"The Greater Healing" 8-4-19
Overview
The Greater Healing
Does Jesus still heal this side of heaven? Yes—but if so, why are some healed and others not? Is there a "secret" formula of faith we must discover? Scripture itself pushes back on that question. In Acts 14:8–10, Paul encounters a man in Lystra who had been crippled from birth. Luke triple-emphasizes his condition (sitting, unable to use his feet, never having walked) so we feel the weight of his plight. The man had been continually listening to Paul preach—echoing Romans 10:17, "faith comes from hearing." Paul looks at him intently, sees that he has "faith to be healed," and commands him to stand. He springs up and walks.
It is tempting to read this as if faith were like airline points—accrue enough, cash them in, receive your healing. Some passages seem to support this: Jesus tells the bleeding woman Luke 8, blind Bartimaeus Mark 10, and the thankful leper Luke 17, "Your faith has made you well." But other passages show no such faith on the part of the one healed: the lame man at the Beautiful Gate expected only money Acts 3:1–10; the centurion's slave is never said to believe Luke 7; Jairus's daughter was already dead Mark 5. So which is it?
The Greek opens the door. Two common words for physical healing—therapeuō (from which we get "therapy") and iaomai—are not the words Jesus chooses when He says, "Your faith has made you well." Every time, the word is sōzō, the most common New Testament word for being saved. The same word appears in Luke 7:50—"Your faith has saved you; go in peace"—and in Acts 14, where Paul sees the lame man has "faith to be sōzō-ed." Jesus is not measuring a quantity of faith sufficient to unlock a physical miracle. He is acknowledging the deeper, spiritual healing that already exists in the believer because of faith in Him as Savior.
This is liberating pastoral truth. No one need fear that doubt or weakness has "disqualified" them from healing, as if Jesus tallies faith-points before deciding. Physical and mental healings still come, by His grace and according to His will alone—not as a reward for our spiritual performance. So bring every need to the Lord; ask boldly for healing; then bow to His will, whether He grants it now or on the other side of heaven. And rest in this: through the cross and empty tomb, the greater healing is already yours. Our fractured relationship with God—what truly deserved His condemnation—has been mended by the shed blood of Christ. That healing outlasts every therapy, reaches further than every recovery, and endures for all eternity.
Transcript
There are a host of healings recorded in Holy Scripture. 0s
And as you read the account of these healings, 6s
they are tremendously moving, aren't they? 9s
Does the Lord Jesus Christ still heal this side of heaven? 16s
Certainly. 22s
But that begs the question, doesn't it? 25s
If the Lord Jesus Christ still heals this side of heaven, 28s
why is it then that some people are healed? 33s
And others are not. 39s
Why are some people healed of physical issues? 44s
Mental issues, this side of heaven and others are not. 47s
Is there a secret? 52s
Is there a secret? 54s
In order to be able to get your healing this side of heaven? 56s
Is there a secret? 65s
I will review as we moved into the 14th chapter. 69s
Last week, you remember that the Word of God was preached. 72s
It was preached faithfully. 75s
And when the Word of God is preached in purity and faithfulness, 77s
that gives rise to division. 81s
It's the division of light and darkness. 83s
It was the division of truth and air. 86s
It's the division of opinion and fact. 88s
And it's exactly what happened. 91s
There was a division. 93s
Some people in the city sided with the Jews that were stirring up trouble. 94s
Others sided with the apostles. 98s
The division gave rise to persecution. 102s
The persecution gave rise to the spread of the gospel. 105s
We see it over and over. 109s
In the book of Acts, we see this cycle continually expressing itself. 112s
And so often in the book of Acts when it seems, as if the church is in a dire straight, 119s
that Satan has the upper hand. 126s
What we see is that the persecution simply gives rise to the expansion of the gospel. 129s
And the growth of the church, corporate. 139s
Exactly what happened. 145s
Remember earlier in chapter 13, there in Antioch, the experience persecution. 147s
They go to Iconium, the experience persecution there in Iconium. 151s
And then they head to Lystra as the church expands. 157s
And they're in Lystra. 163s
There in Lystra, which is about 18 miles away from Iconium. 166s
There in Lystra is a man. 172s
And notice how he's described, verse 8. 175s
In Lystra, there is a man sitting who could not use his feet and had never walked for he had been crippled from birth. 179s
Notice it's a threefold emphasis to the plate of this man. 190s
He was sitting who could not use his feet. 199s
He had never walked for he had been crippled from birth. 204s
Notice it's a threefold emphasis to make sure that we understand here the situation that this man is facing. 209s
The plate that he is in. 216s
Very next verse. 221s
He listened to Paul as he was speaking. 223s
The word there for listened in the Greek, it's a word that communicates that this is something he was continually doing. 228s
So that tells us then. 236s
This isn't the first time that he had been hearing the Apostle Paul. 238s
He had been listening to him on other occasions. 241s
As I studied this past week, I couldn't help but think of Romans the 10th chapter where Paul writes, 246s
So faith comes from what is heard and what is heard comes through the word of Christ. 252s
And there you have this man crippled from birth, unable to walk in this terrible situation. 260s
He's repeatedly listening to the message of Jesus from Paul. 269s
What happens? 279s
Good the next part of verse 9. 281s
And Paul looking at him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, said in the loud voice. 284s
Stand upright on your feet and the man spring up and begin to walk. 296s
So this man here who couldn't walk, now all of a sudden springs up here and is able to walk. 305s
And is the secret revealed? 315s
Is the secret given? 319s
Because notice what it says in verse 9, Paul looked at him intently. 321s
Here it comes and seeing that he had faith to be healed. 328s
Seeing that he had faith to be healed. 338s
Sitting allowed voice. 343s
Stand upright on your feet. 346s
Is that the secret? 349s
So often faith can be portrayed as if faith was equivalent to airline points. 354s
What I mean by that is with airline points, you accrue enough airline points and then you can call cash them in to get your ticket. 362s
So you go shopping and maybe use your credit card and you use a certain one. 371s
So you can accrue the points and then you can use the points to take a trip. 376s
Then if you have enough points then you can get your ticket. 382s
It's all a matter of the quantity of the points. 388s
Faith can sometimes be portrayed as that. 391s
Then if you had enough faith then you could get your healing. 396s
You have enough faith points that you've accrued then you can turn to God and you could cash them in. 402s
So you got the 25,000 here now and I want to cash it in on the free healing. 410s
Faith can be portrayed like that. 420s
And the thing that makes you scratch your head is you've got portions of scripture that seems to as you give a cursory reading seems to support it. 424s
Right? 438s
Why? 440s
I think of Luke the 8th chapter. 441s
It's the woman who has the hemorrhages. 443s
We read the Mathian account this morning for our gospel text. 445s
She has hemorrhages. She's had him for 12 years. 450s
She's in a crowd. She says if I can if I can only touch the garment of Jesus I'll be healed. 454s
Well, she makes your way through the crowd. She touches there the garment. 460s
Jesus experiences power that goes forth from him. 465s
He turns it occasions a conversation with a woman who is now healed. 469s
And Jesus turns to the woman and says daughter your faith has made you well your faith has made you well. 474s
Think about blind Bartomass. 490s
Bartomass crying out to the Lord for healing. 493s
And the Lord turns to Bartomass healing him. 498s
She says go your faith has made you well. 502s
Or how about the 10 lepers? 510s
Members of gospel text is appointed for Thanksgiving Eve services. 512s
10 lepers cry out for healing. 517s
The Lord Jesus heals all 10. 520s
Only one, however, goes back to give thanks to the Lord Jesus and Jesus turns to the leper and says, 522s
Get up, go on your way, your faith has made you well. 530s
Well, that seems to under-under-under-under-goered. 538s
It seems to support the whole faith's points understanding, doesn't it? 540s
That your faith, you had a sufficient quantity of faith, and therefore you got the healing. 546s
I remind that of a woman on my internship. She was riddled with cancer. 553s
It appeared that the Lord was going to heal her on the other side of Easter. 558s
Wasn't going to heal her, but was going to heal her on the other side of Easter. 563s
But she refused to talk with her family about the possibility of her death. 570s
So I remember they're being with my supervising pastor and listening to the conversation between him and the woman. 578s
And the lady turned to pastor Gravrock and said, Pastor, I can't have that conversation with my family. 585s
I can't do that because if I do, then Jesus will think that I'm doubting that I'm going to be healed. 594s
And then Jesus will think, I don't have enough faith to be healed, and therefore I won't be. 606s
heal. 616s
Hear the, hear the bondage in that. 619s
And yeah, what do you do with those passages there? 625s
It says, your faith is made to well. 629s
Your faith has made you well. 631s
But see here's the thing. 635s
Not only are those episodes in scripture that talks about, go your faith as made to well, 638s
or you have been healed. 643s
But you also see portions of scripture where there is no evidence of faith on the part of people that are healed. 647s
See any evidence of faith? 655s
Let's review an example. 657s
Let's turn back if you would to act the third chapter. 659s
Acts chapter 3, verse 1. 662s
Notice the similarities also in the story between the story we're studying in the 14th chapter. 669s
There are an Acts chapter 3. 677s
It says, one day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, three o'clock in the afternoon. 679s
And a man, lame from birth, was being carried in. 684s
So it's a very similar situation, isn't it? 690s
People would lay him daily at the gate of the temple called the beautiful gate so that he could ask for arms from those entering the temple, arms were money. 692s
When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked them for arms. 704s
Peter looked intently at him, as did John and said, look at us. 711s
And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. 716s
What was he expecting to receive? 723s
Expecting receive money, right? 726s
All of a sudden he's acknowledged there, look at us, hope rises, because he thinks, I'm going to get some money here. 729s
That's what he's expecting. 736s
And he fixes attention on them, verse 5, expecting to receive something from them. 740s
But Peter said, I have no silver or gold, but what I have, I give you. 744s
And the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth stand up and walk. 748s
And he took him by the right hand, raised him up, and immediately, his feet and ankles were made strong. 752s
But notice. 763s
He's no reference to faith on his part, right? 765s
The only reference is hope that he's going to get money. 770s
So reference to faith or how about an loop the seventh chapter. 774s
You've got the centurion. 782s
Has a slave that's very dear to him, the slave is sick and near death. 784s
Jesus heals the slave of the centurion, and there's not one reference to the slave having faith. 789s
Not one. 799s
How about this? How about Jyrus' daughter? 803s
Mark the fifth chapter. 806s
Jyrus' daughter dies. 808s
Jesus goes and raises Jyrus' daughter from the dead. 812s
A healing occurs. 816s
But there's no faith on the part of Jyrus' daughter, right? 822s
Because Jyrus' daughter was dead. 825s
And did that person doesn't have faith? 829s
So how do you make sense of this? 834s
How do you make sense of those passages that seem to say that healing is directly linked to the person's faith? 836s
That Jesus looks and says your faith has made you well. 845s
And those other passages where there's no reference at all to faith. 849s
And yet God, it simply his grace, simply heals. 853s
How do you make sense of this? 857s
There's three Greek words I want to share with you this morning. 865s
One of the Greek words, it's therapeutic. 871s
You know, can you guess what English word we get from that? 873s
It's therapy, right? Therapy. 877s
So you've got therapeutic, oh, then you've got IOMI. 880s
IOMI. Those were two very, very common words for healing. 884s
You see them in the inscriptions. 891s
Therapy, oh, and IOMI. 895s
There's a third word. 896s
It's called Sozo. 898s
Sozo was the most common New Testament word for being saved. 901s
It's used in association with an understanding of healing. 911s
It's being saved. It is being healed. 917s
I think for example of Luke the seventh chapter. 923s
There's the example of the woman with a costly ointment. 925s
She comes and she anoints Jesus's feet with a costly ointment. 929s
Jesus says your sins are forgiven and then he turns to the woman and he says, 935s
Your faith has saved you. 941s
Go in peace. 944s
The word there. It's Sozo. 945s
It's Sozo. 948s
Common word. 949s
Most common word in the New Testament. 950s
That means being saved. 953s
Luke with me, please now. 958s
At verse 9 again of our text. 961s
He listened to Paul as he was speaking. 967s
And Paul looked at him intently and seeing that he had faith 971s
to be healed. 981s
to be healed. 986s
Guess what word is used and translated to be healed. 991s
It's not therapeutic. 1000s
It's not Iomai. 1001s
It's Sozo. 1006s
Guess what word is used in the account of the woman who had had the hemorrhages that touches the cloak of the garment of Jesus. 1011s
And Jesus turns to her and says, 1023s
daughter, your faith has made you well. 1026s
Guess what word is used there translated, made you well. 1031s
It's Sozo. 1037s
It's Sozo. 1039s
Blime Bartomans. 1041s
When our Lord turns to him and says, 1044s
Go, your faith has made you well. 1045s
Guess what word is used there for made you well. 1048s
It's not therapy. 1051s
Oh, it's not Iomai. 1052s
It's Sozo. 1055s
It's Sozo. 1057s
Here's a real tough question now. 1060s
The ten lepers, the one that comes back. 1063s
Jesus turns to the one that comes back. 1066s
So let's get up and go on your way. 1068s
Your faith has made you well. 1069s
Guess what word is used translated, made you well. 1073s
It's not therapy. 1078s
It's not Iomai. 1079s
It's Sozo. 1083s
Sozo. 1085s
In fact, in all the examples, when Jesus says, 1086s
your faith has healed you, your faith has made you well. 1093s
It's always Sozo. 1100s
When the man who was crippled there in Leistro, 1107s
receives his healing. 1112s
He wasn't healed because he had enough faith points to cash in. 1116s
He wasn't healed because of the quantity of his faith. 1122s
You see, if the word there in chapter 14 was Therapuol or Iomai, 1129s
if Jesus turns and says, 1134s
your faith has made you Therapuol, 1137s
well, then it's the quantity of faith, then it's the points. 1140s
If it's your faith has made you Iomai, then it's the faith's points. 1144s
You've got the quantity, but when Jesus turns to the man and says, 1148s
your faith, faith has made you well. 1155s
He's not acknowledging the quantity of his faith. 1164s
It's not the word. 1169s
He's acknowledging the spiritual healing 1172s
that already existed in the man. 1177s
He's acknowledging the spiritual healing that already existed in the man 1182s
because of his faith in Jesus as his Savior. 1192s
He's not looking and seeing you've got sufficient quantity of faith. 1200s
And now I can heal you. He looks at him and says, 1204s
your faith has made you well in the far deeper sense than even the physical healing. 1207s
It's the spiritual healing. 1217s
I don't want to minimize physical healings or mental healings in the least. 1226s
Does Jesus still do that? 1235s
And is the basis for those type of healings this side of heaven? 1240s
Is it the same basis that it was in Holy Scripture? 1245s
Absolutely. 1249s
It's nothing we contribute. 1251s
It's always as grace and it's always as well. 1254s
But the greater healing is the spiritual healing that is ours through the cross of Christ, isn't it? 1261s
That's the greater healing. 1271s
Because of our sin, our relationship with God had been fractured and torn apart, 1275s
what we deserve is his condemnation. 1279s
We are healed through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. 1282s
We are healed because the sacrifice for sin on the cross of Jesus has been accepted 1286s
because the tomb is empty. 1292s
That is the far greater healing than any physical or mental healing. 1295s
We can receive this side of heaven. 1302s
The greater healing is the healing that Jesus acknowledged in every example when he turned and he said, 1306s
Your faith has made you well. 1315s
He's acknowledging the greater healing that was already there because of the existence of faith, the spiritual healing. 1318s
Turn to the Lord. 1334s
Turn to the Lord when you need healing. 1337s
Ask for His will to be done and trust in His will. 1341s
But no. 1349s
No, there's you turn to the Lord and ask for healing His gracious expression 1352s
that if it's His will to heal you this side of heaven, He will. 1358s
Or if not, then you bow to His will and bring Him glory as you bow to His will. 1362s
Turn to Him and ask Him for healing, physical and spiritual. 1370s
But as you do know that you already have by His grace, so though, 1375s
you already have the greater healing. 1385s
That's even greater than the therapeutic all. 1393s
And I am I because it's the healing that touches for all of eternity. 1397s