Transcription
Glory to God. Hallelujah. Let's just lift our hearts to him right now and thank him for the mighty Holy Spirit, our teacher, our guide, the one who unveils, unfolds, and reveals the word of God to our spirits. Thank you, Father, that we are not left to stumble in the dark, but you have given us the spirit of truth who will guide us into all truth. We trust him today to give utterance to open the eyes of our understanding and to cause the light of your word to shine deep within in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Now, I want you to listen closely because what I'm about to share will change the way you see sickness and it'll change the way you stand against the devil. The Bible says in Acts 10:38, "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power, who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with him." Did you notice that? It didn't say some sickness. It didn't say just certain cases. It said all that were oppressed of the devil. That means sickness is not a blessing. Sickness is not from heaven. Sickness is oppression. And the oppressor is Satan.
I remember years ago as a young preacher, the Lord spoke to me and said, "Son, my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge, not for lack of power." And he said, "The same blood that saved them also healed them." But they've been taught to accept salvation and reject healing. Go teach them the truth. So, I'm going to give you today 12 truths that will shock you straight from the lips of Jesus and the pages of the Bible, truths that will strip sickness of its disguise and show you your legal right to walk free.
Friend, the devil's biggest weapon is a lie. That's why John 10:10 tells us plainly, "The thief cometh not but for to steal and to kill and to destroy. I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly." The thief is the devil. He steals your health. He steals your joy, but Jesus came to restore them. And 1 John 3:8 says, "For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil." If sickness is a work of the devil, and it is, then Jesus came to destroy it in your life.
So, as we move into these 12 truths, I want you to settle something right now. You are not trying to talk God into healing you. He's already done it in Christ. You're not trying to make him willing. He's already willing. What you're doing is discovering what's already yours and learning how to stand your ground until it's manifested in your body. Hallelujah. Are you ready? Let's begin with truth number one.
Glory to God. Listen carefully now. This is the first shocker. Sickness doesn't start in your body. It starts in the spirit realm. That's why doctors can treat the symptoms, but they can't cast out the oppressor. Luke 13:16 tells us about the woman bowed over for 18 years. Jesus didn't say, "Well, that's just old age," or, "That's just how life is." No, he said, "Ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these 18 years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?" Notice that, whom Satan hath bound. If you believe Jesus, then you must believe that the root of her sickness was not in her spine. It was in her bondage to the devil. And friend, if he loosed her, he will loose you. Hebrews 13:8 says, "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and today and forever," the same Jesus who set that woman straight, is here by his spirit to set you free.
I recall being in a little church in East Texas, 1947. A young mother brought her boy to the altar, crooked spine, twisted up, couldn't straighten himself. The Lord spoke to my spirit. That's a spirit of infirmity. Deal with it. So I laid my hand on that boy and said, "You foul spirit of infirmity. In the name of Jesus Christ, loose him and let him go." He shuddered, stood up straight, and ran to his mama. She cried, he laughed, the church shouted. Why? Because we didn't just address the body. We dealt with the spirit behind it.
Now, here's the action step. Stop fighting sickness only on the surface. Get into the word. Feed your spirit and use your authority in Jesus's name. James 4:7 says, "Resist the devil and he will flee from you." That's not a suggestion. That's a spiritual law. If sickness is from Satan, then resisting it is not optional. It's obedience. Hallelujah. Can you say amen? That's truth number one. Sickness has a spiritual origin.
Now, let's go right into truth number two. Now then, if sickness comes from Satan, and we've already seen it does, then the next thing you need to know is this. Jesus settled the healing question once and for all. You don't have to wonder, is it God's will for me to be healed? Acts 10:38 already answered it. The word says, "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power, who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil. healing all. Not some, not the lucky few, all. And if he healed all then, he heals all now. Because Hebrews 13:8 says, "Jesus Christ the same yesterday and today and forever."
I remember back in 1952, I was preaching in Oklahoma and a farmer came up to me after the service. He had one of those big hands that could crush yours without trying. He said, "Brother Hagen, I know God can heal, but I just don't know if he will heal me." I smiled and said, "Well, brother, you just made the devil shout, 'Amen.' You see, as long as you believe God's ability, but doubt his willingness, you've left the door open to the enemy." So, I open my Bible to Matthew 8:23, where the leper came to Jesus, saying, "Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean." Jesus didn't hesitate. He didn't say, "Now let me pray about it." He said, "I will be thou clean." And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. That farmer's eyes got big. He said, "Well, if he said, 'I will' to that man, then he's saying, 'I will' to me." That night, he came forward in the healing line. And before we even laid hands on him, the power of God hit him. He fell to the floor shouting and laughing. He walked out healed, praising God.
Friend, you don't have to beg God to do what he already said he would do. You don't have to plead for his willingness. It's written in red letters. If he said, "I will" once, it stands for eternity. Your job is to believe it, act on it, and thank him for it before you feel it. Glory to God. That's truth number two.
Let's roll right into truth number three. Now listen, this one right here will shake some folks because religion has tried to separate what God joined together. They'll say, "Well, Brother Hagen, God saved my soul, but I guess my body is just going to have to limp along till heaven." No, the Bible doesn't teach that. Redemption is not half a package. It's the full package, spirit, soul, and body. Isaiah 53:4-5 says, "Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, and with his stripes we are healed." Matthew 8:17 quotes it and says, "Himself took our infirmities and bear our sicknesses." And then 1 Peter 2:24, looking back to the cross, declares, "By whose stripes ye were healed." Did you catch the tenses? Isaiah said, "We are healed" looking forward. Peter said, "Ye were healed" looking back. If you were healed at the cross, then in God's mind, you are healed right now.
I remember preaching in a little tent meeting in Arkansas, summer of 1950. It was hot enough to fry an egg on the hood of your car. A man came in on crutches, his legs stiff from an old accident. He said, "Brother Hagen, the Lord saved me in 1943, but I guess this leg's my thorn in the flesh." I said, "Brother, your thorn in the flesh isn't sickness. It's ignorance of what's already yours." I opened the word and showed him those same three verses. He stared at them like they had just been printed that morning. He said, "If he bore it, why should I?" I said, "That's the question every believer needs to ask." We laid hands on him and before the service ended, he was walking without the crutches, tears streaming down his face.
Friend, salvation didn't just wash your sins, it broke the curse that came with them. Galatians 3:13 says, "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law." And if you'll read Deuteronomy 28, you'll find that every sickness and every disease is part of that curse. If Christ redeemed you from the curse, he redeemed you from sickness. It's part of the same transaction. So here's your action step. Stop separating your healing from your salvation. When you thank God for saving you, thank him for healing you. When you confess Jesus as Lord, confess him as healer. The same faith that brought you out of darkness will bring health into your body. Glory to God. That's truth number three.
Let's keep going because the next one will change how you see the Bible from this day forward. Now listen, this is where so many folks miss it. They want a special feeling, a certain tingle, a particular sensation before they believe they're healed. But God didn't say, "I'll send you a feeling." Psalm 107:20 says, "He sent his word and healed them and delivered them from their destructions." The word is the healer today just as much as it was when Jesus walked the shores of Galilee. You see, feelings change, but the word doesn't. Circumstances change, but the word doesn't. Heaven and earth will pass away, but Jesus said, "My word shall not pass away." Matthew 24:35. That means if you'll plant the word in your heart, it will produce healing. Just like planting seed produces a harvest.
I remember preaching a meeting in West Texas in the early 60s. A woman came every night limping badly. On the third night during the altar call, she said, "Brother Hagen, I believe God wants to heal me, but I'm just waiting for him to touch me." I said, "Sister, he already touched you when he sent his word. Now it's time for you to touch the word with your faith." I told her to go home. Take Isaiah 53:4-5, Matthew 8:17, and 1 Peter 2:24 and read them aloud three times a day like medicine. Two weeks later, she came running into the church, literally running. She said, "I took my medicine and I got my healing."
Friend, you don't need to wait for a prophet to come to town. You don't need to hope for a lightning bolt from heaven. The living, breathing, powerful word of God is available to you right now. Hebrews 4:12 says, "It's alive and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword. When you put it in your mouth, believe it in your heart, and act like it's true, that word becomes medicine to all your flesh." Proverbs 4:20-22. So, here's your action step. Treat the word like you would a prescription from the great Physician. Take it regularly. Not just when the symptoms flare up. Confess it when you wake up, when you sit down, when you walk along the road, when you lie down at night. The word will work if you work the word. Glory to God. That's truth number four.
Now, if you're ready, we'll move into truth number five. Faith is an act. And I'll show you why believing is never passive in the kingdom of God. Now then, we've laid the groundwork. Sickness comes from Satan. Jesus settled the healing question. Redemption includes your body. And the word is the healer today. But here's where many stop short. They believe all that in their head. But they never act like it's true. Friend, faith is not just believing something quietly. It's acting on what you believe. James 2:17 says, "Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone." In other words, if you believe but don't act, it's like having a car with no gas, you're not going anywhere. Mark 11:24 says, "What things soever ye desire when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." Believing you receive is not the same as waiting to see if it shows up. If you believe it, you act like it's already yours.
I'll never forget a meeting in Tulsa, 1954. A woman came forward with crippling arthritis. She said, "Brother Hagen, I believe God's word, but I can't move." I looked her right in the eye and said, "Sister Kate, never did anything. Your spirit believes you've got to get your body to agree." She said, "What do I do?" I said, "Do something you couldn't do before. Wiggle a finger. Move a toe. Give your face something to act on." She started moving her hands, then her arms. And in a few minutes, she was walking around the platform. She wasn't waiting for the feeling. She acted on the word and the power met her action. You see, the act of faith is the bridge between the promise and the manifestation. The man with the withered hand in Mark 3, Jesus told him, "Stretch forth thine hand." He could have said, "Lord, I can't. That's why I'm here." But no, he made the move. And in the moving came the miracle.
So here's your action step. Don't wait for the symptom to leave before you praise him. Don't wait for the pain to vanish before you act. Take a step, however small, that says, "I believe it's mine now." Heaven responds to faith in motion. Glory to God. That's truth number five.
And if you'll stay with me, the next truth will open your eyes to how healing really flows into your life from the inside out. Now, friend, if you only look at your body to see if you're healed, you're looking in the wrong place. Healing begins on the inside, deep down in your spirit, and then it works its way out into your body. Proverbs 20:27 says, "The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly." God deals with you through your spirit, not your flesh first. That's why some folks receive the word and they say, "But Brother Hagen, I don't feel any different." Well, you don't plant a seed in the ground and run out five minutes later looking for the harvest. You plant it, you water it, you protect it, and it grows first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear. Healing works the same way. The moment you take God's word and believe it, the life of God starts flowing in your spirit and your body will catch up if you keep believing.
I was in a meeting in East Texas when a man with lung trouble came forward. The Lord quickened in my heart. It's already done in his spirit. Tell him to act like it. I said, "Brother, you've got it inside. Now let it out." He started praising God softly, then louder, then walking back and forth across the front. He left, still coughing, but he didn't let go of the word. Three days later, he was back with a testimony. Brother Hagen, every symptom left while I was working in the field, just disappeared. It started in his spirit and the power worked its way out. Your spirit is where the Holy Ghost dwells, where the life of God is, where the power to quicken your mortal body begins. Romans 8:11. When you feed your spirit with the word, you're giving the life of God the raw material it needs to manifest healing in your body.
Here's your action step. Pay more attention to the inside than the outside. Keep the word before your eyes, in your ears, and in your mouth. Your spirit will become so strong with the truth that it will dominate the flesh, and healing will be the natural result. Glory to God. That's truth number six.
If you're ready, we'll move into truth number seven. Symptoms are a lie against the truth. And I'll show you how to answer them every time. Now, I'm going to say something here that'll rattle the cages of doubt. Your symptoms are not the final truth. They may be a fact in the natural, but they are not the truth in the spirit. Jesus said in John 17:17, "Thy word is truth." That means if your body says one thing and the word says another, you've got to decide which one you're going to believe. 2 Corinthians 5:7 tells us, "For we walk by faith, not by sight." You could just as easily read that as we walk by faith, not by symptoms. Symptoms are subject to change. But God's word is not. And here's the thing. Satan uses symptoms like a fisherman uses bait. If you bite, if you start saying, "Well, I guess I didn't get healed after all," you've just let go of your healing.
I remember a dear woman in one of my meetings in Missouri. She came forward with severe back pain. The Lord touched her and she was instantly free. Two days later, she said, "Brother Hagen, that pain came back." I said, "Well, what did you do?" She said, "I told my husband, I guess I lost my healing." I said, "Sister, you didn't lose it. You let the devil talk you out of it." And I opened to 1 Peter 5:9 which says, "Whom resist steadfast in the faith." I told her, "Next time it tries to come back, answer it out loud with a word." A week later, she was back pain-free shouting. I told the devil, "By his stripes, I was healed and he took his pain and left."
Friend, symptoms are nothing more than the devil knocking on your door to see if you let him back in. Don't sign for a package you didn't order. When symptoms knock, answer with scripture. When pain whispers, speak the word louder. Here's your action step. Never let your mouth agree with the symptom. Let your mouth agree with the word of God only. That's how you hold the door shut on the enemy. Glory to God. That's truth number seven.
Next, we're going to talk about why the devil tests your hold on the word and how to make sure you never drop what God gave you. Now, once you've got the truth planted in your heart, don't think for a minute that the devil will just roll over and let you enjoy it. No, he'll come to see if he can pry it out of your hands. Revelation 2:25 says, "But that which you have already, hold fast till I come." Why would the Lord tell you to hold fast unless there was going to be pressure to let go? You see, the parable of the sower in Mark 4 tells us that the moment the word is sown, Satan cometh immediately to take away the word that was sown in their hearts. He's not after your health, your finances, or your peace. He's after the word in you. Because if he can steal that, the rest will crumble on its own.
I was ministering in a little church in Oklahoma when a man came up during the testimony service. He had been healed in the revival the week before. Tumor gone, pain gone, doctor confirmed it. But now he stood up and said, "Uh, well, I guess it came back." I said, "Brother, the healing didn't walk away. The devil knocked to see if you'd give it back." I told him, "Uh, next time that symptom tries to return, tell the devil no, you don't. I'm healed according to 1 Peter 2:24, and I refuse to let go." The following Sunday, he testified again, this time with a smile. The pain tried to return, but I told the devil where to go, and it left.
Friend, you've got to treat the word like a legal document because it is. If you've got a deed to a piece of land and someone comes to take it, you don't hand it over. You stand your ground. Hebrews 10:23 says, "Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, for he is faithful that promised." Here's your action step. When symptoms, fears, or doubts rise up, don't go silent. Speak the word out loud and reaffirm your position. Holding fast is not passive. It's active resistance. Glory to God. That's truth number eight.
Now, if you're ready, we'll move into truth number nine. You must resist the devil, and I'll show you exactly how to make him flee every single time. Now, friend, you can't treat the devil like a stray cat. Feed him a little, pat him on the head, and hope he goes away. James 4:7 makes it plain. "Submit yourselves, therefore, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." Not might flee, will flee. But notice the order. First, submit to God, then resist the devil. If you're not walking in obedience, you've left the front door wide open. Resisting isn't just quietly hoping he leaves. The Greek word here means to stand against, to oppose, to actively fight back. When the enemy tries to bring sickness back on you, you don't roll over. You stand up in your spirit. You open your mouth and you command him to take his hands off your body in the name of Jesus.
I remember a young man in one of my healing lines who had been delivered from severe migraines. Six months later, they tried to come back. He said, "Uh, Brother Hagen, I thought I lost my healing." I said, "No, son. You just didn't resist." I told him, "Next time it starts, lay your hand on your head and say, 'No, you don't. Satan, I've been healed by the stripes of Jesus and I refuse to take it back.'" He did exactly that and he told me later it left instantly and it hasn't come back since. First Peter 5:8-9 says, "Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour. Whom resist steadfast in the faith." Notice, he seeks whom he may devour. That means he can't devour everybody. The ones he can't devour are the ones who resist him with a word in their mouth.
Here's your action step. Practice resistance. Don't wait for the big attack to learn how. The moment a symptom, fear, or lie tries to creep in, answer it out loud with the word. Submit to God's truth and then stand against the devil until he flees. Glory to God. That's truth number nine.
Now, if you're ready, the next truth will show you why your words determine your outcome and why healing begins with the sound that comes out of your mouth. Now, listen to me carefully. This is one of the most important truths in the whole Bible when it comes to healing. Your mouth will either open the door to the power of God or slam it shut. Proverbs 18:21 says, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof." That means if you want life and healing, you've got to speak life and healing. You can't pray for healing and then go tell your neighbor, "Well, I'm still sick as a dog." You've just dug up the seed you planted.
Mark 11:23 says, "Whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith." Notice, it doesn't say you'll have what you believe. It says you'll have what you say. Believing in your heart and speaking with your mouth, work together like the two blades of a pair of scissors.
I remember a man who came to one of my meetings in the late 40s with a heart condition. The doctors told him he'd never work again. We prayed and the power of God came on him. I said, "Now, brother, the devil is going to try to talk you out of this. Don't let anything but the word come out of your mouth." Two weeks later, I got word he was back working his farm, strong and healthy. I asked him what happened and he said, "Every time a thought came saying you're still sick, I'd say out loud, 'By his stripes, I was healed.'" He didn't give his mouth to the devil. He gave it to the word.
Here's your action step. Do a mouth check. Go one whole day without saying anything about your condition that the Bible doesn't say. Speak health. Speak life. Speak victory. If the word says you're healed, your mouth should agree even before your body does. Glory to God. That's truth number 10.
Now, the next truth will take the pressure off you because it shows that healing can be gradual and you can praise God for every step forward. Now, listen. Not every healing happens in the blink of an eye. Some are instant. Praise God for those, but others unfold step by step. That doesn't make them any less real or any less from God. Mark 16:18 says, "They shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover." That word recover means to get better and better until fully restored. In Mark 8, Jesus prayed for a blind man. And at first, the man said, "I see men as trees, walking." In other words, partial vision. Jesus laid hands on him again and his sight was completely restored. Now, if the Son of God ministered in a way that involved progress, don't think it's strange if your healing manifests the same way.
I remember a woman in one of my meetings in Dallas. She had a degenerative muscle condition. We prayed and nothing looked different, but I told her, "The healing power is working in you now. Thank God for it every day." Over the next three months, she grew stronger week by week until the doctor declared her condition reversed. She didn't get discouraged when it wasn't instant. She praised God for every step forward. You see, when healing is gradual, the devil will try to tell you nothing's happening. But Philippians 1:6 says, "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." If he started the work, he'll finish it.
Here's your action step. Treat progress like a miracle in motion. Thank God for what has improved, however small, and keep your faith engaged until the job is complete. Every inch gained is proof the devil is losing ground. Glory to God. That's truth number 11.
And now we're ready for the last one. Truth number 12. Healing must be guarded for life, which will show you how to keep what God has given you. Now hear me. Receiving your healing is one thing. Keeping it is another. The devil is a thief. And John 10:10 says plainly, "The thief cometh not, but for to steal and to kill and to destroy." If he can't stop you from receiving, he'll try to rob you afterwards. That's why Jesus said in John 5:14 to the man he healed, "Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee." In other words, guard what God gave you. Satan doesn't come with a red suit and pitchfork. He comes with a thought, a symptom, a whisper. It's back. If you agree with him, you've opened the door. If you answer with the word, you've slammed it shut. 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 says, "Hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil." Your healing is good. Hold fast to it.
I remember a man in Houston who was delivered from crippling back pain. For two years, he was fine. Then one morning, he bent over to pick something up and felt that old pain try to grip him. But he had learned. He said out loud, "No, devil. You're not putting that back on me. I'm healed in the name of Jesus." He stood up straight and the pain vanished instantly. He told me later, "Brother Hagen, I wasn't about to let him talk me out of what Jesus paid for."
Here's your action step. Stay full of the word. Stay in fellowship with the Lord. Keep praising him for your healing. And resist the enemy every single time he comes knocking. Healing isn't fragile, but your agreement matters. As long as you keep agreeing with God, the devil can't take back what was bought with the blood of Jesus. Glory to God.
That's all 12 shocking truths. Now, I'm going to give you an altar call because some of you need to settle this today. Sickness is not your master. Jesus is. And the same power that saved you will heal you right now. Now friend, after hearing these 12 truths, you can't go back to thinking the way you did before. The Bible says in Hosea 4:6, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." Well, today the knowledge has been given. The truth has been preached. The light has come. And now it's time to act.
Some of you here, you've been fighting sickness for years. Others of you just got a diagnosis, and fear has been trying to grip your heart. But Acts 10:38 tells us that Jesus went about healing all that were oppressed of the devil. Healing is not just for the person sitting next to you. It's for you. It's not just for Bible times. It's for right now. I want you to picture yourself at the cross. There's Jesus beaten, blood running down his back from the stripes he bore. And Isaiah 53:5 is ringing in your spirit. "With his stripes we are healed." Not we might be. Not one day when we get to heaven, but we are. That's your legal right. Bought and paid for in his own blood.
Right now, if you need healing in your body, I want you to put your hand where the problem is. Or if it's all over, put it on your chest as a point of contact. And we're going to pray together. But remember, this isn't just me praying for you. This is you agreeing with heaven.
Prayer. Father, in the name of Jesus. I thank you for sending your word and healing me. I declare that sickness and disease are under my feet. Satan, I resist you and command you to take your hands off my body. Body, I speak to you in the name of Jesus. Be healed, be whole, and function perfectly according to God's design. Thank you, Lord, that from this moment forward, I am the healed of the Lord. Amen.
Now, begin to praise him like it's already done. Lift your hands and say, "Thank you, Jesus. I'm healed." Don't check your body first. Check your faith. If you believe it in your heart, your body will catch up. Glory to God. These 12 shocking truths are not just points in a sermon. They're spiritual weapons. Use them, live them, and testify of what God has done.