It is good to be present in the house of the Lord. \. There are a lot of places that you could have been today at this time. One of the places that you could have been is dead and in your grave. \. So, it is a blessing to be among the land of the living. \. For openers, I am going to take a moment to give you what God has given to me. Nevertheless, I am going to start off, with a little antidote instead of a parable. When I was in the army about ump-teen years ago. You might say, Herman, what is ump-teen. \. Well that is when you get to ninteen, and like, an ever-ready battery, you are still going strong, then, you find yourself knee deep in umpteen. \. Anyhow, about umpteen years ago, when I was in the army I knew a fellow named Speller. Now when you would ask Speller, what's happening, he would respond:. you me and a few others. Not a whole lot of people, just a few others. Now, many years later, about ump-teen years or so, now that I have gotton saved, and joined the Christian band, in a manner of speaking, now I find myself giving the same response, to what's happening. That is, you me and a few others, in the sense that: \. Now this is important. \. What's happening is you me and a few others, in the sense that, anybody who believes God exists, believes that God can do anything, but by and large the body of Christ or Christians in general, do not believe that healing is something that you can control, that you can reach out and grab hold of it. \. Believing that God can heal is quite different from believing that God wants to heal and that he has given you the power to actually release healing. \. Although, most Christians, believe that God can heal, and even sometimes, people do, get healed, nevertheless although we may accept healing on a random basis, yet to come out, with a statement, that healing is in God's will for you, that it is part of the atonment, it is not just for some people, it is for every person, all the time. \. As a whole, the body of Christ would reject that. It is not if it be thy will. He has already told you in his word, in no uncertain terms that it is his will. God said, "I wish above all things that you would prosper and be in good health". Not some things, but all things.\. Now, It is God's will that every person be well, all the time is something that we are not all in unity on. Now when I say the body of Christ, there are churches, that are doing a marvelous job, but a large segment of the church is falling short in this area. \. He that descended, is the same also that ascended, and upon his ascention, Jesus said unto them, now, all power is given unto me, in heaven and in earth. \. That is, all power is given unto me, as a man, not as God, because, I already had all power as God. \. Jesus is holding that newly obtained power, the authority which Adam had, for you and me. \. Jesus goes on to explain, now, that you have this power over things in the earth and under the earth, (which before you did not have power over demons), now, go ye therefore, and teach all nations, and teach them all things, including healing the sick and raising the dead. Now that is something that we are not in unity on. \. That is something that is not understood. As a matter of fact, that is something that is fought against. You will find that many people come out against teaching on healing, because, if it is true, that God wants every person well, and, if there are things, that we can do to appropriate that healing, to make it manifest in our lives, then, what about, all the people who have died? \. What about, all the people who are suffering? \. Many people, rather than say, we are operating at less than, what God desires, it is much easier to say,it is all God's will, that some of these sicknesses and diseases happen. \. It is easier to say, that this is just part of life and we just have to accept it, and roll with the punches. It is easier to say that, because it takes no effort on your part. \. You do not have to seek God. You do not have to, acknowledge God. There is no risk of failure. \. Which is easier, to say thy sins be forgiven, or take up your bed and walk. That is a retorical question. We say, whatever is God's will just automatically, or soverignly comes to pass. I am sharing some things that are controversial. It is amazing that people fight so hard for the right to be sick. \. I am not condemning anybody who is sick. I am not condemning anybody who is lost, and saying that, he or she is a terrible person. Many times, people don't know, because they have never heard the truth. I am not condemning, but I am saying, that you do not have to live separate from the Lord. Just as you can choose to be saved, you can choose to be healed. As a matter of fact, they are both the same word, and the same idea, sozo, S O Z O. The definition of the word sozo is to save, to keep safe and sound, to rescue from danger or destruction. To save a suffering one from perishing, one suffering from disease, to make well, heal, restore to health. This word sozo is used interchangeably to speak of salvation from sin and healing from sickness, and this appears repeatedly. Just as there is no difference between the Jew and the Gentile, because, the path to the righteousness of God is the same for both. That is the path to the righteousness of God is by the faith, of, Jesus Christ. Now that is an entire sermon by itself. Nevertheless, I just need to move on. Just as there is no difference between the Jew and the Gentile, there is no difference between salvation and healing, because, they are both the same word, sozo. I do not know how many of you know the ***story of Kenneth Hagen***, but he was on his death bed as a teenager at about sixteen. He was given up for dead. He was wasting away, I forget all the diseases. Nevertheless, he got his grandmother's bible and he was reading. He comes to Romans 10:13, and it says; For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. \. And Kenneth says, that means me. I am whosoever and I am healed. Something came alive in his heart, and he said that has got to be me. That has got to include me, and he began to speak out, and he says. If this is true, if the word of God is true, then I am healed. I declare myself healed. He got up and walked out. His family was in the kitchen or living room or whatever. He walks out, and his family says what are you doing. You are supposed to be dying in bed. He says I am healed. You see he got it. He got it for him. He got that revelation, and he did not die until he was in his upper eighties. He ran his race. Can you imagine if he had given up, and submitted himself to the words and the thoughts of his family. Think of the ministry which would have never taken place. \. It is not God who sovereignly chooses to save one person and not save another person, any more, than it is not God, who sovereignly chooses, to heal one person and does not choose to heal another. \. It is God's will, that every person be saved, and come to repentance, and, it is also God's will, that every person be healed. \. As we learn the truth from God's word about this, this truth is going to make you free. Even if you have to be dragged to freedom kicking and screaming. As long as you are willing to hold on to the truth of God's Word, and not say, "I used to believe that salvation, healing, prosperity or deliverance were true, but now I have changed my thinking". \. God forbid! Jesus died to produce forgiveness of sins, healing of your body, prosperity, and deliverance. All of these things are included. It is wrong to piece meal them and say that I am only going to accept one fourth of what Jesus provided for me, the forgiveness of sins, and I am just going to reject the others. This has hurt individuals. There is a lot of grief and suffering, because people are not receiving their healing. There are a lot of people turned away from the Lord because the church is representing God as the one who is the author of sickness and disease. They say; sometimes God allows this sickness in order to teach us something. God does not have to use the tools of the devil to teach us something. No! He uses his word to teach us. God wants you well. That is his nature. Again I say, God says I wish above all things that you would prosper and be in good health. Not some things, but all things. I know that this is a hot issue, and that there are many people upset about this. There are a lot of people who fight for sickness. If what I am saying about sickness is true, then it condemns other people. \. It shows that there is more, that there is a level of victory available through Christ, that the vast majority of people are not living in. \. Rather than change, rather than say that there is something that I don't know, that I don't have to be sick every flu season. It's just so much easier to be like everybody else, to not rock the boat, to not be told that I'm missing out on something. \. It is going to interfere with my watching "as the stomach turns". I might have to start believing God. I might have to start doing more than my unsaved neighbor does. Most people are not willing to do that. \. So they will sit and put up with sickness, disease, pain, suffering, grief, sorrow. They will see people die prematurely, and they will simply say it is all God's will, \. or no man dies before his time. Yet, the bible asks a retorical question. "should a man die before his time"(Ecclesiastes 7:17). Guess what? Unrighteous people do. And guess who else does? The unknowing. The Word says my people perish for a lack of knowledge. ========== Again, I say, we are not all in agreement on healing. Let me begin to talk about the legal side of redemption, or the legal issues involved with healing. Healing is not a sovereignty of God issue. It is not an if it be thy will issue. This is a legal issue. This is something that we have a right to, and that we can actually in a manner of speaking demand. It is our inheritance. It is our right. Let me point it out this way. You can begin turning to Romans 10^9-10. If we were having an evangelistic campaign, and we had five hundred unbelievers, and two hundred and fifty of those unbelievers came to the front for what we would call an alter call to receive the Lord. In Romans 10^9 it says if they would believe with their hearts, and confess with their mouths, what would be the results? They will be saved. So how much salvation is available in the room. Salvation is available for all five hundred is it not? If two hundred and fifty come forward, and believe with their heart, and confess with their mouth that Jesus is Lord, how many, now listen carefully, how many is God obligated to save? All two hundred and fifty. Can he say, this is great, but I am only going to save one hundred tonight. I appreciate all of you coming up, but I am only going to save 100 tonight. He cannot say that because his word has been given. His word has been given, and if 250 believe with their heart and confess with their mouth, they will be saved. Again, if you go and look at that word saved in the Greek, it is the word sozo. Now lets go back to Romans 10^9-10. It says if you will believe in your heart, and confess with your mouth, you shall be, not you might be, you shall be, you shall be sozoed. This includes salvation from sin. We all agree that if 250 come forward, God is obligated to save all 250. What is he also obligated to do? What has he obligated himself to do? Heal them! It's a legal issue. It is not an, if it be thy will issue. It is not a sovereignty thing, a whim. It is not something that maybe I will, and may be I won't. This is a legal issue. Once we understand this, then we begin to get healing out of this mystical, superstitious, who knows how it works realm, and we get it into this legal courtroom realm, then we realize that this is our right, our inheritance. This is something that has been accomplished for us, as much as salvation from sin has been accomplished for us. Let's go to Romans, chapter 5, verse 12; Romans 5^12. We want to find out where sickness came from. Romans 5^12.;/;/. -Here begineth the reading of God's Holy Word. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: -Here endeth the reading of God's Holy Word. Sickness is a fruit of the root of sin. Sickness is one of the fruit of the root of sin, because death came by sin. If deathe came by sin, then think about it, what is sickness? Sickness is insipient death, meaning it is death in its first stages. Sickness is insipient death. It is the beginnings of death. Every sickness that exists has but one goal, and that is to kill you. Even the common cold can kill you if, for some reason, it finds you in a very weekened condition. Sicknesses goal is to steal, kill and destroy. It has been loosed because of death. Death was released by sin. Now calculate this out with me. If sickness is the fruit of the root of sin, then look at this. If you have ever pulled weeds, and you just pop the top off, then it grows back. I have a yard full of them. If you deal with the root, then problem solved. If you deal with the root of sickness, which is sin, then problem solved. If you deal with the sin issue, then you have dealt with the sickness issue. If you deal with the root, then you have dealt with the fruit. That is why he says, if you believe with your heart, and you confess with your mouth, you will be sozoed, you will be saved, not only the spiritual transaction but the physical transaction. It is all part of your inheritance in Christ. It is a legal issue. It is not a whimsical thing, that maybe it will work and maybe it won't. People often ask, if we never should be sick, if that is part of our inheritance, then we should never die. Nevertheless, we are mortal, and except Jesus come first, our bodies will poop out and die, but we do not have to die sick. Death according to James 1^26, is when the spirit leaves the body. It says in Deuteronomy, I think it is 34^7, turn there if you will. Deuteronomy 34^7.;/;/. -Here begineth the reading of God's Holy Word. And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.: -Here endeth the reading of God's Holy Word. Moses was 120 years old. This was well after the flood. Now this is my opinion, you don't have to love it, but it is the only one that I've got, and not just me but many others. Nevertheless, opinions are like noses, everybody has got one. Strangely enough, some people are double minded and they have two. They should not expect anything from God. But this is my opinion, and I'm not going to agree with you, because then we would just both be wrong. We have been promised 120 years. I have said before, in Psalms 90 it talks about 70 and by reason of strength 80. Yet, that was a curse over Israel, not a blessing, because of their disobedience, and the fact that God was going to have to purge them in the wilderness. They wondered 40 years, until that generation died off, and then they were able to enter into the promised land. 70 or 80 is not a promise for us. In fact, there are many unbelievers that live to 90 or even 100. So the 70 or 80 thing is not something that we should be hanging our stake to. 120 would be more like what God had in mind. When Moses died, he did not die sick, his eye was not dim nor his strength abated. I have claimed this verse. You will have to find something else for yourself (;/;/_pause for laughter_;/;/). I've claimed this one, and I speak this over myself before I eat. I have lots of plans for the future. I am only half way there. I don't see myself slowing down. This is a mindset based on a legal redemption, the understanding of a legal redemption that I have as much right to my physical health as I have to my spiritual salvation. It is all part of what took place on the cross. So if sin is the root, and sickness is the fruit, if you deal with the sin and the root then you have dealt with the fruit. Now let's go to Psalms 103^1, and we are going to see redemption foreseen by David. David could see redemption, understood it, and the Lord gave him these words. Psalms 103^1.;/;/. -Here begineth the reading of God's Holy Word. 1. Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name..: 2. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: 3. Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; -Here endeth the reading of God's Holy Word. Bless the Lord, who forgives all your sins; who heals all your diseases. He is taking care of the whole man. Bless the Lord because your provision exists. Whatever your need is, spiritual, mental, or emotional, everything has been provided for. So bless the Lord. I Praise God, that this is not something that you have to create. This is something that has been done for you. It has been accomplished for you on the cross. Let's go to Ephesians 1^3. Ephesians 1^3.;/;/. -Here begineth the reading of God's Holy Word. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: -Here endeth the reading of God's Holy Word. Now let us go to Isaiah 53. Now we are going to see redemption prophesized by Isaiah. This is the prophetic revelation of what is taking place on the cross, and what it means to us. Isaiah 53^4-5.;/;/. -Here begineth the reading of God's Holy Word. 4. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. -Here endeth the reading of God's Holy Word. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows. In the Greek those words are: surely he has borne our sicknesses and carried our pains. We are going to come back to that in a minute. It says here: We did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded, or pierced, for our transgressions, he was, crushed is the right word, bruised, crushed for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his wounds, or stripes we are healed. In other words, redemption is taking place for every part of man, spirit, soul and body. Everything is being included. Everything that was unleashed when Adam sinned, by one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and sickness is insipient death. Everything that was unleashed oppression, depression, passion, everything that you could imagine, anxiety, fear, physical conditions, all of these things were unleashed through sin. Jesus has dealt with that all on the cross. It says he was made sick, he carried sickness, disease, he was crushed, he was pierced, and by his stripes we were healed. In Exodus 15^26 the tree was cast into the bitter waters, and the Lord revealed himself by a name. He says I am the Lord that healeth thee. That name in the Hebrew is Rapha, R A P H A. I am the Lord that healeth thee. That is part of his name. There are seven redemptive names that we find typically in the Old Testament, and each has tremendous meaning. They are all fulfilled in Jesus. He says, I am the Lord that healeth thee, Rapha. Do you know what that word is? In Isaiah 53, by his stripes we are Rapha. By his stripes we are his name. That is part of the legality of redemption. Doesn't Jesus say, anything that you ask in my name. You have a right to this. This is his name, this is a legal thing. This is something that God cannot go back on. He has obligated himself to stand behind everything that is part of his name, a part of his word. In this prophetic revelation of redemption, God has obligated himself. This is his will. This is his desire. He wants you to get a hold of the name, and understand the transaction that took place on the cross, and by his suffering you were rapha-ed, you were healed. Let us go to verse 10. Isaiah 53^10.;/;/. -Here begineth the reading of God's Holy Word. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. -Here endeth the reading of God's Holy Word. Yet it pleased the LORD to, and the word here is to crush, to beat to pieces, to oppress, that is what that word means. It pleased the Lord to do this to him, so that you would not have to go through it. It says to put him to grief, which means to make him week, sick, and diseased. Can you imagine that by his stripes, you may enter into the fullness of what his name has revealed, Rapha, healing. That is the redemptive thing, the legality of redemption that has been made available to us. When he was on the cross, let's go to verse 12. Many times when people want to debate me about healing, one of their issues is that this is only talking about spiritual sickness. I still have not quite identified what that is. I never go up to someone and say I have spiritual pneumonia; or spiritual cancer. Now there is a spirit of infirmity, but it manifests in your body physically. We are talking about physical infirmity. What they will try to say is, this is not speaking about physical healing. It is speaking about sin. It is speaking about the human condition, but not about physical healing. We really do not have any right, unless God sovereignty decides to heal you. I know that some of you have heard some of this. If you have not, then you have not been around. Verse 12 says: Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. Underline that word bare. Did he bare your sins? That word "bare", is n a s a, nasa. We say nasa for the space program. I don't think that is what this is here. He bares our sins. Are we all in agreement? Let's go back to verse 4. Surely, he has borne our diseases, the same word. So whatever he did with your sins, he also did with your diseases. It is the same redemption. He bore both of them. When you deal with the root, you have dealt with the fruit. You could not go to the cross, dying for the sins of the world and not be dealing with sickness. You cannot separate them. If you have dealt with sin, you have dealt with sickness, because death entered into the human race by means of sin. So if we deal with the sin problem we have dealt with the sickness problem. Let's go to Matthew 8^14-17. Now we are going to see Jesus in action here. Matthew 8^14-17.;/;/. -Here begineth the reading of God's Holy Word. 14. And when Jesus was come into Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother laid, and sick of a fever. 15. And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them. 16. When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: 17. That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses. -Here endeth the reading of God's Holy Word. Here, and when Jesus was come into Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother laid, and sick of a fever. And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose. That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses. Now, there are two parts of this that I want to talk about. First of all, what kinds of sicknesses are we dealing with here, spiritual ones, or physical ones? He is dealing with physically sick people, people that have obvious issues in their bodies. He is physically healing them. In Mark chapter 2, we have the man being lowered down through the hole in the roof. What is the first thing that Jesus said to him. Son your sins are forgiven. He was demonstrating the kingdom, the forgiveness of sin and the healing from diseases and sickness. If he forgave the sin of the paralytic, which resulted in him being healed, and then we look at his ministry where he went about healing all that were oppressed of the devil, what does that mean? What has he first done? If he is dealing with the fruit, then what does he first have to have dealt with prior to that? The root. He has forgiven their sins. Why does John say behold the Lamb of God, that takes away the sins of the world. You see this dealing with the root, so that he can deal with the fruit. So every one that was healed was forgiven, and we have been commissioned to do the same thing. Go out and heal the sick. Why? Because they have been forgiven. 2nd Corinthians 5:19 says, he is not imputing our sins unto us. 1st John 1^2 says he is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but also for those of the whole world. So the sin issue has been dealt with for the whole world. That is why healing is available to the whole world. Now, this might be blowing some theological schemes here, but you have the right to take the message of healing to the lost, because the root has been dealt with. Now, you want to take the whole message, you want them to get saved, but they can get healed before they get saved. Some people get healed before they get saved, miraculously, instantaneously healed. Then they think, this is pretty good, and want to know who did this. That may be the basis for giving ones life to the Lord. This is legal. Unfortunately, in the church we have all this doctrinal, theological baloney. Think of this, maybe then again I'm off on a rabbit trail, but think of this. In Matthew 17, when Jesus goes up on the mount of transfiguration, with three of the disciples, meanwhile nine of the disciples are below. A man brings his son. Are you with me on this one? A demon casts him into the fire and he is lunatic and foaming at the mouth and all of these things. The nine disciples are there, and they have been given authority, and they have cast out stuff, and they have healed people. They have a testimony. Now, this particular guy with his son shows up, and they cannot heal him. Jesus is up on the mountain with the other three. So, the nine get together in a huddle, and say hey, if anybody can heal the sick we can heal the sick. We have been given the authority to heal the sick. We have healed the sick. We have a testimony of healing the sick. Yet, this one is not getting healed. What does that mean? It must mean that it is not God's will to heal everybody. We will go with that. That will cover the bases here. It must not be God's will to heal everybody. Then God comes back down the mountain and shows up, and heals him and rebukes them. You see, it is always God's will, but sometimes we are not in the right place in being able to minister from a place of faith. It is always God's will because it is a legal issue. Just because some do not get healed, does not mean that God is withholding something. It means somebody is out of order somewhere. Whether it is the sick one, or the ministers, something is out of order. Yet, God's will is already been established. God's provision legally has already been established. Healing is for all, for even the lost. It is for everyone. Praise God. Alright, let's think about authority for a second. Does sickness have authority in your body? Why do you permit it then? So often when something comes against our body our mind shifts into a different mode. How am I going to get over this, and what medicines do I need to take, do I need to schedule an appointment with the doctor. I'm not going to put anybody down. That is not my point right now. My point is the thinking process. Does sickness have authority in your body as a child of God, bought with the blood of Jesus, by whose strips you were healed, and you supposedly are seated with him in heavenly places in Christ Jesus? Does sickness have authority in his body? Are you not his body? Then does sickness have authority in your body? You see when you begin to change the way you think, you are going to change the way you react. When something comes against your body, you are going to rise up and say no, no, this cannot be, this is illegal. When something is illegal we take action. Every good gift and every perfect gift comes down from the father of life with whom there is no variableness or shadow of turning. Sickness is not a good gift. It is not from God. We must stand on the legal right that we have. If we believe with our heart, and confess with our mouth, we shall be healed, saved, healed, delivered, whatever your issue is sozo covers it. It is legal, and God cannot say thank you for coming, but not today. He cannot say that. He has obligated himself to the word. Now, if, and all of you have been born again, I am assuming that you are all born again, and filled with the holy spirit, your sins have been dealt with, have they not? Let me ask you this, are you still capable of sinning? Are you still capable of making bad choices, and suffering the consequences of those choices, although it has been dealt with on the cross? Has sickness been dealt with on the cross? Are you still capable of being sick? So, what are we deducing from this? Let me do the deducing OK? It is not automatic. Your holiness is not automatic. Your health is not automatic. Things have to be enforced. Someone came up to me today and asked me a question about works. Doesn't this start getting us into works? Yes. What kind of works? The John 14:12 kind of works. The works that I do, you shall do also; because I go to the father. We have been called upon to do the works of Jesus, to enforce the will of Jesus. Sometimes that means aggressive faith. Sometimes that means speaking to the mountain. Sometimes that means casting out the demons or the spirits of infirmity. Sometimes that means we are active in this. There is something about enforcing what is legal. If I have a new TV, and it stops working, I can't just rest in the warranty, and wait for the TV to fix itself. What do I have to do? I take the warranty and I take the TV, and I go back to the seller or the manufacturer, and I enforce what is written. I have to do something. The TV is not going to fix itself. Jesus said; the works that I do shall you, do also. We need to discern between what kind of works we are talking about. We are not talking about works of the law. No we do not need to do that. We are not talking about works that justify ourselves. The scriptures talk about lots of kinds of works. There are works of the flesh, works of the devil, works of the law, works of self justification, and works of faith. We are called to do works of faith. There is something to be said for enforcing the will of God in your body, biased on the warranty, biased on the legality. This is a legal issue. If I go out today and I find someone trying to get into my car, I am going to say dear person, what are you doing trying to get into my car? I own this car. The person would reply, I can not see your ownership. So, I would reach into the glove compartment and I would pull out a document. I would say it says right here. He would say, I cannot see your ownership. I am going to respond, can you reed. Some of us are saying I can not see my healing. Can you reed? You are already the owner of this. This is a legal issue. Now, will you enforce it? If I find someone trying to break into my house, I am not going to just rest, and let them leave whenever they feel like it. I am going to call 9 1 1, and I am going to take some other action, and I am going to enforce the legality of the situation. Some of us have been resting too much, when we should have been enforcing something. I am at rest in my relationship with God, but I am very active in enforcing his will in my life. That is two different things. I am not trying to work to make God happy. That is a done deal. Yet, I am going to go to work, to enforce his will in my life and the lives of my family. Are you capturing the difference here? This is a legal thing, and it is up to you to enforce it. Think of what we have been given. We have been given the name of Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the promises of God, a new covenant, the blood, the faith of God, the armor of God, the gifts of God, and the keys of the kingdom. We have been given all this stuff. Not so that we can just sit on the couch, but so that we can do the will of God, that we can enforce that which cost him his life, for crying out loud. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me, and he descended into the lowest parts of the earth, and he went through all of this, so that you could sit on the couch. He has empowered you, and blessed you to enforce and extend his kingdom, and it needs to begin in your own body. When there is an illegal intruder in your body do something about it. Take authority over it. This is a legal issue. This is not an if it be thy will issue. It is his will. Get that established in your heart, and begin to speak to your body, and take authority over it, and understand this is legal. Exodus 15^26 says I am the Lord that healeth thee, Rapha. We saw in Isaiah 53, by his stripes we are Rapha. ========== Let's go to 1st Peter 24, that is the Hebrew word. We have seen it refers to physical disease and physical healing. 1st Peter 2^24.;/;/. -Here begineth the reading of God's Holy Word. Who 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. -Here endeth the reading of God's Holy Word. Liv unto righteous, there is the sin issue; by whose stripes you were healed, there is the sickness issue. Psalms 103, who forgives all of our sins and heals all of our diseases. Isaiah 53, he bare our sins, he bare our diseases. There are always two sides to this. This is a legal issue, and the word in the Greek here, by whose stripes you were healed, it just get thrown in my face, well this is talking about spiritual sickness, again whatever that is. The Greek word here is, and I cannot pronounce it, i a o m a i. It appears 28 times in the New Testament. 26 of those times it refers specifically to physical healing. The other two times it is implied. This is a physical healing word. By whose stripes you were healed physically. This is the verse, Isaiah 53 and 1st Peter 2^24, that I am standing on. ***STORY OF KENNETH HAGEN*** If divine healing exists, and we all agree that divine healing exists, then there must be a spiritual law that sustains it. It cannot be just on a whim. I cannot be just, oh lucky day it happened. No! There has to be a spiritual law, because everything God does he does through covenants. Everything he does, we do not have time to discuss covenants, but even Sodom and Gomorra being destroyed happened through his covenant man Abraham. The flood on the earth, if you study it out, it was Noah that condemned the earth, it says in 1st or 2nd Peter. It was through his covenant man. Everything God does on this earth, he does through covenants. Everything has to be legal. Nothing is happenstance. Nothing is by chance. So when it says by his stripes you were healed, that is your covenant right to healing. Now enforce it. Make it real. Make it true, cure it, see it in your spirit. It is your covenant, it is your ownership. If you can read it is yours. Or if you can understand in your spirit, it is yours. Now lets go, I'm running out of time here, let's go to 1st Corinthians 11^23. I hope somebody is getting blessed here. I am going to show the two sides again. 1st Corinthians 11^23. .;/;/. -Here begineth the reading of God's Holy Word. 23. For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: 24. And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. 25. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. -Here endeth the reading of God's Holy Word. Question. What does the blood signify? Forgiveness of sins. Question. What does the broken body signify? Why is the body in there? If the blood is doing all of it, Why the body? This is my body broken for you. By his stripes we were healed. He bore our sins, the blood. He bore our sickness, the stripes, the body. There is healing. Whenever we get the chance to minister the Lord's supper, it should be a healing service. Some use this as an opportunity to minister on the broken body. When receiving communion the element is always broken in half for our own faith. Taking it is the reception of health and life, and healing in the body, because his body was broken for us. We preach the blood, but we do not always understand the body part of it. I know of a man who was burned on his face, and he was taking communion, which was a matza cracker, Jewish unleven thing. It has strips in it, they didn't even know what it meant, that the stripes refer to the stripes of Jesus. As he was taking this, he looked at it, and sees those stripes, and he saw himself healed. He ate that, and he was instantly healed, just by seeing it in the spirit. The symbolism awakened his spirit. There is health and healing in the new covenant. The blood and the body, the sin and the sickness. All these issues have been dealt with. I won't read this, but I'll mention one point here. Exodus 12 talks about the Passover. Each family slays a lamb, and what do they do with the blood? They threw it on the door post, to cover them and to protect them from the death angel that is going to come through the camp and kill the firstborn of all the Egyptians. So the blood protects them from that, but then they have to eat the lamb, the whole thing. Why are they eating the lamb? Who is the lamb? What does the lamb symbolize? The body of Christ. Now with that in mind, why are they eating it? Let's go to Psalms 105^36 and 37. ========== Psalms 105^36-37. .;/;/. -Here begineth the reading of God's Holy Word. 36. He smote also all the firstborn in their land, the chief of all their strength. 37. He brought them forth also with silver and gold: and there was not one feeble person among their tribes. -Here endeth the reading of God's Holy Word. Verse 37; and there was not one feeble person among their tribes; there was not one sick person among their tribe. Now we are talking about one to three million people, or as many as six million, we don't really know. Millions of people put the blood on the door post to protect them from the death angel, so the firstborn would not be killed. Yet, they ate the lamb, and we'll say three million people leave Egypt healed. There is not one feeble, infirmed, diseased, sick person among them. Can you imagine the church, if the church would walk in that same life, that when we take the cup, and when we take the bread, we would realize it is for sin, and it is for sickness, we would be in health. That is why James says, is there any sick among you? You shouldn't be sick. That should be our testimony. The church should be a place of maximized health and healing. We should be quick to minister one to another, and pray one for another, and enforce the legality of redemption in our bodies. That should be something that we are excited about and do regularly. Let's go to Numbers 21. Well I'm running out of time. I'll tell you about Numbers 21. It is when the children of Israel rebel in the desert and the serpents come. Moses intercedes for the children of Israel, because they are dying in masses from these snakes. God tells him to make a brass serpent and attach it to a pole, brass or bronze, I forget, and to lift up and all who look on the serpent will be healed. Now the serpent represented the problem. He did not tell him to make a unblemished lamb, and put that on the pole and hold that up. He said make a serpent. Well the serpent was the problem. If you go to Galatians 3^13, you will find that he was made a curse for us. If you go to 2nd Corinthians 4^21, it says he was made sin for us on the cross. He became the problem. Now if you look at the type and shadow of the problem, the serpent on the pole, and get healed, can you not get healed looking at the real Christ? Christ is the one who took this upon himself, who bore your sins, who bore your sicknesses. Can you not look at him and get healed? If the type and shadow heals, would not the genuine Christ heal? In John 3^14 real quick. That is John 3^14. John 3^14-17.;/;/. -Here begineth the reading of God's Holy Word. 14. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15. That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. . . And verse 17 it says. . 17. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved (sozo). -Here endeth the reading of God's Holy Word. You can look at Christ and be healed. This is spiritual revelation time. You need to see this in your own spirit. This is a legal transaction. If you have a thousand dollars in the bank, you don't crawl into the bank, if it be thy will, can I please have $50. That is not how you act if you know you have money in the bank. You walk in with your check. You present your check. There is no doubt that this is a legal transaction. The money is delivered to you. It is legal. What do you have in your spiritual account? All your health and healing is there. You don't have to crawl up there and beg. It is a legal transaction. ========== Statistically, most people rember only 10% of what they hear unless they take notes. To that end this sermon can be found on the internet at: battlefieldnews dot.net. Then click on the button labeled CURRENT. Of course that link will only be current for a short while. Afterwards you will have to navigate to Discipleship Evangelism(at the Top of the home Page) and Healing Sermon (at the Bottom Of the next Page). That is go to: battlefieldnews dot.net. Then click on the button labeled CURRENT. If you do not have access to the internet; well, this is the middle of the 21st century. It is kind of like looking for a job at the end of the previous century and not having a telephone. You gotta, keep up. Grace and peace be unto you, from God our father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!