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Heal & Restore
by Bernie Parsons
Heal
& Restore
Presented by Bernie Parsons
at Load,
Kentucky on 06/22/2003
Malachi 4:1-2 "For, behold, the day
cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly,
shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts,
that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. But unto you that fear my name shall the
Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and
grow up as calves of the stall.”
Jesus came to heal and to restore.
Luke 4:18-21"The Spirit of the Lord
is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me
to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of
sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year
of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down.
And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to
say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.”
Luke 9:11 "And the people, when
they knew it, followed him: and he received them, and spake unto them of the kingdom of
God, and healed them that had need of healing.”
He gave the apostles and early disciples the gift of healing
Jesus came to heal the people and
restore them to a good relationship to God.
Matthew 13:10-15 “And the disciples
came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said
unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven,
but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have
more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he
hath.
Therefore speak I to them in parables:
because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in
them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall
not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people's heart
is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest
at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should
understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.”
Healing is one of the most important
aspects of our life in Christ.
James 5:13-20 “Is any among you afflicted?
let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. Is any sick among
you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing
him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and
the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess
your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The
effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
Elias was a man subject to like passions
as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth
by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain,
and the earth brought forth her fruit. Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and
one convert him; Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his
way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.”
We see here that not only physical
health is important to the Christian, but our mental, emotional, and spiritual health are
important—even more so than physical health.
Luke 5:30-32 “But their scribes and Pharisees murmured
against his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners? And
Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that
are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
To be holy, one needs to be whole. That
is the meaning of the word. To be whole, one needs to repent, and be righteous—that
is, obedient to God. When we sin against God, or against our fellow man, we are wounded,
and in need of healing. The one against whom sin is committed is hurt, and in pain. The
one who did the sin is in guilt, and in pain. Until the two reconcile, the hurt persists.
It is only when reconciliation takes place, that the relationship is healed. As James
said, we must confess our faults one to another, and pray for one another. Only in
forgiveness are the wounds truly healed.
Matthew 6:14-15 “For if ye forgive
men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not
men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
Matthew 18:21-22 “Then came Peter
to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till
seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until
seventy times seven.”
Matthew 5:21-24 “Ye have heard that
it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in
danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother
without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his
brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool,
shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there
rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the
altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer
thy gift.”
If we don’t heal our relationships,
here is what happens: the person who has been harmed is likely to feel hurt, resentment,
and maybe even anger toward the person who hurt them. Every time they see the offender,
the wound is reopened. When the perpetrator of the hurt sees the person he or she
offended, they will feel guilt, shame, and maybe resentment and anger of their own.
Ephesians 4:26-27 “Be ye angry, and
sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil.”
This tells us that we need to settle our
differences the very day that they happen. We ought not put off this healing process, lest
we harbor and nurture that anger.
Jesus emphasizes the importance of
this reconciliation, this healing.
Galatians
6:1 “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such
an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye
one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.”
John 8:3-11 “And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto
him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, They say unto him,
Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded
us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him, that
they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the
ground, as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up
himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone
at her. And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being
convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest,
even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When
Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where
are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus
said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.”
1 Timothy 1:5 “Now the end of the
commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith
unfeigned:”
We are to have a pure heart, a good
conscience, and an honest faith. How can we have a good conscience if we sin against God,
or our fellow man?
I Peter 3:18-21 “ For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
21: The like
figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of
the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ”
Hebrews 10:16-30 “This is the
covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws
into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities
will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for
sin. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to
say, his flesh; And having an high priest over the house of God; Let us draw near with a
true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil
conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
Let us hold fast the profession of our
faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) And let us consider one
another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves
together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye
see the day approaching. For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge
of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking
for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that
despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer
punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of
God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy
thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? For we know him that hath said,
Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall
judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
1 John 1:7-9 “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the
light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son
cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the
truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our
sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
1 John 2:9-12 “He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes. I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake.”
Remember what Jesus said!
2 Corinthians 5:17-21 “Therefore if
any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things
are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus
Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their
trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we
are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's
stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin;
that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
We plead in Christ’s stead, as
ministers of reconciliation: Won’t you be reconciled to God? Will you come and let
Jesus heal you? Will you repent of the sins that you have committed against your fellow
man, and against the Almighty God of the universe, and come with a broken heart and spirit
to the Lord?
Come, accept the washing of the body
with water, and the answer of a good conscience toward God—be baptized for the
remission of your sins.
Luke 24:46 “And said unto them,
Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the
third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among
all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”
Acts 2:36-38 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”
