Divine Healing – John Iuliano

In accordance with the teachings of the Scriptures, we trust our heavenly Father to protect and heal our bodies from sickness and disease. WE BELIEVE that divine healing for the body, as with all redemptive blessings of God, has been provided for us by the atoning death and victorious resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ; it is the privilege of all believers and it is appropriated by faith in our heavenly Father’s unfailing promises Exod 15:26; Isa 53:4; Matt 8:16,17; 1 Pet 2:24; Psa 103:3; James 5:14,15; Mark 16:17,18.

Introduction

Matt.1:21, “And you shall call His Name Jesus (Saviour) for He will SAVE His people from their sins.”

Save = GK Sozo = heal, deliver, save, make whole

When we say that Jesus came to save His people, we are referring to Jesus making us whole in body, soul and spirit. Forgiveness of sins, healing of the body and deliverance are all in that word “SOZO’. What this actually means is that if you have faith for salvation then you can also have faith for healing. It’s all connected to the same atonement of Jesus.
I. THE CLOSE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN SALVATION AND HEALING.
1. Psalm 103:2-3.

Forget not ALL His benefits – FORGET = NEGLECT.

Who forgives ALL your iniquities (sins, transgressions, faults).

Who heals ALL your diseases.

If we leave out or don’t believe part (ii) then we are forgetting some of His benefits and missing out.

If God wants to save you, He also wants to heal. They are both parts of His benefits towards you.

2. Isaiah 53:4-5

Surely, (truly, be positive) He has taken upon Himself OUR –

a. GRIEFS. = malady, anxiety, calamity, disease, sickness & griefs.

b. SORROWS = anguish, affliction, pain.

c. TRANSGRESSIONS = revolt, rebellion, sin.

d. INIQUITIES = perversity, evil, fault, mischief, sin.

e. TROUBLES = So that we can have peace.

f. HEALED = to mend by putting back together, to cure, to repair, to make whole.

What we clearly see here is the intermixing of sin and sickness and Jesus dealing with the lot.

3. Matt 8:16 – 18.

Matthew refers to the awesome Isaiah passage and declares that what Jesus was doing was fulfilling this prophecy and thereby confirming that it was God’s will to heal the sick through this ministry.
4. Matt.9:35

Jesus went about:

a. Teaching

b. Preaching the good news of salvation through Jesus.

c. Healing EVERY sickness and EVERY disease.

5. Matt. 10:7-8

Jesus commissioned the disciples to:

a. Preach the Kingdom of God

b. Heal the sick.

6. Matt.11:5

Jesus spoke of Himself as one who –

a. Heals the sick

b. Preaches the gospel.

7. 1 Peter 2:24

Peter tells us that Jesus did two things when He was crucified.

He bore our sins.

He healed us from our sickness.

III. THERE ARE MANY MEANS GOD HAD GIVEN US TO RECEIVE HEALING.

To make sure that the believer gets healed, God has opened up to us many avenues that lead to healing.

1. The atonement.

Matt 8:17, “He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses.”

2. The laying on of hands by believers.

Mark 16:17a, 18b, “these signs will follow those who believe, they will lay hands on the sick and they will
recover.”

3. The anointing with oil by the elders.

James 5:14-15a, “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick and the Lord will raise him up.”

4. The confession of sins to one another.

James 5:16, “Confess your trespasses to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed.”
5. The gifts of healings.

is one of the nine gifts of the spirit that operate as the Holy Spirit wills. 1 Cor 12:9.

6. The covenant name of God – YHWH ROPHE

Ex 15:26, “…For I am the Lord who heals you.”

What is abundantly clear is God’s desire to see His people well.

III. TWENTY REASONS WHY WE SHOULD PRAY FOR THE SICK

1. Sickness causes sorrow, whereas God wants to give us joy. Jn 15:11.

2. Sickness stops people having abundant life, whereas God want us to have abundant life. Jn 10:10.

3. Sickness takes away our peace, whereas God wants to give us peace. Jn 14:27.

4. Sickness wastes away our resources, (i.e. time, money, energy) whereas God wants to give us even more
resources. 2 Jn 2.

5. Sickness does not benefit people, whereas God wants to benefit His people. Ps 103:2

6. Sickness causes death, whereas God wants to give us life. Lk 8:40-50.

7. Sickness is a curse, whereas God wants to give us blessings. Deut 28:1-14.

8. Sickness is imperfect, whereas God wants to make us perfect. Matt 5:48.

9. Sickness saps our strength and hinders our effectiveness, whereas God wants to renew our strength and increase our effectiveness. Is 40:31.

10. Sickness is degenerative and destructive, whereas God wants to regenerate, restore and re-create goodness in our lives. Joel 2:25.

11. In Is 53:4-5 sickness is placed in the same category with sins, transgressions, iniquities, griefs and sorrows. Jesus suffered and died so that we might be free from them.

12. In Rev 21:4 we see that heaven will be free from sin and sickness. Jesus came to give us a taste of God’s Kingdom on earth.

13. In Luke 13:13 we see that the woman glorified God because of her healing. Sickness does not glorify God. People do not go around testifying how good God is by giving them sickness.

14. In Ex 15:26 God said my name is YHWH Rapha. “I am the Lord that healeth thee.” He has not changed His name, He is the same yesterday, today and forever. Heb 13:8.

15. In Mark 16:18 Jesus gave every believer authority to lay hands on the sick and see them recover. This means that I have been commissioned by Jesus to pray for the sick.

16. In Mark 7:27 Jesus calls healing “the children’s bread.” Because I am a child of God, healing is rightfully mine.

17. In Matthew 8:16-17; 9:35-36; 12:15; 14:14; 19:2, we see that Jesus healed all people of all manner of sickness. Nowhere do we see Jesus giving people the impression that it wasn’t God’s will to heal.

18. In Luke 13:6 we see that sickness is a bondage. Jesus came to loose the captives and set them free from their bondage.

19. In Acts 10:38 we see that sickness is an oppression. Jesus was anointed to heal the oppressed.

20. In Luke 13:6 and Acts 10:38 we see that sickness is the work of the devil, satan. 1 Jn 3:8, “The reason the Son of God was made manifest (visible) was to undo (destroy, loosen and dissolve) the works the devil [has done].” Amplified Bible

Conclusion

The Bible leaves us no doubt that God wants us to pray for the sick. Healing is a Pentecostal emphasis that should never be watered down. Healing has always gone hand in hand with Pentecostal beliefs. Let us keep the healing fires burning within our Churches as a sign to the world that Jesus is still alive and still wants to heal all of our diseases.

Teaching Copyright (C) 1999 John Iuliano (M.A. Min). All rights reserved. Published here with permission.