healing (Sermon)

by John G. Lake

1. Healing by God, through faith and prayer, was practiced by the patriarchs.

Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children. (Genesis 20:17)

2. God made a covenant of healing with the children of Israel. A covenant is an indissoluble agreement and can never be annulled. The laws of South Carolina recognized marriage as a covenant, not a legal contract. Therefore, in that state there is no divorce. A covenant cannot be annulled, as the unchangeable God is one of the parties. God tested the nation at the waters of Marah and made a covenant with them, known as the Covenant of Jehovah-Rophi, “The Lord thy Healer.”

If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God,
and wilt do that which is right in his sight,
and wilt give ear to his commandments,
and keep all his statutes...
I will put none of these diseases upon thee,
which I have brought upon the Egyptians.
For I am the Lord that healeth thee.
(Exodus 15:26)

3. David rejoiced in the knowledge of this covenant.

Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases. (Psalm 103:1–3)

4. Isaiah proclaimed it.

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing.
(Isaiah 35:5–6)

5. Jesus made healing one of the planks of His platform.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor;
he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives,
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty them that are bruised,
to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
(Luke 4:18–19)

6. Jesus ministered healing to the sick.

And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. (Matthew 4:23)

7. Healing is in the atonement of Christ.

See Matthew 8:1–17.

Healing of the leper in Matthew 8:1–4.

Healing of the centurion’s servant in Matthew 8:5–13.

Healing of Peter’s wife’s mother in Matthew 8:14–15.

Healing of the multitude in Matthew 8:16.

His reason given for these healings in Matthew 8:17: “That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.”

8. Jesus bestowed the power to heal upon His twelve disciples.

Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases. And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.…And they departed, and went through the towns, preaching the gospel, and healing everywhere. (Luke 9:1–2, 6)

9. He likewise bestowed power to heal upon the seventy.

And after these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come.…Heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. (Luke 10:1, 9)

10. After Jesus’ resurrection, He extended the power to heal to all who would believe.

He said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe, In my name shall they cast out devils, they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay bands on the sick, and they shall recover.
(Mark 16:15–18)

11. And lest healing should be lost to the church, He perpetuated it forever as one of the nine gifts of the Holy Ghost.

For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues. (1 Corinthians 12:8–10)

12. The church was commanded to practice it.

Is any among you afflicted? let him pray Is any merry? Let him sing psalms. Is any sick among you? 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: and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. (James 5:13–16)

13. The unchangeableness of God’s eternal purpose is thereby demonstrated.

Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. (Hebrews 13:8)

I am the Lord, I change not. (Malachi 3:6)

God always was the Healer. He is the Healer still, and will ever remain the Healer. Healing is for you. Jesus healed “all who came to him.” (See Matthew 4:24, 8:16, 12:15, 14:14, 15:30, 19:2; Mark 1:34, 6:13; Luke 4:40, 6:19, 9:11.) He never turned anyone away. He never said, “It is not God’s will to heal you,” or that it was better for the individual to remain sick or that they were being perfected in character through the sickness. He healed them all, thereby demonstrating forever God’s unchangeable will concerning sickness and healing.

Have you need of healing? Pray to God in the name of Jesus Christ to remove the disease. Command it to leave, as you would sin. Assert your divine authority and refuse to have it. Jesus purchased your freedom from sickness as He purchased your freedom from sin.

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. (1 Peter 2:24)

Therefore, mankind has a right to health as he has a right to deliverance from sin. If you do not have it, it is because you are being cheated out of your inheritance. It belongs to you. In the name of Jesus Christ, go after it and get it.

If your faith is weak, call for those who believe and to whom the prayer of faith and the ministry of healing have been committed.

(See also Psalm 91; Isaiah 35; Matthew 8 and 9; Mark 16; Luke 11; John 9; Acts 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 26; 2 Corinthians 12 and 13.)