OBJECTIONS TO HEALING
1. In order to be healed,you must have two vital keys:
a. You must know that God has already provided healing for you through
the Cross of Christ. It is God’s will to heal you. He has already said yes
through Jesus. Isa 53:4-6; I Pet 2:24
b. You must know how to take or receive what God has already provided.
We take it by faith. Heb 6:12
2. In this series, we are taking time to look at both keys.
1. Sickness is not part of God’s plan for man. Eph 1:4,5; Rom 8:29
a. There was no sickness in the Garden of Eden before man sinned. Gen 1:31
b. There is no sickness in heaven, and there will be none in the new heaven
and earth which God will ultimately establish. Rev 21:1-4
c. Sickness is in the earth because of sin. Rom 5:12
2. When we survey the OT we see God the healer healing His people.
a. God brought Israel out of Egypt healthy, and promised to be their doctor
and keep them healthy. Ps 105:37; Ex 15:26; 23:23-26; Deut 7:12-15
b. When the Israelites were bitten by poisonous snakes, all who looked at a
type of the Cross, the brazen serpent, were healed. Num 21:4-9; John 3:14
c. Job got healed; Hezekiah got healed; Naaman got healed; David got
healed. Job 42:10; II Kings 5:1-14; II Kings 20:1-7; Ps 30:2,3; 103:1-3
d. Prov 4:20-22–God gave His people instructions on how to be healthy.
e. Isa 53–a picture of Jesus bearing our sins and sicknesses to remove them.
f. The OT ends with a promise of healing to God’s people. Mal 4:2
3. When we survey the NT we see God the healer healing His people.
a. Jesus was the will of God in action on the earth, and He healed all who
came to Him. John 4:34; 14:9; Matt 4:2324
b. Jesus empowered His followers to heal. Matt 9:35-38; Matt 10:1;7,8
c. Then Jesus went to the Cross and bore our sins and sicknesses. I Pet 2:24
d. Just before He went back to heaven, Jesus commissioned His followers to
lay hands on the sick and see them recover. Mark 16:15-18
e. In Acts, this healing ministry continued through the Apostles and others.
Acts 3:1-9; 5:12-16; 6:8; 8:5-8; 14:8-10; 19:11,12
f. When healing is mentioned in the epistles it is written, understood, and
received in the context of the Book of Acts.
g. God put gifts of healings in the church. I Cor 12:28
h. Believers are told that the prayer of faith shall heal the sick. James 5:14,15
i. Rom 8:11–the Holy Ghost will quicken believers’ mortal bodies.
j. Believers are called the Body of Christ and have the privilege of claiming
Christ’s life for our flesh. II Cor 4:10,11; 12:9,10
4. There is not a single instance in the OT or the NT where God refused to heal
those who came to Him for healing. Yet, in the face of all this, there are still
objections people raise against the idea that it is always God’s will to heal.
5. In the rest of this lesson and the next we want to deal with some of the
objections to God’s willingness to heal all.
1. If Jesus healed solely to prove He was God, why did He heal all who come to
Him? One or two notable miracles would have been enough proof.
2. And, why did He tell some of those He healed not to tell anyone when He
healed them? Matt 8:4; 9:30; 12:16; Mark 2:12; 5:43
3. The Bible gives us another reason why Jesus healed — His compassion.
a. Compassion = to feel sympathy or pity; can be translated mercy.
Matt 14:14; 20:34; Mark 1:41: 9:22; Luke 7:13
b. Jesus didn’t heal people to prove His power, He healed to demonstrate His
love — and the Father’s love which He revealed. Ps 145:8
c. Jesus’s compassion for the multitude inspired Him to equip laborers like
Himself to preach and heal. Matt 9:35-10:8
1. Nowhere is there a verse that even hints at such ideas.
a. We still have apostles today. Eph 4:11-13
b. God is the healer, not the apostles–He hasn’t changed. Heb 13:8; Mal 3:6
2. The apostles were not the only ones God used to heal.
a. Luke 10:1-9–Jesus empowered 70 others besides the apostles to heal.
b. Acts 6:5;8; 8:5,6–Stephen and Philip were not apostles (were food servers).
c. James 5:14,15–Elders (older; a senior) are told to pray for the sick.
3. We are not in a different age or period than the early church.
a. We’re all in the last days. Acts 2:17; I Cor 10:11; Heb 1:2; 9:26; I John 2:18
b. The last days began with the first coming of Jesus.
4. The early church is not separate and distinct from the 20th century church.
We are all the body of Christ. Eph 5:30; 1:22,23; I Cor 12:27
a. We’re part of the same body as Peter, John, Paul, and all believers who’ve
lived since then. We have the same life and power as them: Jesus Christ.
b. Gifts of healings were given to the church, the body, of which all believers
are a part. I Cor 12:27,28; 4-20
c. Acts 1:1–Jesus’s earth ministry was only the beginning of His work. His
body carries out what He began. Matt 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-20
d. We, the body of Christ, continue His work, directed and empowered by
Jesus Christ the head, cheered on by those who’ve gone before. Heb 12:1
e. Just as Jesus showed the Father to the world by doing His words and
actions, so we show Jesus to the world, a living Savior. John 14:9-12
1. If you are submitted to His will in sickness, why are you going to the doctor
and taking medicine?
2. In the Bible, we find that God is glorified when sickness goes and healing comes. Matt 9:8; 15:31; Luke 7:16; 13:13;17; 17:15; 18:43; Acts 3:8; 4:21
a. Seven specific cases tell us that God was glorified when healing came. One verse which appears to say that God is glorified by sickness. John 11:4
b. When one verse seems to contradict a number of others, that means we do not understand the one verse.
1. v4–This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s son may be glorified through it. (NIV)
2. The end result of this sickness will not be death. The end result will be that Jesus is glorified (honored).
3. Reading the chapter, we see no glory for Jesus while Lazarus was sick or dead.
a. The disciples thought Jesus’s handling of the sickness was a mistake. v8-16
b. Martha, Mary, and others questioned His handling of things. v21;32;37
c. v40–Jesus told them they had not yet seen the glory of God.
d. After Lazarus was raised people believed and honored Jesus. v45; 12:9-11
4. Some say God allows people to be sick as an opportunity for Him to get glory when He heals them. John 9:1-7
a. God allows people to sin and go to hell. That doesn’t mean it is His will or that He is behind it in any way.
b. There are enough sick people in the world as a result of satan and sin. God doesn’t have to make anyone sick in order to have some one to heal.
c. v2–The disciples were aware of the connection between sin and sickness.
5. Remember, when you have ten verses that clearly say one thing and one verse that appears to contradict them, don’t throw out the ten, put the one on the shelf until you have more understanding. Consider these points:
a. The disciples asked Jesus a question: Who sinned? Jesus answered it: neither one. v3
b. The blindness was not the work of God because it is clear that the works of God have not yet been manifested in the man at this point. Jesus said He would have to do it. v3,4
c. If blindness was the work of God, then Jesus, by healing the man, was undoing the work of the Father. That’s a house divided. Matt 12:24-26
6. Yes, but isn’t sickness part of Christian suffering? Phil 1:29
a. You cannot impose an outside meaning on a word in the Bible. You must let the context determine the meaning of the word.
b. When the word suffering is used in the NT in connection with a Christian, it means persecution or difficulties encountered as we preach the gospel and live for God — not sickness.
c. The context of suffering in this verse is persecution. Paul was in jail for preaching the gospel. v13;20;30; Acts 16:9-24
1. Nothing in this passage gives us the right to call the thorn a disease.
a. v7–The thorn is identified for us as the messenger of satan. Messenger = ANGELOS = a being; an angel; used 188 times in Bible; means a personality, not a disease.
b. v7–It came from satan not God. Remember the house divided! Matt 12
c. Thorn in OT and NT means literal thorns or troublesome people. Num 33:55; Josh 23:13; Judges 2:3
d. v7–This thorn buffeted Paul. Buffet = to hit or strike = repeated blows.
2. v9–Paul calls thorn an infirmity = ASTHENIA = without strength, weak, sick.
a. You must determine meaning from context. II Cor 11:23-30 sets context.
b. Paul’s infirmities were obstacles and persecutions he encountered as he preached the gospel — not sickness.
3. Some say God gave Paul the thorn to keep him humble.
a. v7–tells us it came from satan to keep him from being exalted, not from exalting himself, but from being exalted. By who?
b. By those he preached to! Exalt = elevate by praise or in estimation.
4. Paul had been given tremendous revelation from God. v1-4;7; Acts 26:16; Gal 1:12
a. satan did not want him exalted by others or respected and believed by those he preached to, so he sent a fallen angel to harass Paul when he preached. Paul would preach, someone would stir up the crowd, he’d get mobbed, put out of town, or thrown in jail. Acts 13:45; 14:2-6;19
5. Some say Paul’s thorn was an eye disease. Gal 4:13-15
a. There is nothing in this passage to support such an idea.
b. Galatia was a province or region with various cities including Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. The epistle was written to the churches of Galatia. Gal 1:2
c. In Acts 14:19 Paul was stoned and left for dead at Lystra.
1. The next day he and Barnabas walked 15 miles to Derbe. Acts 14:20
2. He then walked back and preached again at Ephe