June 1, 2014 – Pastor Tim – “God In Action”
In John 5:30 Jesus said,
“I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.”
This scripture could help us in our walk with God, if would stop thinking of what we think about a thing and start discovering what God say about a thing, and do that!
Christ was and is the expression of God’s will, not just an example, but an expression. Our lives should be an expression of God’s will. People sometimes say, “I don’t know what God’s will is.” Well, how about this, Jesus is the will of God. Here is what we need to know. God’s will is find-able.
If we want to see God at work, we can look at Jesus. If we want to hear God talk, we can listen to the Words of Jesus. Christ is the will of “God in action”. There is no better way of ascertaining the proper answer to, “Is it God’s will for me?” than by reading the Gospels. They record the teachings and works of Christ.
When Jesus healed and setting the multitudes free that thronged Him day after day, we see the Father revealing His will. We see God at work.
Acts 10:38, “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.”
Has God reveled to us that we are His child, has He give us His Holy Spirit to teach, comfort and to fill us? Then there is a power in us to do good and heal all who are oppressed by the devil.
Almost everyone believes that Jesus healed and set the captives free when He was on earth. Almost everyone believes that the apostles ministered to the spiritual and physical needs of the people. But many also believe that when the apostle died, all of that ceased.
Well, when Jesus was on earth, His ministry was twofold:
- To affect the spirits of men (sin) and
- To affect the bodies of men (healing).
When He died on the cross, Christ’s death was twofold:
- Bearing our sins and
- Bearing our diseases.
It is written in
Matthew 8:17b, ““He Himself took our infirmities And bore our sicknesses.”
The same is true today. The twofold ministry of Christ for our spirit and body has continued to this present day in which we live.
- Christ bore man’s spiritual death that man might have life.
- Christ bore man’s diseases that man might have health.
God has made provision for man’s salvation and health. And He has revealed it to us in His Word.
When Jesus laid hands on everyone setting them free and healed them, He was doing and revealing the will of God for our bodies.
In the book, Christ the Healer (1924), F.F. Bosworth wrote, “It would be next to impossible to get a sinner to ‘believe unto righteousness” before you had fully convinced him that it was God’s will to save him. Faith begins where the will of God is known. If it is God’s will to heal only some of those who need healing, then none have any basis for faith unless they have a special revelation that they are among the favored ones.
Faith must rest on the will of God alone, not on our desires or wishes. Appropriating faith is not believing that God can but that God wills it.
Because of not knowing it to be a redemptive privilege for all, most of those in that day (1924), when asking for healing, add to their petition (prayers) the phrase, ‘If it be Thy will.”
In the book, Christ the Healer, Bosworth goes on to tell how the Episcopal Church appointed a commission to study the subject of divine healing and to report back to them. After three years of study and research in both the Bible and history, their report concluded, in effect, “The healing of the sick by Jesus was done as a revelation of God’s will for man. No longer should the church pray for the sick with the faith-destroying qualification, ‘If it be Thy will.’”
Bottom line, we can know God’s will because He demonstrated it in the life, words, and actions of Christ.
The message taught throughout the Gospels is one of complete healing for spirit, soul, and body of men.
1Thessalonians 5:23-24, “23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.”
So no matter what it is you are believing God for today, it will require faith. And that faith is built by finding God’s known will, not by guessing or hoping, or by you thinking you know what God’s will is… it by knowing you know!
If, I’m going to believe God’s Word for all that He has promised me. I must find my faith, and apply God’s known Word to my situation.
God has made provision for you to be saved, to prosper, to be healed, and set-free. Stop waiting… go find it. The good news is you only have to travel as far as your BIBLE TO FIND IT!!
You must be logged in to post a comment.