Arise and Walk
Scripture: Matthew 9:5Devotional Series: By His Stripes
Teaching: By His Stripes pt. 2 (SUN_AM 2024-03-17) by Pastor Star R Scott
The thing we see in the ministry of Jesus and His healing them all (every time) is the idea that He, Himself, personally came to reveal the will of the Father. It doesn’t mean that you and I are going to see everybody healed every time because we are not the Redeemer. He did it, not in His divine essence, but He did it as a man full of the Holy Ghost in total obedience to God’s will; amen? That’s the testimony; that’s who Jesus is. He is telling us for time and eternity, “It is My will to heal you. Look, if you have seen Me, you have seen the Father. You are healed. If you have seen Me, you have seen the love of God. You are healed.” This is who God is. Will you begin to believe that about Him?
In the other ear, “God doesn’t care. God doesn’t love you.” Everything that was said to Adam, “God is holding out. You can’t trust Him. You had better do something. Yeah, God has moved in the past, but that doesn’t mean He is going to deliver you today.” He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. "If He delivered me last time, then I’m believing He will deliver me today, praise God!" Based upon what? "My faith?" No, His immutability; amen? I don’t always have to have my faith meter out. “How am I doing today? Man, is my faith sufficient? What do I have? Do I have enough faith to believe for this today?”
I love the passage there in Matthew when Jesus blew their minds when He told the lame man, “Your sins are forgiven you.” All of these religious leaders said, “Who can forgive sin but God only? This is blasphemous!” Jesus said, “What’s your problem? ‘Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, I am telling you, take up your bed and go ahead and walk on out of here’” (Matthew 9:5). Amen?
First of all, I love the term, “Which is easiest?” We try to make things hard; there is nothing too hard for God. There is no difference between forgiving sins and healing our bodies. It is all the gift and grace of God. There are not big healings and little healings. If God is the initiator, it is supernatural. If it is supernatural, it originated in the heart, mind, and will of God. There is nothing too hard for the Lord.
When we are talking about healing, we see three primary words. One of them that is used is that word, sozo, which has to do with salvation or wholeness. The moment that we get saved, we are whole—spirit, soul, and body; hallelujah! It is part of the contract, part of the covenant. Within that, we see the different revelations of God where we see the words, therapeuό and iaomai, both words used for healing, both referring to healing and wholeness. In other words, one is not exclusively physical healing and another spiritual wholeness, salvation. They are all inclusive with emphasis on one or the other, depending on the context of the verse. So, the very covenant of our redemption necessitates that we believe God for the wholeness of the complete man: spirit, soul, and body.