Sermon Tone Analysis

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/Does God still heal today?
/
In May, 1983, the /Chicago Tribune/ ran a story of Dustin Gilmore,15-month old son of David Gilmore, who came down with flu-like symptoms in April 1978.
The Gilmores took Dustin to their church and the pastor prayed for him.
Their church believed faith alone heals any disease, and to go elsewhere for help — like a doctor — shows your lack faith in God.
Over the next few weeks they prayed faithfully as the little boy’s temperature climbed, prayed when they noticed he no longer responded to sounds, and prayed harder when he finally went blind.
On the morning of May 15, 1978 the Gilmores went into their son’s room and found their son dead.
Again they prayed, for their church also believed the power of prayer can raise the dead.
But Dustin Gilmore was not resurrected.
An autopsy revealed the infant died from a form of meningitis that could have easily been treated by proper antibiotics.[i]
/Does God still heal today?
If you answer “yes” then how do you explain the death of Dustin Gilmore? /
/Some might say the parents didn’t possess enough faith, that if only they would have *really *believed their son would still be alive.
Others might call their faith foolishness, that they should have immediately taken the child to the doctor.
But these parents loved their little boy; they wanted to obey God, to believe God, and yet there was no miraculous healing.
Does God still heal today?
/
/You might struggle with the answer to that question when it becomes personal: when you or somebody you love gets really sick.
When doctors aren’t sure what to do, or they tell you there’s nothing else they can do, you may begin to seriously struggle with this question: does God still heal today?
If so, why are do so many Christians get sick?
Is it a lack of faith?
What does the Bible say about the healing hand of God?  Let’s look for some answers to these questions in *Luke 5:12-26*—two stories back to back which tell us a great deal about how Christ healed back then, and about how He still heals today.
/
*PRAYER*
Within these two simple stories of healing, I see 3 truths that can help us understand the healing hand of our Lord.
*1.    **It’s OK to ask Christ for healing.
*
Ray Stedman told the story about a prayer meeting where one show-off stood up and began to pray one of those long theological prayers full of phrases like: "O God who sitteth upon the circle of the earth for whom the inhabitants are like grasshoppers."
He went on and on until finally, someone sitting behind him tapped him on the shoulder and whispered: "Just call him Father, and ask him for something."
*Mt 7:7-8* /7//“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.// //8//For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened./
Asking is the law of God’s kingdom.
The Bible tells us it never hurts to ask, because God delights in giving to those bold enough to ask Him.
Somehow this leper gets word about this “asking”/ /policy Jesus promotes and he comes to Christ to see if it really works.
This poses a special challenge for this particular man.
Leprosy was a devastating disease that you never got completely well from.
Not only were there disfiguring physical symptoms to deal with, but a leper was considered to “cursed of God” and “unclean.”
Most people ran at the sight of a leper, and most Jewish rabbis were especially careful to avoid being contaminated by a leper.
One rabbi refused to eat an egg which had been bought on the same street a leper had recently walked down, and other rabbis threw stones at passing lepers to keep their distance.
Now this leper dares to brave the large crowd following Jesus, dares to hope that Jesus won’t throw stones at him or chase him away.
/It can’t hurt to ask.
His gambit pays off.
Jesus doesn’t throw rocks, or drive him away.
In fact, *Mark 1:41* says /Jesus is moved with compassion.
/His heart goes out to this sick man, and He reaches out and does what nobody else in their right mind would even /think /about doing: /He touches the dirty diseased leper.
/His touch of compassion and power completely heals his disease.
Ask the former leper if God still heals today and he’ll tell you /oh yes!
He healed me!/
/ /In the second story, these 4 famous friends interrupt Jesus’ sermon to dig through the roof of a house and lower their sick buddy down right in front of Jesus.
They’re taking a risk also.
After all Jesus is preaching, and preachers don’t usually take kindly to being interrupted.
But Jesus doesn’t get angry and yell /What do you think you’re doing?
Can’t you see I’m preaching the Gospel here?
/According to *vs.
20* Jesus is impressed with the faith of the man and his friends.
Maybe He even laughed at their boldness and creativity!
In any case, Jesus stops preaching and heals this lame man, adding a special bonus of not only making him well, but forgiving his sins!
What do these two stories tell us about the healing hand of God? /It’s OK to ask Jesus for healing —either for yourself, or for somebody else.
/
It’s OK because He really does care about you—especially when you’re sick or hurting.
Just as Jesus had compassion on this leper, He has compassion on all those suffering from diseases and physical ailments.
Nobody else may know or care about your pain, but Jesus does.
He invites you to bring all your problems and pain to Him in prayer, asking for His healing touch in your body.
/It’s OK to pray for healing for yourself or anybody else.
/
But here’s another reason it’s OK to ask for healing: /He has the power to heal.
/
Jesus heals this leper with only a touch.
No X-rays, no CAT scan, no penicillin, no treatments---just a touch, and the disease is all gone.
He doesn’t even bother to touch the paralyzed man—just speaks to him---and he gets up and walks away.
It’s OK to ask Jesus to heal you because He certainly has the power to heal any sickness, disease, or physical condition.
/It doesn’t hurt to ask.
Don’t let doubt or discouragement keep you from praying when you or someone you love is sick.
Jesus cares about sick people, and He has the power to heal any and all who pray for healing.
/
            /Are you burdened down with sickness or pain tonight?
Listen to the advice of the leper, and the paralytic: it doesn’t hurt to ask.
It’s always OK to ask Jesus for healing because He really does care about you, and He really does have the power to heal any sickness or disease.
But even though it never hurts to ask, you also have to remember/
*2.    **Christ doesn’t heal all physical sickness.*
A lady called into one of these “ask the pastor” radio programs and said, "Pastor, I was born blind, and I've been blind all my life.
I don't mind being blind but I have some well meaning Christian friends who tell me that if I had more faith I could be healed."
The pastor asked her, "Tell me, do you carry one of those white canes?
"Yes I do," she replied.
"Then the next time someone says that hit them over the head with the cane," He said.
"Then tell them, 'If you had more faith that wouldn't hurt!'"
Do you know anybody like this? /There’s no reason for any child of God to be sick.
All you have to do is believe, to have faith, and you can send cancer running, arthritis packing.
All you have to do is have enough faith.
/
That’s the message of what some people call /faith healers.
/They claim Jesus not only died to save us from our /sin/, but also from our /sickness/.
In their minds, it/ /is /never /God’s will for you to be sick, and if you just pray and have faith, anybody can be made well.
But is that really how healing works?
In this passage I see some hints that may not be so.
The first hint comes in the exchange between Jesus and the leper in *vs.
12-13*.
The leper doesn’t come demanding Jesus heal him.
He has faith Jesus can heal him, but listen how he asks: /Lord, *if *you are *willing* You can make me clean…/No arguing for his rights, no demanding or begging---just as simple trusting acknowledgement that Jesus /can /heal him if He /wants /to.
And Jesus responds using the same language: /I am willing.
Be cleansed.
/
This conversation prompts a question: /is Jesus always willing to heal us?
Are there are ever times when we ask for healing and He says, “No.
It is not My will for you to be healed”?/
The second hint comes in *vs.
17*, when Scripture describes the crowd that was sitting there listening to Jesus preach and then adds this detail: /and the power of the Lord was present /[or /was with Him/] /to heal them./
Why does Luke include this detail?
Isn’t the power of the Lord /always /present to heal?
Isn’t healing power /always /present when Jesus is present?
Or is it possible that sometimes the time isn’t right for Jesus to heal?
One reason I ask those questions is that I’ve noticed good people don’t always get healed, no matter how much they pray or how strongly they believe.
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