A deeper healing
Key Passage: Luke 17:12-14
Date: June 7, 2024
Turn your Bibles. If we go to Luke 17, Luke chapter number 17, in God’s Word this morning. How about that? I tell you what, I didn’t drink before I drank water. All right, that’s it. But Luke 17 in God’s Word this morning, and this is our third Sunday
on a series. I think we’ll only have four Sundays on this series, dealing with baggage. And in our day and time, baggage is the typical thing. Dealing with that, it is not a subject that is the most fun to deal with. Some will kind of bypass that subject, but I think it’s very necessary in our day and time.
especially for people to have healing and God to work in their lives in great, great ways. The first Sunday we talked about walking with triggers, walking in the land of triggers, and that man came back from war. We have a great man—I’ll put it, it changed a little bit—but we have a good man that saw a lot of combat in Vietnam.
And just a dear brother, he’s to the point he talks about it, whatnot, but he said, “Pastor, I can’t handle fireworks.” He was at that Sunday night service, and I understand that. You live in a land of triggers, and some of you have that in a lot of different ways. That’s a little bit of reality for you, and helps understand what’s going on sometime in your life. Living in the walking in the land of the trip—that was the first Sunday on the subject. Last Sunday, deal with it, just dealing with that, instead of sometime just avoiding it, trying to cover it up, move on, dealing with it. And we talked about that. And then today, a deeper healing, a deeper healing. Or you may be able to word it, the second healing.
We really could look at one passage about it, but I’m going to go to two. The first one, I just want you to briefly see one thing, and I’m going to go to another passage. Don’t lose me. We’re going to read more Bible than typical at the beginning of a Sunday morning message. So don’t lose me in that, if you would. Please just kind of hang with me. We’re going somewhere on it. We’re going to start Luke 17, Luke 17. We’re going to start in verse number 12. Luke 17, verse number 12. Would you please stand?
As we read God’s Word, would you give me just a touch more volume, if it would—just a touch more? Brother Ben’s already sleeping, and he’s on the third row, so I’ve got to get him awake, you know. I’m teased, of course, but I appreciate that. Luke 17, look in verse number 12, right there if you would, please. Speaking of Jesus, as he entered into a certain village.
There met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off. Now, they stood afar off because they were required to, because they had a disease. They were contagious. If you will, they had COVID-19, and so they had to quarantine. I might understand it that way. They couldn’t get close. They had a social distance from anybody, you know, in a major way because they had leprosy. Leprosy was—you get sores, typically on the extremities of your body first. I had real bad, because sometimes you lose the tips of fingers and ears and those. I had real bad on my right hand, you know. And I got to keep you awake one way or the other, you know. But anyway, that’s what happens. You literally lose. You can go online and look up pictures of people that have lost. I think I’ve showed some pictures one time on the screen, you know, some grotesque pictures, but they have a hole in their face, whatnot, because leprosy just kind of eats through these sores. And that’s why they’re standing afar off. All right? Verse number 13. And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master”—I like that, to know who he was—“Have mercy on us.”
I like that. And when he saw them, he said unto them, “Go show yourselves unto the priest.” Now, time out for just a second. We’re going to talk through this one. Why go show yourself to the priest? Because the Old Testament, civil law, the book of Leviticus, when you’re cleansed of leprosy, you go show yourself to the priest, and they say, you don’t have to quarantine anymore. You tested negative, if you will. You can be around people. You can go home to your family, all these different things, and you got that legally processed, if you will, by the priest. So, gee, they cry, “Have mercy on us.” Jesus, “Have mercy on us.” Hey, go to the priest. Now watch this. They weren’t healed yet. But watch what happens. When they go, they obey out of faith. Watch what happens.
Verse number 14. When he saw them, he said unto them, “Go show yourselves unto the priest.” They weren’t cleansed at that moment. But why are they gone out of faith? And it came to pass that—watch these next three words—as they went.
By the way, you go to Jesus out of faith. A lot of times when people walk the aisle and get saved, as they’re walking down the aisle, they’re receiving Jesus out of faith. They get saved half the time walking down the aisle. They’re coming to him out of faith. These people are obeying out of faith. And as they went, they were—what’s the next word?—cleansed. Now, I remember that word. They were cleansed. The sores dried up. The sores are gone. The dripping of the sores, it didn’t drip anymore. They were cleansed. The things inside the body, the blood that had passed all, it was cleansed. All right? Verse number 15. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks, and he was a Samaritan.
By the way, Jesus wasn’t prejudiced at all. We had to look at verse number 11. You notice he went through Samaria. That wasn’t typical for a Jewish person to do it, but Jesus, he wasn’t prejudiced at all. Verse number 17, and Jesus answering said, “Were they not ten cleansed?” Notice that—cleansed. But where are the nine? They’re not found that return to give glory to God, save this stranger, the Samaritan. Watch this. And he said unto him, “Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee…” What’s the next word? Whole. Now, cleansed up there in verse number 14, but now made whole. Some commentaries will say, well, whole means they were even spiritually healed, or more fully healed, or more fully cleansed. It’s very obviously a different word the Bible is used. Cleansed up here, whole down here. Some—and I tend to think this, I wouldn’t argue—but I tend to think that maybe the leprosy, maybe this one man out of the ten, maybe the tip of his nose was eaten off. I don’t know. Maybe missing some finger parts, ear parts, whatnot. He was cleansed. The leprosy was gone, verse 15. But now he came back to Jesus. Hey, thank you. Praise the Lord. Glorified him, loud voice. And Jesus said, “Thy faith hath made thee whole.” His whole nose was back then. Tips of his fingers back then. His whole—his ears whole.
There may be debate about all that, but none, if they understand, if they read the Bible, would argue that there is a more complete or full healing. All ten of them are cleansed. But the one that came back, he was not only cleansed, but he was made whole. A second healing, if you will. A greater, a more fuller, deeper healing. All right? I kind of got—I just wanted to show you that. Now look, if you go over in Mark chapter number eight. Mark chapter number eight told a different story. I want you to see that it’s not just in one instance that a deeper or second or more complete healing happens in the Bible. It happened with the one out of ten. By the way, you say, “Well, were they all cleansed?” Yes. By the way, you said, “Why didn’t everybody come and get in church and live the Lord?” They get saved. I don’t know. I wish it did too, but in the Bible they didn’t all come back to Jesus. But they were all cleansed. Isn’t that not true? Yeah. Yeah. And but one came back and he had a more fuller healing, if you will. Look at Mark chapter 8. Mark chapter 8. Look at verse number 22. Mark 8, verse number 22.
And he cometh to Bethsaida. And they bring a blind man unto him and besought him, Jesus, to touch him. I love it. Mr. Angela sang that song this morning. And it’s amazing if you read Jesus as he passed by people, he touched them. And how can you heal a world you haven’t even touched? I think it’s a song, you know. Jesus touched people. Even lepers, you’ll find that they’re standing far off. Jesus would even touch them. Read the Gospels. It’s amazing how Jesus touched everybody. Verse number 23, and he took the blind man by the hand. That’s special. And led him out of the town. And when he had spit on his eyes and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw aught. And he looked up and said, “I see men as trees walking.”
We tend to think he was not blind from birth because he knew—trees. He recognized that. A little bit later on, he says restored. So sometimes as a man born blind—this is one of the instances. We don’t think he was born blind. He probably was born with eyesight, but then something—a disease, maybe caught it from somebody else—but disease caused blindness. Same thing with the lepers. Typically, they’re not born lepers, but they got it from someone else. And so that’s the typical thing here when this healing is happening. By the way, if you’re wounded, typically it’s going to happen from someone else. When you’re not born like that, you got wounded by somebody else. All right? Verse number 24. And he looked up and said, “I see men as trees walking.” After that, he put his hands again upon his eyes and made him look up. And he was restored and saw every man clearly. And he sent him away to his house, saying, “Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town.” But I want you to notice, here’s another instance where there was healing. He healed his eyes. Do you see? “Well, I see men as trees.” In other words, I can see it, but I really can’t make out. You know, I know there are men because trees don’t move around, so I know they’re men, but I can’t see clearly. We have a dog, Belle, that is 15 years old, and I think she can halfway hear out of one ear and halfway see out of one eye. And it’s interesting, you’ll be standing here and say, “Hey, you have to yell because you can hear, Belle,” you know. And she’ll look, “Did I hear something?” She always goes the wrong way because she can hear out of one ear, you know. And then she runs into things all the time. Now, she can see, but not clearly. And if you move, she can—all right, something’s there, you know. But that’s why the man was at first. He could see, but not very good. And see them as trees walking. But then Jesus healed again, if you will, the second time. Excuse me. Thank you.
The deeper healing, and the second, the progressive, some will call it, and I’m not talking about going to liberal or anything like that, but more, some will say these are progressive miracles. But he heals, touches him again, and then he looks up, he says, “I’m restored.” I can tell that. That man way back there in the back, he has some different color hair. I won’t say anything about gray hair. He said, “I can see everything.” That was a joke, by the way, all right now. But he said, “I can see clearly now,” and he was restored. Now, we’re going to talk about this and compare it a little bit to a deeper healing. We’ve been talking about major wounds. We’ve used this, and I’m not going to do it again. You’re awake today, so we’re going to have to do it again. But we’ve used the board. And, you know, we’ve taken that board and just frame it hammer to a house hammer, and it leaves indentions in there. And sometimes you’ll go through trauma in life. Your first spouse walked out on you. I think in Sunday school somebody mentioned maybe a dad walks out on you or whatnot. You know, just I’m talking about major trauma, death of a loved one. And it leaves wounds, and a deeper healing for just a bit. We want to kind of try to address that subject. And would you pray that God would work in our hearts? I’ve been very thankful, even this week, it seems like different ones, it seemed like God’s maybe doing a deeper work in their heart in their life. And I’m thankful for that. That’s what it’s all about. And would you pray to the Lord to use this this morning? Try to deal with this subject here, a deeper healing. Would you pray with me as I pray the same? Lord, we come to you. Lord, you know better than I, the burdens and the wounds and the hurts and the pains and the scars represented here today. Lord, I know you’re capable, Jesus, you can put your hands on it again and bring a fuller, a more complete healing restoration. Father, will you use this morning, Lord, to do that? I yield myself to you. Lord, I don’t know exactly how to deal with some of these subjects. I pray you to give me the exact words that you want said. Father, most of all, would you send your Spirit applying the truths and the words as you would have them? And, Father, would you do so? Lord, I pray that people wouldn’t look at me and all that, but they look at you and your Word and your truths and your Spirit and your healing and get from you. And, Father, we’ll thank you for what you do. Lord, I’m asking for that. Would you just help somebody today? In Jesus, then we pray. Amen. Thank you so much for standing. You may be seated. I’m going to blow my nose, so I’m going to be sneezing a lot today, all right. So just bear with me for one sneeze.
That’s very helpful. You appreciate it too, right? Amen. You know, I want you to look back at verse number 23. Mark 8, verse number 23. Mark 8:23. And he took the blind man by the hand. Now this journey of healing, it is wonderful, because Jesus comes and he takes you. Last week we talked about it. Some people, they got a major wound. They just want to try to sweep it under the rug, and boom, “I’m gone, I’m good, I’m not hurt,” you know, as quick as they can. And then someone uses the excuse for the rest of life to do whatever they want to justify. We’re not for either one of those extremes. But when you say, “You know what, I do have some major issues that I need to deal with,” and you’re willing to deal with it, it is amazing how the Lord will come along and take you by the hand. I think of a man that years ago, a good man who was married and had a child, and they were having issues, I think, and he thought—and some of his relatives thought—because of a major wound years and years before he had accidentally shot and killed one of his best friends. And, you know, initially with something like that, it’s in the news, and there’s police involved and all that, and in court, and he was declared innocent. And that was so helpful. But it never really dealt with—he’s dealing so much with that, but everybody else is thinking, and the news is saying, and the court is saying, whether the judge goes in, that he really didn’t deal with things inside. And now he’s married years later, and he has a child, and what was coming out, and there were major, major issues going on in their family. I did not even know the vast majority of this, but God, one service—even, well, I’ll just say one service—God really dealt with him and said, “Hey, you need to deal with that issue.” And I think the next night, he texts me, he said, “God, I got to meet with you.” The next night, and maybe it was even dark, a big fella. And we met up here, and big fella—I’d never have before since seen this big fella cry. But man, he was just like a big teddy bear, just bawling. And he said, “It was like, it was like me and you were the only ones in church that when God spoke.” He said, “Just like just me and you. And God put his finger and said, ‘You need to deal with that situation.’” And the amazing thing is the Lord, in a special way, said, “Hey, it’s kind of funny because a big fella, but the Lord—even big fellas need it too,” amen. But the Lord came, that big fella took him by the hand. He said, “I’m going to take you on a journey of healing.” As far as I know, his marriage and his child and all is so much better, but the Lord took him on the journey.
I look and I see some out there that your father passed when you were very young, and those things happen. And these things happen in life, and the Lord is capable to come alongside you, and he’ll grab your hand and he says, “All right, let’s go on this pathway, this journey of healing.” It’s a wonderful journey. I say a wonderful journey. The end of it is wonderful. But can I say sometimes the journey can be a little rough, and you have to face some issues you don’t want to face, and you have to deal with things you don’t want to deal with. And it’s very hurtful and painful many times getting the affliction out of the wound so it can heal. But Jesus takes you by the hand and leads you through it. It’s wonderful in the Lord and how the Lord does that. Now, can I say this about it? There’s not necessarily a time limit. You know, grieving is like that. Some people grieve real quickly, right out of the bat, boom, they deal with it, you know, and it’s just kind of a shorter time, maybe a month or two or three or six months. But some people, it kind of takes time for them to even really start dealing with it. And once they deal with it, sometimes it’s a longer journey. And there’s not a right or wrong. Okay, but they must—they need to deal with that. Sometimes it matters if it was abused, sometimes how long the abuse was at one time, was a repeat, it was over years, how intense was it. And these things have a great impact sometimes on the healing and the journey. So sometimes it may take years for the healing, the journey. But the good thing is the Lord doesn’t say, “Well, I’ll hold your hand for a bit.” No, the Lord says, “Hey, I’m here with you through the journey.” And God doesn’t kick us, “Hey, get on that journey and get healed.” Hey, he’s the only one that heals, and he goes with you through the journey. I see some grandparents out there, and you’ve got a grandchild that’s got a major wound, and someone has just abused him in a very sinful way. And can I say that grandparent, “Hey, Jesus is grabbing that grandchild, and they’ll go, and Jesus is holding their hand. Let’s go on the journey of healing.” And Jesus here grabbed this man’s hand, and he leads him out of town. We’re going to go heal those eyes. And it’s a journey the Lord takes you on. And it’s going to lead you sometimes down roads and different avenues that you really have no clue what all it’s going to include. Most of you know I had knee surgery in April—I think March or April, somewhere along there. And they said there are loose particles in there, and there’s a torn meniscus in there. But, you know, and the MRIs and all—that’s what we can see. But the doctor said, “Well, we don’t fully know everything until we get in there.” And I was very thankful. He said this. He said, “Well, he said, I think the biggest problem,” he said, “I typically could go through a knee twice.” And he said, “The first time around the knee, I didn’t catch it. And he said, my second time around the knee, I’d already moved some particles in the torn meniscus.” And he said, “But I saw it: eight millimeter.” That’s five-sixteenths of an inch particle between the bones. And he said, “That’s probably the biggest thing that’s been aggravating”—he used a different word—“that’s been aggravating your knee.” That one right there. Now, here’s the thing. I’m thankful. And boy, I said, “Well, man, I’m glad you were thorough and you went through it twice to get that particle.” And when you go on the journey, Jesus, he takes you. And sometimes there are saints you know not of. But as God takes you on the journey of healing, he’s going to be with you. And I’m thankful. A.J. Gordon, you should say, “God, be thorough with me. And while you’re working on me, be thorough with me.” And as he takes you on that journey, he’ll go with you through holding your hand through the journey. And praise the Lord for that. Y’all still with me this morning?
They’re a little quieter than usual. I know I’ve said this last couple weeks, but it’s a heavy subject. It’s not a preacher’s favorite sermon to preach, but it’s so necessary, and Jesus takes you on the journey. So first of all, Jesus took him by the hand. The Lord takes you on the journey of healing. Number two, look back at verse number 23, verse number 23. “And he took the blind man by the hand”—watch this—“and led him out of the town.”
Now, can I say this? Most of your healing is going to be done not in public, not around everybody. It’s been done in private by Jesus. Yes, the Lord uses people, but typically most of your healing in these journeys are not going to be in front of everybody. Everybody knows about it. Can I say this when you have a major wound? Maybe you have a death of a loved one. It’s just broken your heart. Or maybe you go through something, and it’s an unusual thing. Sometimes we want everybody to kind of understand what we’re going through. Sometimes you even feel so isolated. You’re like, “Nobody knows what I’m going through.” By the way, the Bible does address that, when he said there is no temptation common to man. But we’ll feel that. “I’m the only one that’s ever been through anything like that.” And sometimes in that, we want people to understand what we’re going through. We want people to get it. And can I say this in a great way? A lot of people—I would say the majority of people—they’re not going to get it. And I’m not trying to be mean. They’re just not going to understand it. And we want everybody to understand, everybody comprehend it, and sometimes even we’ll open up to someone about the situation in life, and they kind of brush it off or they don’t get it, and it can really hurt us. Because typically when you open up about something like that, you need a little validation after that, a little help, a little concern after that. And can I just say people are not, as a whole, they’re not going to get it. And if we’re not careful, we’re going to go everywhere looking for somebody to bring healing and understanding and get it, and they don’t. And I have to be wise about when and who I open up to. Now, opening up to the right people is usually, typically part of God’s healing, but I must be wise about that. And Jesus led this man out of the town, away from everybody. And by the way, those people that don’t get it, they’re not bad people. They’re not the worst people in the world. They just don’t understand you. They don’t understand what happened. Sometimes they’re dealing with their issues, you know. And be careful. I want to go to everybody and kind of let them know how bad my life has been, and I’m not going to get healing from that. Jesus led them out of town. Now, as I said, sometimes God’s going to lead you to the right people and people that are very helpful in it. But, you know, there are two times the Bible says, “Vain is the help of man.” Now, God uses people, but it’s God that works through the man, but we must be wise about that. Now, I say all that in this passage: Jesus led him out of town. But sometimes—and I keep going back—often God will lead you to the right person and right time. I think of a pastor’s wife. A good pastor, good wife. But the wife was dealing with some major issues from her past. And, of course, she couldn’t tell everybody in the church, whatnot, and she’s dealing with it kind of at the point of breaking. And God just had it at a certain time that an evangelist was coming through, and his wife was very good at counseling, and God just timed that thing. It’s amazing. I’m like, “Wow, it’s amazing how God does the timing.” I mean, God often uses people in that. But be very careful about going, “Everybody in town, hey, this is what happened to me. You don’t know how bad I’ve got it in my life.” And healing isn’t always found there. Amen. Okay. Let’s keep going on this thing here. Jesus led him out of town. But I want you to see. Look at 23 and 26. Let’s just kind of get this thing one more time. Verse number 23, Mark 8:23. “And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town.” Look at verse number 26. This is after he’s fully healed, verse number 26. “And he sent him away to his house, saying neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town.” Bethsaida—but it’s pronounced two different ways, Bethesda or Bethsaida. See, I’m trying to get it right. Bethsaida was not known as a good town. Look over in Matthew 11. Keep your finger there. Look over in Matthew chapter 11, verse number 21. This is the first time Bethsaida is mentioned in the Bible. The first time something’s mentioned is very significant in the Bible. And I want you to notice the first time it is mentioned in the Bible. What does the Bible say about this town? All right. Matthew 11, you’re in verse number 21. When you find out, would you say, “Amen?” Good deal. We’re in verse number 21. You are listening. I was wondering, you’re quiet this morning. You are listening. Praise the Lord for that. You know. Verse number 21 right there, Matthew 11:21. “Woe unto thee, Chorazin; woe unto thee, Bethsaida.” The first time this town is mentioned is, “Woe unto thee.” There’s a curse on thee. Jesus is speaking here. “For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.” So, if you will, their doom as a city as a whole was already determined. This was a town that would not let God work in their lives and their hearts on the vast majority. It doesn’t mean individuals couldn’t. This whole town was known as a sinful place. And so Jesus is leading him out of this town and is going to deal with this man. Even though he’s a part of that town, people in the town could get help if they wanted Jesus’ help. And this man did. And Jesus led him out of town. Now, you say, “All right, what does that have to do with what we’re talking about today?” The Lord is not limited in healing you by the people you’re around. You say, “Well, wherever I live, my family, my relatives, my workplace—there’s no way I can have healing in my life.” Jesus can bring healing in your life right in the midst of sinful things. He’s a master healer. Now, he did lead this man out of the town. We’ve already noted that. And sometimes he’ll lead you out of the midst of these situations and these people, these circumstances. He leads people out of that so often. But Jesus is not limited by that. He can bring healing to you and work in your life in ways, even when you’re in the midst of sinful situations. He can still bring healing in your life. He’s wonderful at that. Sometimes he uses those that you’re around. Sometimes he doesn’t.
I think I mentioned this man last week, a man, a good man, but his dad literally would beat him. And I’m not talking about beating him with a belt, spanking him. I’m talking about literally with his fist, beat him. Because he wanted to grow up and be a tough man, a boxer one day, you know. And then when he was done beating his son, he would—I’m talking about with his fist, face and all that, bloody—and if he was done, he’d make his son say, “Thank you, Dad.” It’s warped on another level. You call it narcissistic manipulation, so on and so on. But that man—God did use that sinful man on his deathbed; he did say to his son, “I’m sorry, son.” That wasn’t all the healing. Jesus brings healing, but God didn’t use that sinful man. And God can do that. And it doesn’t make up what all he did to his son and all the wounds he made on the son, but there was a part. But can I say so often? I think of someone that was very, very—they were abused by a quote-unquote preacher. Wasn’t a preacher. And by the time this person wanted to deal with this wound years later, I think the preacher—and I use that term lightly, that man, I’ll say sinful man, wicked man—that man was in the grave. And the man was gone. And this lady wanted to deal with it, and she literally, in tears, said, “I hate preachers.” And I get what she’s saying. She wasn’t saying me per se. She was saying, “What happened there?” And I get that. When God’s bringing healing in that lady’s life, but God can’t use that sinful man. That man’s gone. But Jesus is not limited by the people you’re around in healing in your life. We’re trying to get in. He can bring healing. He can lead you out of the situation. He can do amazing things and bring healing to you. Some of you say, “Well, I’ve been hurt, have been wounded. Maybe it’s emotional abuse, and that could be very tough to deal with all the smoke and mirrors involved in that.” And sometimes God will lead you. Sometimes God will lead you to go back to that person and confront that person. But this happens very often: that person you confront says, “Well, I don’t remember that,” or “If you did take it like that, if you did get hurt…” Notice how they’re kind of putting the blame—very manipulative, putting the blame on the “if.” “Then I’m sorry for…” And God typically doesn’t use that a whole lot for healing. But God’s not limited in bringing healing in your life by the people you’re around. He can lead you by the hand, lead you wherever he wants to, and bring healing to you. That’s what he did for this man here. Verse number 23. I don’t understand everything about this, but I want you to notice. Look back over Mark 8, verse number 23. Mark 8:23. “And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town.” And when he had spit on his eyes. Now just pause for just a moment here. In any day in time, that’s very, very, very disgraceful. That just bothers me to no end. And I think in Jesus’ time it was somewhat like that. They did that when they were torturing Jesus. But some—and even some medical people today say there’s healing in your saliva. And some Bible scholars who believe there’s a little bit of this was—they thought in that day and time there’s healing in saliva. It was more of a common thing. And it showed this man, “I’m going to bring some healing to you.” I don’t know about that. But this is the one thing I get: Jesus was taking of himself, his own bodily fluids, he was taking of himself and pouring it into this man. I do understand that. It kind of reminds me of later on Jesus shed his blood, his physical fluids, his blood, to bring healing to you and I in our sins. Right? A little similar. He’s giving of his own body fluids for the healing of this man. He’s getting involved in his life. He’s not saying, “I want the world to be healed, but won’t touch him.” He’s reaching out, and he’s giving of himself. All right? Let’s keep going here. 23. “And he took the blind man by the hand, led him out of the town. When he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him.” He asked him if he saw aught. Do you see anything? He put his hands. Jesus got involved. He didn’t need this, that other. Jesus himself is getting involved. And he looked up and said, “I see men as trees walking.” And after that, he put his hands again upon his eyes. And made him look up, and he was restored and saw every man clearly. But don’t you know, Jesus himself is the healer?
Jesus himself gave of himself. He gave of his hands and even his body fluids. He got involved in the healing. And whatever the situation you’re going through, Jesus himself, he’ll take you on the journey, and himself he’ll come, and he’s the one that brings healing in your life. He’s a master healer. He’s the one that can make your life. He’s, man, there’s no hope for me in healing. There is hope of Jesus Christ. Look over in John 16. John 16, verse number 33. John 16, verse number 33.
I tried to memorize this verse maybe a year or two ago. I probably couldn’t quote it today. But I messed up when I memorized this verse. And I want you to—I’m going to read it the way I messed up memorizing it. And God really taught me a lesson: the most important part of the verse I left out when I was memorizing. And God was teaching me something through that. I want you to—you got you there, John 16:33? Are you there? Amen. Would you look as I read it, and I’m going to try to leave out what I missed when I was memorizing. Here we go. “These things have I spoken unto you, that ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” Anybody remember what—notice what I missed? Say it out loud. I missed it. You know, and I memorized it, but then sometimes I’ll go back. Did I memorize it right? And I missed the most important part. Look at it. What did it say right there? “These things I have spoken to you, that in me ye might have peace.” And I missed that vital part of “in Jesus.” I try to get healing and I move beyond something. I have total healing. Friend, I can’t have that peace without Jesus. “In me, ye shall have peace.”
Jesus is the healer. I don’t care who the counselor is. There are good counselors the Lord will use, but a counselor cannot bring healing to your life. Jesus brings healing to your life. Jesus is the one that can touch the eyes and make him see. He’s the one that making the lame to walk again. He’s the one that can make the dead raised to life. It’s Jesus that does that. By the way, the world and our government, they call for all the social programs, and some of them are good programs. I’m not saying they’re all bad. But, friend, if you leave Jesus out, you’re leaving healing out of it. You can have a Ph.D. degree in counseling. You can know all of that and deal with all those saints, but if Jesus is not involved in it, you don’t have healing in your life. The key is Jesus in me. You’ll have peace, and you’ll have victory over tribulation through Christ. Here’s the good thing. Jesus says, “I’ll come along, I’ll take you by the hand, and I’ll lead you on the journey.” And I’ll pull you out of situations away from people he doesn’t want you to be around. And he gets you over here, and he’ll bring it his own self, and it’ll bring healing in your life. Jesus could do that. Here’s an amazing thing to me. Notice what he says here. Look back verse number 25, verse number 25. “And after that he put his hands again upon his eyes.” And what’s the next four words? “And he looked up.” He had already looked up earlier. And he saw men as trees walking around. He couldn’t see clearly. Jesus, this time he had to make him look up. Can I say this on your journey? There are going to come times you say, “There’s no way I could be normal.” By the way, after a while, you’re like, “What is normal? Who is normal nowadays?” But you’re like, “I can never be restored. I can never be made whole. I’m so messed up.” Jesus made this man—“Hey, look up, fella.” Because if you’re not careful, you’ll get so defeated, so discouraged, you’re like, “There’s no way I can be a godly man, no way I can be a godly wife, no way I can do this,” out of it. Because you’re so messed up. But Jesus made this man look up. And when he looked up, he said, “Wow, I’m restored. I can see.” And here’s a wonderful thing about it. You notice what he said at the last part of that verse? “And he was restored and saw every man clearly.” You know, after you go through that journey, the Lord takes you through that journey, you see things like you never saw them before. Amen. You understand people’s situations like he never did before. You see so much more clear of what’s going on and why and how to deal with situations. Why? Because the Lord took you on the journey and he brought healing in your life. By the way, if you will, he gets that little thing out of your eye or that big thing out of your eyes so you can see clearly to help somebody else. The Lord takes you on that. The Lord does that. He’s the only one. Can I say if you’re not careful, you’ll get so defeated? You don’t want to look up anymore. “I can never be normal. I can never have a marriage and raise kids.” Oh, yeah, you can. Yeah, you can. The Lord restores. By the way, there’s no less value to you either. I got to quit, but I got a $50 bill here. Praise the Lord for that. Man, Brother Jim Rennick thinks he’s in the wrong church. He can’t believe the preacher’s got a $50 bill. He said, “Used to be 50 cents back of the day, right, Brother Jim?” You know? I’m stepping up in the world. Amen. We sold a car. Amen. That’s why I got it. But praise the Lord. But, you know, anybody want that? If you want that $50 bill, would you raise your hand? No. My wife’s over there demanding, and she has that $50 bill. Look at that. And I take this thing and I just wad it up. I abuse it. I mean, you see, it’s just—it’s just—see that? Anybody still want it? My wife still says, “You better give it to me, boy.”
Can I say when you get abused in problems and wounds, your dad walked out, your spouse cheated on you, left you—you still got the same value. God can still restore. God still wants to use you. When it’s all said and done, you’ll be able to see so much more. Things you never saw before, you never picked up on—you see it now. You won’t be so manipulated next time. You see things so much better. Say, “Can that ever happen? I mean, I’m so messed up.” Jesus can do that. I thought about this one. We’ve got to quit. Corrie ten Boom wrote a book, The Hiding Place. There’s a movie, The Hiding Place. How many ever read the book or you saw the movie The Hiding Place? How many of you? Oh, maybe, maybe a third of us or half of us, I don’t know. It was great, great. I’d recommend it. But her family was hiding Jewish people in Denmark or Sweden—Denmark over there, Holland. I think it was Holland. And the Nazis were coming in, and they were hiding Jewish people. They had made a little secret room in their house to hide Jewish people so the Nazis, Germans, wouldn’t kill them. And eventually the Nazis caught them. And they sent Corrie and her sister, Betsie, to concentration camps. And concentration camps are just horrible what all happened there. And they were in Ravensbrück, I believe it’s Ravensbrück is the prison they were in, concentration camp they were in, and the guards were just so hateful. And Corrie says they would come in sometimes and they would just take women out and just violate them. And Corrie—it would just kill her when they would come in. They were already starving them to death, so on and so on. But they would come in and they would take her sister and they would take her out, and you knew what they were doing. Very wicked, sinful. And God—Betsie, her sister, by the way—died in the concentration camp. Corrie lived through it. Corrie wrote the book about it later on. And after that, and a little after World War II was over, specifically in 1947, I believe it was, Corrie was going to churches in Germany and trying to give those German people hope that God forgives. She wasn’t a preacher. She’s a lady. The Bible’s not for that. But she would go and give a testimony. And she was at a church in Germany, and she was giving testimony about how the Lord forgives. And she says back then, right after World War II and the Germans were defeated, you know, they just had no hope. And she said there was no amends. And she said they were just listening. They’d walk out quietly. And she had stood and gave a testimony how the Lord can forgive, and she was willing to forgive, even though those things had happened to her and so on and so on. And she gave that testimony, and service was over, and people were walking out, and Corrie ten Boom said, “I saw that man.” He caught my eye. And she says, “I looked at him. My mind went back to that man and then went back to the prison guard uniform he wore.” And she said, when she saw him, all those old feelings came up. And him and others, taking her sister out. Her sister died there. And she said, as everybody was leaving, he started coming her way, and she thought, “No, Lord. I don’t have—even though I know I just spoke about it, that you can forgive these people—I don’t have it in me. I can’t forgive that man.” And the more she said that, the guard—ex-guard—kept coming closer. And he came up to her, and he reached his hand out to shake her hand. And she said, “I can’t, Lord.” And she said it seemed like a long time. It was probably just seconds, but the battle was going on inside. She said, “I started fumbling with my purse, trying to hide the battle that was going on.” And she said, “I can’t. I can’t.” And I’m going to read for you some of her words. She’s given the testimony several different times, different ways, but I’ll read this one. She says, “It could not have been many seconds that he stood there, hand out, but to me it seemed like hours as I wrestled with the most difficult thing I had ever had to do. For I had to do it, I knew that. I was reminded if you do not forgive men their trespasses, Jesus says, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.” Let me make a note: your Father still saves, but your Father—you got something between you and your heavenly Father. You don’t lose your salvation. “Neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.” I knew it not only as a commandment of God, but as a daily experience since the end of the war. I had had a home in Holland for victims of Nazi brutality. Those who were able to forgive their former enemies were able also to return to the outside world and rebuild their lives, no matter what the physical scars. Those who nursed their bitterness remained invalids. It was as simple and as horrible as that. And still I stood there with coldness clutching my heart. But forgiveness is not emotion. I knew that too. Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart. Finally, I said, “Jesus helped me.” I prayed silently. “I can lift my hand. I can do that much. But you’ve got to supply the feeling.” And so woodenly, mechanically, I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me. And as I did, an incredible thing took place. A current started in my shoulder, ran down my arm, sprang into our joined hands. And then this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes. “I forgive you, brother,” I cried with all my heart. I’m simply saying Jesus can bring healing that you don’t have in yourself, but he can do it in you.
Original File: A Deeper Healing - Pastor Paul Chisgar- Dealing with baggage Sunday AM 07162023