The Freedom of God to Heal (Acts 9:32-43, Jeff Kliewer)

There was a doctor brought in on a stretcher who was in kind of the end stages of lung cancer and As the miracle working healer laid hands on him in front of all the people he was able to get up out of his stretcher and run around a Healing or so the seminary student thought.

He had finally got what he was looking for what he was waiting for and chasing. And so later when writing a paper on it He decided to contact this doctor who had been healed at the crusade. So he got the phone number and he phoned the home of this doctor.

He got the wife of the doctor and asked for the doctor quiet and Finally the wife said he passed away. He went on to die of lung cancer and now the silence on the phone was on his end. Stunned this seminary student lost his faith that day and Departed from Christianity because what he thought was a genuine miracle this healed doctor running on the stage was actually just some kind of psychosomatic relief that he got in the moment and the man died of lung cancer on The flip side we know that our God is able to heal and that he still does.

The point is that God is free and it was unfortunate and sad that this seminary student was chasing miracles rather than chasing the God who is able to give miracles and His face with his faith was misplaced in that way.

God is free to heal and he's free to say wait and sometimes God will even say wait and the final healing is death and The resurrection of the dead where the spirit of a person departs from a sick body and goes into the very presence of the Lord and there comes a day when the resurrection of the dead that person is resurrected unto life the spirit reunited with the body and That is the healing that was prayed for for so long.

We've seen healings in this church now. We haven't seen the dramatic amazing kind that you were gonna read about today in Acts chapter 9. But just months ago someone came in and they they obeyed James chapter 5 and they came to the elders and they said would you anoint with oil and pray over us and Pray over this woman who had had a surgery for cancer and the doctors were saying that she needed chemo.

We prayed with oil we anointed and to this date there's been no trace of that cancer. Come back. God is able to do that. But our faith and our hope is not based on what we see rather it's based on the Word of God.

What God has said? Sickness in some ways is like a turkey. Now follow me here for a moment. This is a bit of a stretch I'll admit at the the upfront here. This this analogy is a bit of a stretch but I came in one day and I've told this story before and there was a turkey right up against the window and So I snuck up on the turkey and I popped up and the turkey just bolted into the woods across the field and I laughed.

Had a good good laugh. So this morning I came in and the turkey was next to the window so again, I I snuck up on the turkey and This time when I popped up my head. He just started yelling at me just Gobbling and just and I'm just face to face with thing.

He did not budge an inch. Sickness can be that way. Sometimes you pray in the name of Jesus and you just see something miraculous. I remember one time my daughter had a very intense earache and the very next morning it was gone.

But we still took her to the doctor after we had prayed over her during the night. We just kept singing into her ear. Jesus is taking this pain away. Jesus is taking the pain away. We went to see the doctor and in the morning.

There wasn't the slightest sign of any affliction. He couldn't find any infection nothing in the ear whatsoever. And he was surprised that she would have been in that much pain the night before. Sometimes you see that miracle other times you pray and we all have loved ones that we've been praying for for a long time and Somehow that turkey just doesn't want to move.

That illness just stays with a person and just won't budge and you hate that thing. You know the turkey actually walked all the way along here. From window to window and was standing by the door and I thought about opening the door and then I thought you know what?

I'm not gonna mess with that thing. I Just it was just hanging around. I don't know I stretched the analogy too far, but the point is Sickness is a part of the human condition and all of us will one day die unless the rapture happens first.

Let's put our hope and our faith in this the Word of God while at the same time believing that God is still able To heal. Acts chapter 9 turn with me there. We left off last week at verse 31 so we pick up at verse 32.

And finish to the end of the chapter here today. The healing miracles we see in this particular passage. Authenticate the Word of God. These are signs and wonders now. What does the sign do. A sign signifies.

That's the nature of what a sign is and in this case the sign of healings. Signifies that the word that the Apostles are preaching is in fact true. It confirms the word so Acts chapter 9. We'll read it through 32 to 43.

Now as Peter went here and there among them all he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda there he found a man named Aeneas bedridden for eight years who was paralyzed and Peter said to him Aeneas Jesus Christ heals you rise and make your bed and immediately he rose.

And all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him and they turned to the Lord. Now there was in Joppa a disciple named Tabitha which translated means Dorcas. She was full of good works and acts of charity in those days.

She became ill and died and When they had washed her they laid her in an upper room. Since Lydda was near Joppa the disciples hearing that Peter was there Sent two men to him urging him. Please come to us without delay.

So Peter rose and went with them and when he arrived they took him to the upper room. All the widows stood beside him weeping and showing tunics and other garments that Dorcas made while she was with them.

But Peter put them all outside and knelt down and prayed and turning to the body he said Tabitha arise. She opened her eyes and when she saw Peter she sat up and He gave her his hand and raised her up then calling the saints and widows.

He presented her alive and It became known Throughout all Joppa and many believed in the Lord and he stayed in Joppa for many days with one Simon a tanner. Verse 32 as Peter went here and there so he's moving about he's traveling as an apostle.

Blessing people wherever he goes preaching the gospel. He just spent some time in Samaria and the Samaritans that had their version of Pentecost come to believe in Christ. Now he's moving freely wherever he goes.

He's praying for people Loving them preaching and teaching the word. Peter is moving about he comes to Lydda now that is about 13 miles from the coastal town of Joppa, which we get into next. So if you were to go on MapQuest or some Google Internet site, you'll see from route 1 in Israel.

That's just like a 30-minute drive or it could be a few hours to walk that distance. That's the scope of what we're looking at today. Lydda and Joppa just 13 miles apart. Still there today in Israel.

In Verse 33 he finds a man named Aeneas bedridden for eight years. Who was paralyzed? Peter says to him Aeneas Jesus Christ heals you rise and make your bed. This is an incredible healing. We're told immediately he rose.

It's not a partial healing. It's not an incomplete healing. It is a dramatic Irrefutable undeniable miracle that happens in this case now I am kind of like that seminary student. I'm always at least one degree removed from these stories.

I Have a grandfather that used to tell me that he saw blind eyes opened on the mission field. I've never seen it. I prayed with so many sick people that were in the midst of even dying of cancer and things like that and I've never seen Them raised up.

I've always been that one step away. So today I'm gonna quote from people a bit more than I would normally do and It's because these are people that have have seen things that they say they've seen with their own eyes and because they've actually to be Honest investigated the scripture more than me on this particular subject.

So I tend not to Quote from from others as much as I will do today. Richard Mayhew wrote a book called the healing promise and he points out that much of what we see in the name of Jesus in different movements around the world are Actually, not the kind of healings that we see in the Bible.

He points out that an organic healing is something where perhaps a bone is broken and It comes back To perfect health or somebody's missing an arm and an arm regrows. This would be called an organic healing.

But a majority of what we're seeing on TV and the kind of things reported are what are called functional healings. Where someone has symptoms of something and it improves as a healer prays over that person.

I want to point out that what we see in the text today is no functional healing. It's not just a mere functional healing this is an organic healing. Aeneas has been bedridden for eight years. He is paralyzed and Immediately distinctly he's raised up and walks.

Undeniable not something that can be debated. Sam Storms talks about miracles a lot and teaches. He's a pastor. I believe he's in, Oklahoma City. He points out that when the New Testament speaks about these gifts of healings in 1st Corinthians chapter 12 The gifts of healings are actually in the plural.

It's not a person necessarily who has a gift of healing but there are gifts plural of Healings plural actually the ESV gets this wrong at this particular point according to Storms. It's not just gifts of healing.

It's gifts of healings. So the point being there may be people that God uses more often than others to lay hands on the sick to pray for the sick and Miraculous things happen in the name of Jesus and according to the will and discretion of Jesus each one of those events.

Every time somebody is healed. That's a gift of healing. But it doesn't mean that there are people on this earth today Who walk around with the ability to heal at will. It's not the case if that were true if there were people with a gift of healing where they can Indiscriminately heal according to their desire and if they just conjure up enough faith.

Then these faith healers would spend a lot more time in hospitals and a lot less time on stage. Gifts of healings, but it's distributed according to 1st Corinthians 12 according to his will. Now another thing to point out in verse 32.

I think it is significant that it's Peter involved with this healing. Because according to 2nd Corinthians chapter 12 verse 12 there are signs and wonders that accompany apostles in Order to authenticate them as being apostles.

So when Peter as an apostle comes to Lydda Everybody Recognizes this is an apostle of God. These dramatic miracles that are accompanying him authenticate him. I don't think in fact I know that there are no apostles living today in this sense.

How do I know that? Because the definition of Apostle is one who saw Jesus walked with him and was a witness of the resurrection according to Acts chapter 1. So an apostle is someone who had been with Jesus during the years of his ministry witnessed these miracles that Jesus did and Then was a witness of the resurrection now of course the Apostle Paul was abnormally born.

We're told that as well, but there are many today Claiming to be apostles. In fact the new apostolic Reformation is a big movement in the charismatic world today where there are apostles in fact. We did a block party for a guy in Philadelphia at the time he was pastor so-and-so I won't name him because he's a brother in Christ.

This is just this is an error that he is in. But it's not that he's a heretic you see the difference so I'm not gonna try to Destroy his ministry. I'm not gonna attack him in any way. I love this brother, but in recent years He has become an apostle.

I don't know if he's under the NAR or some other umbrella. But I say no he hasn't the biblical definition in Acts chapter 1 Tells us what an apostle actually is. There's something to the apostolic ministry of Peter.

That's Stronger and the miracles that he's doing is something that we would expect we would not expect Every pastor to have this kind of apostolic gifting, and so I'll tell you right away. I don't have a gift of healing.

I've prayed for people, and I've seen God heal, but I've never seen the organic miraculous undeniable irrefutable evidence that Authenticates the message of Jesus Christ through that healing and you might say well I Don't have such-and-such gift.

I don't speak in tongues. I don't prophesy. That's precisely how Jesus described that it would be Through the Apostle Paul in writing 1st Corinthians chapter 12 not all people have every gift. Not all believers have every gift of the Spirit.

Here Peter is an apostle and so you would expect 2nd Corinthians chapter 12 verse 12 apostolic signs to follow but let's not just imagine that only apostles do miracles. Because we've already seen earlier in Acts chapter 6 Stephen is doing miracles.

In Acts chapter 8 Philip is doing miracles. Neither of them are apostles. Verse 34 Peter says Aeneas Jesus Christ heals you rise and make your bed, and here's what I love about verse 34 the way Luke describes this healing and Immediately he rose.

Not a lot of fanfare there. Not a lot of description and what interests me most about this is. How much? Description. Luke gives to the earlier part of Acts chapter 9. Look at the earlier part of Acts chapter 9 beginning in verse 1 the story of Saul still breathing out threats.

Verses 3 to 6 the light that shines from heaven and the voice that speaks those who are traveling in verse 8 verses 8 through 12 the contrition of Saul as He's fasting and the dramatic buildup of this story and when Someone comes Ananias verses 12 to 15 Verse 16 now he's having to suffer for the name in the telling of the story of Saul's conversion you have dramatic detail.

That points to the miraculous nature of what's happening here a light is going on and we talked about this last week the miracle of illumination that someone comes to see who Christ is repentance. Turning away from sin and into the light to believe in the Son of God and then submission to the Lordship of Christ.

He'll now suffer for the name and he'll be willing to endure all these things. Compare that to chapter 9 verse 34 and immediately he rose. Here we have what the world would call a dramatic miracle. Here we have Something that we would all love to see.

In fact Simon the sorcerer were so excited to see this kind of thing he was trying to buy it with money in Acts chapter 8 and There's been a part of me. That's long to see a miracle and the seminary student We talked about lost his faith because this is what he was chasing.

There's something in the heart of man that just wants to see something supernatural. But what I'm telling you is that Luke's priority is different in the telling of the story verse 35 is the miracle of emphasis.

Yes, he rose a Miracle happened but verse 35 all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him and they turned to the Lord. Conversion is a far greater miracle than the healing even of a paralytic. Each of you who have come to believe in the Son of God to repent of your sin and to trust in Christ God has worked a miracle in your heart.

That is far greater than anything you could see with your eyes. It's invisible to the world, but we see it it's what brought us here today. It's the miracle of conversion. That's what these miracles these physical meal miracles are pointing to so recognize the priority of Conversion and it happens again now in the second story we move on 36 to 43 is the second miracle a 13 mile journey.

Walking all day probably four hours in the Sun. Peter arrives verse 36 now there was in Joppa a disciple named Tabitha. Which translated means Dorcas? Get your laughs out. Okay the Aramaic Tabitha and the the Greek Dorcas they both mean gazelle and The picture is that her name Indicates the kind of Christian that she was.

She was fleet of foot. She wasn't lazy. She was moving about doing what doing good work for the people of God. She was full of good works and acts of charity. She's like a gazelle moving from one thing serving wherever she can.

I Think of the woman who was in here this week. Just cleaning all week long. Thank you for that. You're like Dorcas. You're a gazelle. Verse 37 in those days she became ill and died and When they had washed her they laid her in an upper room.

So the problem in verse 32 to 36 is the man is paralyzed his body doesn't work. The problem in verse 37 is even more intense than that death. The body has ceased to function altogether the heart has stopped beating.

Life is in the blood. But the blood isn't flowing any longer. She died. All of us face illness in this life and Ultimately all of us face death, but we have a God who resurrects the dead. In the Old Testament the Levites had a dying problem.

One priest would stand to minister before God and he would serve for his lifetime. But then he would die and another would take his place and he would die and for generation after generation. Every Levite had a dying problem.

Hebrews chapter 7 tells us that we have a priest who is not like the Levitical priesthood. We have a Melchizedek priest a king of righteousness Who has the power of an indestructible life. He died on the cross for our sins, but rising from the dead Jesus Christ lives forever.

Never to die again. Jesus Christ is our priest and he ever lives to make intercession for us. So although we have this sickness in our body inherited from Adam, we're dying physically. We don't know how many days God gives us and that's one of the amazing things to me about this life that we live.

I sometimes think about what's coming in my future and I realize I don't know how many days the Lord has given me. Is it another 40 years? I hope I can preach for 40 more years, but I don't know. And no one here knows how many days were given.

We all have the same problem that Tabitha had. But we have a living priest Who conquered death himself and is able to raise us also fix your hope entirely on Jesus. No matter what illness you're suffering with no matter what you're going through no matter what fear has invaded your life.

Turn your eyes to Jesus. Here Tabitha is dead. Verse 39. Peter rose and went with those who called him when he arrived. They took him to the upper room all the widows stood beside him weeping and showing tunics and other garments that Dorcas made while she Was with them, you know, the picture there that I'm seeing is that there's not an expectation of what Peter's going to do.

I Think he was called in to comfort them. He was called in because he's Peter the Apostle and and Dorcas has died and bring in Peter to come and grieve with us. And so when he comes they're grieving and they're showing the things that Tabitha had made their mind.

Was not aware of how great God truly is. God's gonna blow their expectations out of the water and By the way you who believe in Christ the foretaste of his glory. That you have seen so far in your life is not worth comparing to the glory that you're gonna see one day.

When you stand face to face with Jesus and you realize everything that you sacrificed in this life for the sake of his name was Rubbish compared to the glory of knowing him. There's coming a day when you'll see glory face-to-face not through a dark glass like we do now.

They had a certain expectation, but they're about to see glory. Verse 40. Peter put them all outside. Step outside folks. He kneels down and prays and turning to the body. He says Tabitha arise and She opened her eyes and when she saw Peter she sat up.

And gave her his hand and raised her up. Calls in all the Saints. Can you imagine the joy in the house that day? There's coming a day when we're gonna celebrate like that for all of you who grieve today.

Because you've lost a loved one. I know there's some that just lost a loved one this week. There's coming that day. Where he resurrects the dead. It's gonna be glorious. Verse 42 it became known throughout all Joppa and many believed in the Lord and that's the point I'm trying to make today.

These signals These signs they signify something greater. The miracle is not the greatest part of this story. It's this part. It becomes known throughout all Joppa and many believed in the Lord. That's the culmination of the story.

The conversion now of more and more people believing so the sign points to something it signifies the truth of the gospel. Stays in Joppa for many days with one Simon a tanner and we'll pick that up. Again, well, we're gonna have another story inserted here next week, but we'll find This the story continues.

But what can we learn today. I have spent just left a little bit of extra time for making application today because I think that although there's glory in this passage and Everything is instructive to us probably a majority of Christians Worldwide are more led astray by this passage than they are helped by it so much of the error and So much deception that has shipwrecked the faith of many is coming in through this charismatic window of Misunderstanding.

So let me just take a few minutes to make application to what we learned number one do not expect to see apostolic sign gifts. In other words There are no apostles don't accept that teaching and if you never see in a Miracle of the nature that we looked at in this text.

That's no indication that God is not still here with us. Conrad Mbiwe is a pastor in Zambia. I Really like him. I've listened to him a little recently. He says that charismania is the greatest danger to churches in Africa.

He says that people go to their pastors looking for them to be apostle like To heal all their diseases, but they're looking at them almost like they used to look at witch doctors and Whatever it is that they need they go to the pastor as if he is the person the conduit.

Well the miracles in Acts chapter 9 probably authenticated Peter in a special way as an apostle. But God is no longer using miracles to exalt a person and show that they're the authority. So That's a misplaced influence.

I mean emphasis. Conrad Mbiwe says that there are some of the pastors that have even done such things as telling their congregation to go out in the yard and eat grass and The whole congregation went out and did it.

Strange things another one told them to drink cleaner fluids and many were injured or killed. People looking to their leaders as if they're apostles when they're not. They're not authenticated by miracles, even if there are miracles happening.

Conrad Mbiwe goes on to say once you close your Bible you are shutting down the means of grace and Cutting yourself off from the actual sanctifying power of God. Point being don't go looking for the healer.

Don't go chasing after a man. Believe in God and look and find him in the word number two. Do not demand healing. Like our misguided friends in the word faith movement do. The word faith movement says that you need to name it and claim it.

You need to speak to the thing and tell it what to do and It has to obey you if only you have enough faith that is not biblical teaching. There was a woman who Had a very sick son and a word-faith healer came in and prayed over her son in the hospital and rebuked that thing in Jesus's name and Declared to the woman your son will not die.

He will live and After that prayer left the building. She saw him at the funeral and in tears called him a liar three times. You liar you liar you liar. You told me my son would live. The word-faith movement speaks beyond what is written.

Because according to my Bible there are times when according to the will of God. He does not heal. Romans 8 29. He's conforming us into the image of his son. Doesn't Paul say Trophimus I left sick at Miletus.

Trophimus I left sick at Miletus. I told somebody that this week and they said why did he do that? Was he mad at him? No. No, that's not the point. He was sick and He couldn't heal him. He I'm sure prayed for his healing.

But for whatever reason God in his sovereignty said no my grace is sufficient for you. My Power is made perfect in weakness. Paul three times pleaded for the healing of a thorn in his flesh and God said just what I told you.

So don't demand healing from God. It's not just a matter of conjuring up enough faith. Notice in our text. Peter Doesn't just pray for healing. He says Jesus Christ heals you and that's where the word-faith movement comes from.

They look at that and say it's not just a matter of praying for healing. You have to declare it and I think there's something to that but it's overstated. Here's what I think happens. Sam Storms teaches about this.

He says that there is a gift of healing and there's also a gift of faith. Sometimes those two spiritual gifts can combine and it's possible for someone to make a declarative statement. Sam Storm says twice in his ministry.

He said he's only seen major organic healing six times in his ministry. But twice when he prayed for someone he just declared it Jesus Christ heals you and it happened. He says that is when a gift of healing combines with a gift of faith.

Martin Lloyd-Jones says it's a sudden surge of confidence that what God intends to do will happen. Sam Storm says it's like not being able to doubt. Not even having the ability to doubt that God is going to do that.

My point is that if something like that can happen it will happen by the power and grace of God. You don't have to force it. If that's the case, you'll know it it will happen and it won't even be up to you to do it.

You won't even doubt to have a doubt. God will heal in that way if it's his plan, but don't overstep the text because everything that we have in in narrative scripture is not normative for the Christian and I notice there's a conspicuous absence of didactic material in The writings of the New Testament that tell us to go heal.

We're not told to do that. We have the narrative literature where it happens and so we can learn from that. But unless we were told to go out and heal in Jesus's name and do it with these declarative statements we need to be careful in that way and Sadly friends.

I think that the word faith movement is not careful and it's shipwrecking a lot of people's faith. So be careful with that. Be careful with TBN. I know many of you watch TBN and you love it. But be careful because word-faith theology has a damaging side.

We cannot go beyond what is written. Number three do not chase miracles or Think that they necessarily lead to conversions. John chapter 12 verse 37 often miracles do not lead to conversions. Sometimes people see the miracle and it doesn't change them.

Look for the greater Miracle of conversion. Focus on the Word of God and preaching the word and not chasing down miracles. Number four. Do not take the minimal facts argument too far as is the habit of some now listen there's another school of teaching right now that says all we need to do is focus on the resurrection of Jesus and we can separate that from the text so we don't have to defend all of the Bible and.

One prominent pastor in Georgia right now in Atlanta guy is saying really you don't even need the Old Testament. It's kind of Marcionite in his theology. Marcion separated the old and the new. An ancient heretic named Marcion.

Listen. Miracles even the resurrection of Jesus Mean nothing apart from the inspired Word of God. Miracles can authenticate the word but apart from the word they mean nothing. Remember those miracle workers in Egypt.

John us and John breeze according to first Timothy. They performed miracles. That were just as amazing almost as amazing as what Moses was doing, but they didn't authenticate the Word of God. You following what I'm saying?

You need the Word of God not miracles alone. If all we knew is that Jesus rose from the dead. What would that prove that someone rose from the dead? Even if we could prove that without the Bible, which you can't even if you could how would that convince someone to be born again?

Don't Mormons believe that don't Jehovah's Witnesses believe that? In more of a spiritual sense. Unless you have the Word of God to tell us that his death was a propitiation. For sin that the reason for his dying was to turn the wrath of God away from a sinner like me to propitiate wrath against me.

Satisfying that wrath and his resurrection from the grave was for my justification. That I would be declared righteous unless I have that word then even the miracle doesn't mean anything. Even Resurrection can't prove it.

So never allow the miracles even the resurrection to be separated from the text of God's Word. It signals the text it signals the word the works of God authenticate the Word of God. But this is where we stand.

Number five. Do not conclude from inexperience that the gifts listed in 1st Corinthians 12 ceased. Another huge error in my opinion is that There are teachers today who say because we're not seeing the kind of apostolic sign gifts that Peter was doing.

That the gifts of the Spirit listed in 1st Corinthians 12 must have ceased at least the supernatural ones. There's nothing in the text that indicates that that's only an argument from inexperience and perhaps from surveying church history and noticing patterns and making that conclusion, but it's not driven from the text.

Number six. Content yourself to have seen healing miracles in the Bible. Be content. Listen as soon as a miracle happens. It's in the past. It's in your memory, or it's in the memory of somebody telling you about it.

We have miracles in the past that were written down by eyewitnesses that saw these things. You don't need anything more than this if you never see a miracle. If you never see blind eyes open. If you never see something that's undeniable organic healing.

You still have this. You still it is our God that did this. Through Peter, but it was the name of Jesus that made this cripple walk and That raised Tabitha from the dead. You still have this. Be content that you have the miracles of the Bible.

You don't need to chase anything else. Number seven. And we'll be quick build your evangelism on the Word of God. We talked about this you need the meaning of the text to explain what these miracles mean.

Otherwise, they're worthless in and of themselves. You know there's actually some tradition about Simon the sorcerer that we talked about a couple weeks ago of what happened after He was rebuked by Peter some say he founded the Gnostic heresy but there's one tradition that he went to Rome and he confronted Peter in Rome because he had grown stronger in his magic arts and In the presence of the officials of Rome.

He actually levitated right in front of Peter. What would that prove if it's true? Could be demonic power, but that tradition goes on to say that Peter was like get down from there, and he actually dropped dead.

I Don't know if that actually happened, but that that's the tradition. The point is the Jonas and John breeze kind of stuff. It doesn't prove anything. What we need to stand upon and be entirely devoted to is the Word of God.

The people of this book we're almost done. Number eight. Expect more miracles when the Word of God first enters a place. I think there's a clear pattern. Jesus Allowed his first Apostles to see him risen from the dead.

But he goes on to say blessed are those who not having seen believe John chapter 20 verse 29. Often when when the gospel goes into new mission fields you hear astounding reports of miracles happening on the mission field.

I Think that might very well be true and as the Word of God gets more and more entrenched in that society. There's less need for authenticating miracles because we have the word. That might be true. So I think if someone's a missionary going to an unreached people group.

You know we have missionaries we talked about today in Papua New Guinea. Sometimes there may be more miracles happening in those places it wouldn't Authenticate the word any more or less because what we have is absolute standard of truth.

Number nine. We need to be willing to take no for an answer from God. Three times Paul pleaded and the answer was no and we need to be willing to take medicine. Do you realize in first Timothy chapter 5 verse 23 Paul actually tells?

Timothy to take a little wine for his stomach. Why not just heal him. Well evidently he had some ongoing ailments and a little wine would be medicinal, and I think even more important than taking medicine.

Watch what you eat. Be careful to eat a good balanced diet now. I'm going into dr. Jeff mode here, but excuse me for that, but I think a lot of sicknesses is caused by that now I got to give a disclaimer.

This is not you know I'm not responsible for results of this. But eat eat a steady good healthy diet. And I think many of the sicknesses that we have could be eliminated. Focus on that. It's not against the power of God to do that and finally and I'm done with this.

Listen you're going to run into sickness. Your loved ones are going to get sick. You're going to get sick. When sickness hits pray for healing. Pray for healing. Actually believe that God is able to heal.