Follow the Instructions

by Pastor Bob Rasmussen

I am going to speak a little about healing this morning. Healing – the idea is about the expression of the love of God. Healing testimonies are inspirational to be sure, but more than that, when we are ill, I believe He is concerned. If He knows the number of hairs on our head, He most certainly knows when we are ill.

It was not the design of God that we would be sick. In the garden of Eden, it was good, and all he created was good. There was no sickness. There was no death. But in the great fall, when they ate of the tree of knowledge, there was sin.

When Jesus came, he came to take care of the sin problem and our eternal salvation – but He came to destroy something, didn’t He.

1 John 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

I love my salvation, and I am so grateful to the Lord for providing a way not to go to hell and have an everlasting life with Him!

And Jesus gave us a clear set of instructions, and that is the foundation of why this church exists, amen? Jesus said that we have to repent, to turn away from our sinful ways, He tells us that we are to be baptized, in whose Name? In the Name of Jesus, and that when we do this, hallelujah and amen, we will be filled with the Holy Ghost. I love that so much!

But I also love that He came to do even more than that, amen? That he might destroy the works of the devil. He came to destroy all, let me say that again, He came to destroy ALL the works of the devil.  And that includes sickness and disease, amen?

When God wants to call us home, there are many ways that He can get us there. But I do not need to believe that sickness and disease is the only way to pass from this life to the next. 

So, what that means for me is that I need to refocus on what Jesus came to defeat – the devil, and by His stripes I am healed. I am putting any sickness or disease on the back of Jesus. He did not take those stripes for nothing! I want to let go of embracing sickness and disease as part of the human experience.

Exodus 15: 26 And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee.

God is speaking to the children of Israel, so He is speaking to us as well

I am the Lord your healer – Jehovah Raffa The Hebrew word rophe or rapha means “heal, “cure,” “restore,” or “make whole.” God decided who He was – we did not dictate it. He is the one that said call Him a healer, to call Him my Healer, for you to call him your Healer. This is the will of God for His children, whom we are a part of.

A little later in Exodus, we see this:

Exodus 23: 24 Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images. 25 And ye shall serve the Lord your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.

That was the will of God for His people back then. And He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. I need to remember this – It is His Word and how he reveals Himself to His covenant people, and by the grace of God, we are, through Jesus Christ, His covenant people.

These are the promises – of God. They are not requests of what I expect Him to be, rather, it is what He says He is. No one told Him how to be, He decided what He would be and what He would call himself through the Word that we have today.

Deuteronomy 7: 15 And the Lord will take away from thee all sickness, and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, upon thee; but will lay them upon all them that hate thee.

Psalm 103 Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;

4 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies. 5 Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s

Diana’s father, John Roelle, just passed away and we have the funeral coming up here on the 27^th. I miss him already, and I am grateful that Diana and I were able to say goodbye the day he passed away. We prayed over him, we anointed him with oil and the Word, and we just asked God to take him home. We got home and we got the call that he had moved on to glory.

I was grateful that God, in His mercy, took him home. It got me thinking about eternity, and what that may be like. But it is not just about eternity, amen? He cares about the right now, He cares about the moment that we may be in, this very day, this very morning.

Psalm 147 Praise ye the Lord: for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely. 2 The Lord doth build up Jerusalem: he gathereth together the outcasts of Israel. 3 He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.

He heals the brokenhearted. I know that in our family right now, we need some of that with Diana’s dad passing. Our grandson was in church yesterday for a “Sprinkle” party . What is a “Sprinkle” party you ask – it was a baby shower for Adam and Mackenzie, and Logyn was there.  Yes, there were many sprinkled donuts and cookies  and sprinkles and a chocolate waterfall and sprinkles. Anyway, Owen,  our grandson, was decked out in green and was dancing to some music or something – and I was overwhelmed in the Spirit and I felt just pure joy.

I was reminded that joy was indeed in part from Diana’s father. John married Linda, they had Diana, Diana had Johnna and Adam and they had Owen and Logyn.

I know that it takes time, but looking for the simplest of joys in the moment can bring light into a heart that is burdened with sadness. I love that He can take what is broken and make it whole – like that worship song we sing, “All Things New”.

And the scripture I read as I was preparing this message is this one.

Isaiah 31:3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.

Thank You Jesus for the oil of joy for mourning! The pain of the past is not going to define me, it may hurt, but Jesus can make me who He wants to be in a moment. The past may be part of my story, but it is not my destiny. My destiny is in the Word and who I can become to glorify Christ Jesus.

He can heal all wounds! Physical, mental, emotional. Jesus, God in the flesh continues to show us His will. Behold the glory of Christ. We can see His will clearly defined in the New Testament as well. Jesus’s Ministry for me shows that healing is something that He wanted to do – that it is in His nature and His will.

Matthew 4: 23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.

I am grateful that it was not just leprosy he healed because leprosy, leprosy is gross! As I was writing this I kind of felt I had leprosy. Yesterday, my face was all broken out, and really red, and itchy. It is still a little itchy and puffy, I felt horrible! I was like Lord, you healed leprosy, heal me! In Jesus Name!  But all manner included leprosy, something there was no known cure for at the time.

Luke 4:40 Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them.

No matter what the diseases were, He was healing.

Matthew 15:30 And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus’ feet; and he healed them:

Every one of them, He healed!

And He did not just plan on healing only when He was around. He could have just done all that He had to do to resolve the sin issue of man, to heal while He was here, and then go up to heaven –  but He did not stop there.  He allowed people who accepted Him as their Lord and Savior to be filled with the Holy Spirit so that the body of Christ could fulfill His will.

James 5:14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: 15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.

I love the will of God – my opinion doesn’t matter. He will do what He wills to do. 

The enemy tries to get us to embrace sickness as destiny. The sickness, the disease, the pain that I am facing is not my life is not my defining moment – it’s the after – after the victory is when I can continue to fulfill all that God would want me to accomplish.

Mark 16:17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

If you look at that scripture on the screen, does anyone see a question mark? I don’t. So if that is what He says, that is what I will do and the healing that comes is from Jesus, our Healer!

Our responsibility is to lay hands. Our job is to pray with that new tongue, our job is to speak truth, our job is to stand in faith whatever it is before us and to believe God – the healing is up to Him and it will be for His glory.

In Acts 3, Peter and John go to the temple and they see a man lame from birth who is begging, begging for money. What does Peter say?

Acts 3:6 Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.

They helped the guy up and immediately he received strength! The man jumps and leaps, can you imagine? He is walking and praising God! Probably running up and down the aisles – I don’t know if they had aisles, but the people there knew who he was, and they cannot believe what has happened. And they are all wondering what has happened.

Acts 3:12 And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk?

And then in verse 16:

Acts 3:16 And on the basis of faith in His name, it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know; and the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect health and complete wholeness in your presence.

Praise God it’s not based on what I do or how perfect I am. It’s based on who He is and what Jesus did. Amen?  Sometimes I feel pretty unworthy, and other times I don’t. But truly, when I do feel unworthy or less than, I can still do what the bible says to do and lay hands and pray for those that are sick and not have to worry about if their healing is based on my goodness – no, it is based on the goodness of God and His will.

He uses imperfect people to impart His holiness, His perfection and His healing power – to just agree with His promises through faith and prayer.

How about when I prayed for someone and they died, and they were not healed – what do I do with that? I keep going! I keep following the instructions that are here in (grab Bible) His Word.

Yes, there is disappointment. Yes there is grief. But I can’t live there. I have to keep going and pray for the next person still believing in what He says He does. I do not know why God does not heal every person that I have prayed for – that’s His job. My job is to just keep going. 

I do not want to build my life on what I don’t know, I want to build my life on what I do know. I don’t know why some do not get healed. But what I do know is that I am to pray for all those that need it. To keep believing. To keep praying. To continue to do what His Word says. 

The devil is wicked – sickness and disease does more than just affect 1 person’s health. In most cases, it affects whole families. It affects friends. It damages finances. It can cause great stress not only for the afflicted but for all involved.

In Mark 9, we see the father of a boy who is suffering tremendously. 

Mark 9:17 And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit; 18 And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not.

The father of this boy had such high hopes. He had been living with this for some time. It had to be exhausting, waiting and watching when these episodes would happen. We have diseases like that now. Diana’s father had Alzheimer’s – a horrible disease that robs your mind of memory, it robs you of your identity. It robs takes your dignity. And when it is a child, can you imagine?

So, he stepped out in faith and took him to the disciples, the guys right there with Jesus, and what happened. Nothing. Nothing changed. All his hopes, crushed. These folks had been healing others, he heard the stories! But in that moment, when he brought his son – failure. Soul crushing despair.

He could have stopped there. Maybe you have stopped there. Maybe you tried, maybe you prayed, maybe you followed all the instructions. But nothing changes. You are not seeing the healing.

But the father, he is not done yet. He brings his son directly to Jesus. The father is losing hope. And the thing that strikes me in this scripture is – what if he stopped? What if he didn’t speak to Jesus. What if, after the apostles failed to heal his son, he just said, alright – I’m done. We are just going to have to live with this forever. We just have to accept the condition of my son that I love so much, this is forever. I tried, they tried – I – am – just – done.

But the good news didn’t stop there, He sought out Jesus, even though he had already tried and did not get the outcome that he wanted so badly. And Jesus says in Mark 19:

²⁰ They brought the boy to Him. When the [demonic] spirit saw Him, immediately it threw the boy into a convulsion, and falling to the ground he began rolling around and foaming at the mouth. ²¹ Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he answered, “Since childhood. ²² The demon has often thrown him both into fire and into water, intending to kill him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!”

I cannot fault the father of the boy, questioning Jesus, if you can. In the middle of the mess, in the middle of the suffering, in the middle of all that ick – can I be honest, sometimes I just get tired. Tired of fighting, tired of losing, tired of not seeing the outcomes that I want to see. Lord, just take pity on me…. Make it stop. But if you can…From Mark 9:

²³ Jesus said to him, “[You say to Me,] ‘If You can?’ All things are possible for the one who believes and trusts [in Me]!” ²⁴ Immediately the father of the boy cried out [with a desperate, piercing cry], saying, “I do believe; help [me overcome] my unbelief.”

I can just see Jesus – what do you mean if I can? I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. I spoke ALL of this into existence. What do you mean if I can? And Jesus just speaks…and gets the victory.

I have been the same sometimes! I need to remember that ALL things are possible, with Jesus. I need to be a believing believer and not a doubting one. If I believe he can forgive my sins, why can’t I believe that He can heal me or those I pray for? Because He can!

There is one other event in the bible I want to close with in the book of 2 Kings 5. And that is the story of Naaman. Naaman was a captain in the army of King Aram of Syria. He was very respected; I would imagine him a man of valor or something like a hero. But Naaman also had a problem, a sickness – he had leprosy, which I mentioned earlier.

Leprosy according to Wikipedia is, “primarily a granulomatous disease of the peripheral nerves and mucosa of the upper respiratory tract; skin lesions are the primary external sign. Left untreated, leprosy can be progressive, causing permanent damage to the skin, nerves, limbs, and eyes. Contrary to folklore, leprosy does not cause body parts to fall off, although they can become numb or diseased as a result of secondary infections; these occur as a result of the body’s defenses being compromised by the primary disease. Secondary infections, in turn, can result in tissue loss causing fingers and toes to become shortened and deformed, as cartilage is absorbed into the body.” Yikes and no thank you!

Naaman, who can fight and who had victories, has a disease where there can be no victory, filled with a life of certain misery. A girl shares about a prophet in Israel that might be able to help.Naaman tells the king, the king writes a letter and sends some cash to the king of Israel. Long story short, Naaman is told to go to Elisha. So Naaman, with his horses and chariot ride up to the spot, and then a messenger, not even Elisha, a messenger with no name comes to him.

2 Kings 5:10 And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.

Namman is furious, he storms away in a rage. His pride is bruised. Elisha should have met me at the door! He just had to touch me and I should have been healed. I am not going in that nasty water, the Jordan river is disgusting. I am not doing that 7 times let alone one time! His servants calm him down and then this happens:

¹⁴ Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

What I see here is he followed the instructions. That may have not been what he wanted to do, but he submitted to the will of God and came out of the water clean. His faithful obedience restored his body.

This event is a great revelation to us that we should follow all of the Lord’s instructions. Even when we don’t understand why. Sometimes in the words of Andy Stanely – “To understand why, submit and apply. Submitting to the Lord before you see an outcome is trusting. Trusting the Lord is about laying your pride aside, listening to those wiser, submitting to the Word, and receiving God’s healing His way.

We have all the instruction we need right here, (Bible) and inside, with the Holy Spirit, amen?

In this lost and dying world, I kind of see ourselves as the messenger in that story. Servants of the greatest prophet ever, Jesus Christ. We have all of His vision. We have all of his instructions. We have all of his truth, (bible) right at our fingerprints. 

There may be people in our lives right now that we think have it all, that we think are not hurting, who appear to be victorious, but in reality have something as terrible as leprosy in their lives. And we can carry that message, we can carry  (Bible) this message to those that need hope, to those that need healing, to those that need a savior, amen?

We are an ACTS 2:38-39 Church:

38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”