Transcription
Okay, so you have to settle it's the will of God to heal. How can you say that without being offensive? Let's get humble and honest. We're all works in progress. We're all growing in the truth. Just cuz you quote a scripture doesn't mean you see the scripture. Just cuz you pray doesn't mean you believe.
I've watched countless people pray cuz they were in despair. Just cuz we pray, we call it faith. Just cuz you quote a scripture, you say you believed? No, sometimes we just have our fingers crossed and it's a it's a desperation. A lot of times it's fear with language. And because we quote scripture, we think it's faith. In fact, I've noticed the majority of time we pray, we're moved by the problem, not the promise. We're not declaring things. We're crying out and hoping and asking and and all that.
So, there's there's there's there's something we have to understand. I'm not being mean when I say this. I use this as an example. I'm not being sarcastic. That's not even in my heart. Like, sometimes we have a hard time having authority over our own attitude. And we're trying to work miracles and raise the dead and do all the stuff we read we can do. Listen, this is a thing we're growing up into. You can't keep shifting gears. Get on the track, off the track, back up. You you have to keep moving forward because you've settled in your heart what you believe through the life of Jesus Christ. >> [applause] >> Are you following me?
So, the life Jesus lived is the Father revealed. He doesn't do anything but the will of him who sent him. So, Jesus' life is the will of God manifested in human form. Is that a fair statement? Okay, and his word is true and it'll never change or fail. True? Do we have promises for healing? Why, I read in Corinthians that every promise is yes and amen. It's not maybe so, maybe not, try it and see what happens, let's pray and see what God does. None of that's faith. Faith is fully convinced and persuaded. You believe cuz you see it. Are you following?
If you only pray because of need, you're probably in despair. If you speak and pray because you see the word of God and promise, that's where you'll find faith. Faith is found when the will of God is revealed. Are you with me? When you understand the will of God and see the will of God, it automatically births faith. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word. When you see the word of God and you see the will of God or the heart of God in a situation, faith comes from that place. Are you hearing me?
So, did Jesus ever turn anybody away? Did Jesus ever pray for somebody and say, "Well, you need to go get more faith and maybe you'll be healed." Did Jesus ever say, "I'd love to heal you, but I can't cuz God's using this to work wisdom in your life or TEACH ALL THE STUFF WE have come up with?" You have never heard him say. And it's damaging us. It's It's actually it's keeping us from growing and becoming who we're called to be. And now we write books, 30 reasons why people aren't healed. No, they're in the bookstores. 30 reasons why men aren't healed. Don't read the book cuz IF YOU EMBRACE ONE REASON, you'll never live in faith your whole Christian life. The only reason we wrote the book is to explain our experience, but Jesus didn't have the book in his back pocket. Are you hearing?
You said, "Well, why isn't everybody healed?" That's too broad of a question. You There could be a multiplicity of answers for that. But here's what I know, I'm called to grow up into him in all things to the full measure of the stature of Christ. And I'm called, when I read the Bible, not even thinking of you right now, I'm called to lay my hands on the sick cuz I'm a believer. And I pray and believe and receive all things by faith. My Bible says anything not of faith is sin, that the just shall live by faith, and it's impossible to please God without faith.
Most of the time we're driven by need. Most of the time the diagnosis, most of the time the prognosis is what's moving us. And we get shook, and we become a product of what we're experiencing, and then we cry out and call it prayer. We have to lock in and say, "Wait a minute, this thing You know, I I I I don't I'm not saying word of faith like specific people like Hagin and Copeland and different people word of faith, but there's a faith mentality, a faith kind of movement that people turned even what some of these men originated and started in, but kind of turned it into something more where Well, you just need faith. Well, you just have to have faith. Well, you ought to get faith. Well, you need to And you should Don't you ever tell somebody that's sick, "Well, you just need to have faith." It's damaging. Don't tell We want faith to be everybody's goal, but they SHOULD LOOK AT YOU AND SAY, "WAIT A MINUTE, you said you know Jesus, give him to me." Why do we make IT ABOUT SOMEBODY ELSE'S faith when our faith can bring change?
Now Now, let me talk about this for a little. Did people really know who Jesus was? John the Baptist knew. Peter caught a little glimpse for a moment, and then got rebuked two or three verses later. >> [laughter] >> Satan, get behind me. Did people really know who Jesus was? THEY HE SAID TO THE DISCIPLES, "WHO DO MEN SAY THAT I AM?" THEY HAD EVERY SORT OF ANSWER. They said, "You're Elijah. You're one of the prophets. You're a prophet. You're one You know, that They didn't know who he was. NOBODY WHEN JESUS WAS WALKING around doing all these healings HAD FAITH. DON'T TELL ME THAT unbelief can stop the power of God. It's unbelief in the believer. Who's in faith at Lazarus' tomb? Bingo. Is anyone else? Does anyone EVEN HAVE A REMOTE CLUE? When he SAYS I'M THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE, DOES SHE CATCH WHAT HE SAYS? >> [laughter] >> DOES IT CHANGE THAT HE'S THE resurrection and the life?
Do you think for A MINUTE HE SAID, "LAZARUS, COME FORTH." AND WHEN LAZARUS CAME OUT, HE WENT, "OH, praise God." Don't we do that? DON'T SOMETIMES WE SEE A HEALING and go, "Really? Oh my gosh." NO, NO. We've taught this stuff for years. Remember we did the weekly meetings you started running with me early days and we'd do I did four local meetings a week. Yeah, they were fun days and we were training and equipping and empowering people and I did four a week all around and we were just sowing into people, believer meetings, did a fire hall stuff. It was just fun. Pastors would come, people would pile in there and it was just fun. And this one guy said, "Man, he said, this is amazing. I need to start stepping out." But he was nervous. And one day he's at work and this guy says, "Man, my back is just killing me, man. I don't even know what to do. I feel like I got to leave. I've been going to chiropractor." He's talking about his back and he's going, you know, he's starting to cuz he's like, "I'm coming to these meetings." He's listening to us all the time and he knows that he could pray for him. Like he's convicted to pray for him, but he's a little backwards and nervous and doesn't know if he wants to put his faith out there and so he finally he says, "Listen, man, I got to talk to you and you just hear me out, all right?" And he explains to the guy so the guy doesn't start making fun of him that he's been going to these meetings and now listen, I'm just it's it's powerful, it's amazing, stuff's really happening, but they're saying we could just Bottom line is, I want to pray for you. You mean pray for me? Like, God's just going to heal my back standing here? Like, heal my back? Yeah, that's the plan. I'm just going TO PRAY FOR YOU CUZ THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT IT ALL THE TIME AND I'M WATCHING STUFF IN THESE little meetings I'm going to. Can I just pray for your back?
So, he said, "Oh, I've had it. I don't care." And he's like, "Okay." He prays for his back and the guy goes, "Dude, are you kidding me?" He says, "What?" He says, "What?" He says, "I don't have pain." He said, "You're kidding me." THE GUY THAT PRAYED. >> [laughter] >> LIKE, GOD IS SO READY FOR THIS THING. LIKE, HE IS SO MERCIFUL. HE WAS JUST EXCITED THE GUY STEPPED PAST HIMSELF ENOUGH TO AT LEAST TALK TO HIM AND PRAY. THE GUY DIDN'T HAVE AN OUNCE OF FAITH. WHEN HE SAID, "I'M HEALED." HE WAS LIKE, "DON'T BE MESSING WITH ME, MAN." LIKE, YOU I REMEMBER HIM TELLING THE I YOU PROBABLY DON'T CUZ THERE'S SO MANY YEARS AND SO MANY STORIES, BUT THIS ONE GOT ME CUZ THIS GUY IS ALMOST TRYING TO TALK HIM OUT OF BEING healed and say and he's TELLING US THE TESTIMONY AND I'M SITTING THERE GOING, "THIS GUY HAD ZERO FAITH. HE JUST OBEYED a conviction." And God said, "That's enough. I love this guy. Boom." AND THE GUY GOES, "WAIT, DON'T BE MESSING WITH ME. YOU'RE TELLING ME YOU'RE REALLY HEALED?" He said, HE STARTED BENDING AND TOUCHING AND HE THIS IS HOW THE GUY TOLD THE TESTIMONY. I remember LIKE IT WAS YESTERDAY. He said, he said, "I looked at him and I said, Oh my goodness, you're healed." HE'S THE GUY THAT PRAYED. THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE REPRESENTING CHRIST.
So, this thing isn't as complicated as we make it. I think we're under pressure. I think we're trying to heal people. Instead of believe God's goodness works enough what he finished through Christ. And I think we're thinking our prayer heals the sick and we're trying to be spiritual and SHABAHA WHO YOU ARE. Instead of be whole in Jesus' name. Pain go. In the name of Jesus. Yeah? I think we're putting faith in our prayer, faith in our faith. Instead of faith in God.
Listen, I'm looking at Jesus, guys. And I don't even know why it's an argument if it's God's will to heal when I'm looking at Jesus. The only reason we argue is cuz we're looking at life. But we're supposed to be looking under Jesus. The author and the So, as soon as you take your eyes off of Jesus, your faith will never get finished. Hebrews 2 says that he gave us dominion, gave us authority. It says he put all things under our feet. However, we don't see things yet all everything under our feet. Hebrews 2 says it. It says, "But we see Jesus." Guess what we do when we don't see everything submit and bow. We stop seeing Jesus and we say, "Well, maybe. Well, you know." And now we have 30 reasons why men aren't healed in our bookstores. Wow, that's a tragic book. Cuz I have one reason why they can be healed. Faith in him. And faith through his name.
Watch this. If he said, "Whatever city you're in, heal the sick and tell them the kingdom's here." Is it the will of God to heal? If he tells you, "Whatever city you're in, heal the sick." You say, "Well, he didn't tell me. He told the 70." That's symbolic of you and me. He sent out the 12 and then he added 70 more. So, in Matthew 10, he sent out 12, the disciples, the apostles. In Luke 10, he sent out 70 more. That's symbolic of the church. He's going to grow the number and people can go out and anyone that goes out believes. He says, "Whatever city you're in." What city? Heal what sick? The. So, whatever city and the. Come on, this thing is not complicated.
So, we have to understand. That's why we teach identity so much. That's why we teach righteousness. Cuz cuz we need to start seeing ourselves the way God sees us. And we're like, "Who? Me?" Yeah, you. Because of Christ in you. Christ in you changes the equation. When you say, "Who? Me?" You're weighing yourself based on who you know yourself to be through life. But when you see yourself in Christ, it changes everything. Can I heal anybody? No. But does he tell me to go heal the sick? Yeah. So, he's expecting me to understand who I am in him and who he is in me. Why does he tell me to lay hands on the sick when it's him that heals? Cuz he wants us to understand it's him in us, Christ in us, the hope of glory. And that when I'm touching, he's touching. It's a contact point of faith. It's nothing to do with my hand being special. You understand?