Chapter 9: Our Mandate to Heal.

Chapter 9: Our Mandate to Heal.

As we have seen, Christ has provided on the Cross for our sin and for our sickness. But many people still do not want to believe that God wants to heal today. One objection to healing comes in a resistance to the idea of people having an ability to heal. It is often expressed as a strong reaction to faith healers of the American type as seen on Television declaring them to be all hype, deception, etc. This is in spite of the many hundreds of verified healings that many of these ministries can produce evidence for.

But the objection is seen more subtly in the statement, “If God wants to heal me he can do it, but I’m not going to go up to the altar for healing, or go and ask for prayer.” The real reason behind this objection is pride – the person does not want to go up and be seen by others, particularly if they are not healed. Their pride is at stake. “Why didn’t I get healed? Is there something wrong with me, some sin or something else?” So rather than risk being, at least in their own eyes, abased, they object to the healing ministry en toto. It may be God wants them to have a little humility and be healed through the Body of Christ rather than directly from himself. There is an implicit demand in their response that God do it directly and not through the agency of a human ministry. And pride is also behind this demand. God can choose to do it however he likes, but if you refuse to try all avenues he has offered then you can’t blame him if you don’t get healed.

Another similar objection is the following: “I asked once, I am not going to ask again. If God didn’t heal me that time then he doesn’t want to so I am not going to ask again.”

But this is to work against the very words of Jesus where he says, “Ask and keep on asking, seek and keep on seeking, knock and keep on knocking and it will be opened to you (Matt 7:7).” Thus it is actually not a sign of faith to argue that you “asked once so you won’t ask again.” It is actually a sign of disobedience – as Jesus told us to keep on asking. And faith is spelt – O.B.E.D.I.E.N.C.E.

Jesus encourages repeat asking because the perseverance of faith brings about spiritual growth and deep inner change. In this healing is no different from any other temporal promise of God. We may have to press in over a long period of time to get the answer. The only exception to this rule is the prayer for salvation. God always answers that one immediately. (This, in itself, indicates that healing is not exactly on an equal par with salvation.) God may want to heal us, but he may be more interested in our perseverance and other virtues of spiritual growth so he may delay the healing to produce the result he wants.

Some argue that healing is not as readily available today - or not available at all - because things have somehow changed. The Scripture says otherwise: “Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever (Heb 13:8).”

But there is a change – whereas he did it directly himself while he was on earth, now he is not here physically, so he does it through his Body, the church: “In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote to you about all that Jesus began to do and teach (Acts 1:1).” The implication is that Jesus is still doing and teaching the same things and that we see this continuation in the book of Acts. But now he does it by his Spirit through the Church, which is his body on earth.

So we need to look at our mandate from God to heal, our right to do this ministry of healing. This mandate is seen in the words of Jesus in Scripture.

The first place to begin is with the Great Commission. We have several versions of this in different Gospels and in Acts. The Great Commission is often preached from Matt 28 and the other records of it are ignored or treated as if they were a separate event. But a careful reading shows that there are four records of one event and it will do us well to read them all. As with all personal recollections different people recall different things from the same event. It is only as we put them all together we can get the whole picture of what Jesus said on that occasion.

If this was a purely human event and record we might be able to say that some of those who were there misremembered and so their words carry less significance. But because we are dealing with the Bible, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and the very words of Jesus we cannot relegate words in that way. The fact that one writer records one thing, another writer records something different, does not mean each is unreliable - only that the true picture is found when we put it all together.

The thing that is common to all of the following references is that they all clearly indicate that this was Jesus’ last discussion with them. After this he was taken up to heaven. One would think that if this was the last time he had opportunity to share with them before his departure then he would tell them the most important things he wanted them to remember, and such is the case.

 “Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age (MATT 28:18-20)."

Matthew was there and heard the words of Jesus so we can verify them as true.

He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well."

After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God (MARK 16:15-19).”

Mark was presumably NOT there but he was close. It is generally held that Mark’s gospel is largely that which Mark gleaned from Peter.

“Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.

I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high."

When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven (LUKE 24:45-51).”

Luke was not there, but he did do considerable research to ensure his record was accurate. It is generally held by historians today that Luke is a first class recorder of history and can be relied upon.

On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit."

So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the

Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight (ACTS 1:4-9). “

Putting it together we get the following things:

1. Jesus gave them a supernatural ability to understand the Old Testament in a new way – so they could see clearly the teaching concerning Christ hidden there.
2. He gave them a commission to go and preach the gospel of the kingdom to all nations.
3. They asked him about the nature of the kingdom and he refused to answer – presumably because he knew they would soon understand that the kingdom was not what they had previously imagined. The kingdom is a spiritual reality, not an earthly Jewish kingdom.
4. Jesus promised them the Holy Spirit which would give them power to witness to him.
5. This power would be seen operating in supernatural works and signs.
6. They were to call people to repentance, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and discipling them – teaching them to do all Jesus had commanded the Apostles to do.

Some writers argue that the ending to Mark’s gospel was not original, or is suspect the facts are completely different. This objection is based on the fact that the longer ending, referring to supernatural signs, does not appear in “some manuscripts.”

Not in all mss? It is not found in the Sinaiatic mss – but this was not written until the 4th Century. This is the only mss it is not found in. That these verses are authentic has been proved from the writings of the church fathers, written before the Sinaiatic mss and less than 270 years after Christ. The Sinaiatic mss was found among trash paper at St Catherine Monastery at the foot of Mt Sinai in 1841. It is considered to be a flawed mss.

A compilation New Testament was made from New Testament references and quotes found in the writings of the church fathers previous to 300 AD. The whole was completed and found to be identical with our present version except it lacked seven verses in Hebrews, and these have been since forthcoming. The longer ending of Mark’s gospel is found there.

So we can safely assume that the longer ending is authentic and hence the reference to supernatural signs is actually Jesus own words.

A key phrase is Matt 28:20 “teaching them to do/obey all I have commanded you.” What the apostles were to pass on was what Jesus had trained them to do. Jesus’ expectation here is that this process would continue from generation to generation – passing on what he had passed on to the apostles. There is not expectation that what he had trained them to do would stop with their death. So the important question is: What did he train them to do?

“He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness (Matt 10:1).”

“These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: "Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, preach this message: `The kingdom of heaven is near.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give (Matt 10: 5-10).”

“When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. I tell you the truth, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes. A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the student to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebub, how much more the members of his household (Matt 10:23-25)!”

What Jesus commanded his 12 apostles to do is preach the gospel and demonstrate it with signs – healing, deliverance, raising the dead. These are the things he later, in the Great Commission, commanded his apostles to pass on to those who believed through their word.

Look closely at Matt 10:25, “It is enough for a student to be like his teacher” – Jesus is expecting that he will be adequately represented by the apostles wherever they go – it would be just as is he were there himself.

Now this commission to the 12 was given in a limited context – the numbers are significant. 12 was the number that represented Israel, the 12 tribes. Jesus emphasizes this fact in what he says – and we read it: "Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel… you will not finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes (Matt 9:5, 6).” The commission here to the apostles was limited – it was to the nation of Israel only. Some teachers want to argue from this that the signs were only intended for the apostle’s ministry to the Jews, and not for the later Gentile mission.

But this was not the only time Jesus sent out preachers: “After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field (LUKE 10:1-2).”

Again the numbers are significant. Different manuscripts read 70 or 72 but the difference is insignificant compared with the obvious symbolic meaning. 70 or 72 was the number of Gentile tribes there were in the world, according to Jewish reckoning, depending on how the list of the nations is counted in Genesis 10 and 11. The variation in the manuscripts between 70 or 72 shows that this symbolic meaning is what we are meant to read here. What Jesus was prefiguring here was the mission of the gospel to the Gentiles. In Luke 9 he prefigures the mission to the Jews – and again the restriction to not go to any Gentile town is found. But in Luke 10 where there are 72 that restriction is omitted. The 72 can go anywhere.

So what we see in Matt 10 and Luke 9 is the application of the Great Commission to the Jewish world, and in Luke 10 the application of the Great Commission to the Gentile world. And in the context of the Gentile mission what does Jesus command? “Heal the sick who are there and tell them, `The kingdom of God is near you (LUKE 10:9).” And later we read: “The seventy-two returned with joy and said, "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name (LUKE 10:17)." So deliverance was included too – Gentiles have as many demons as Jews do – more maybe.

So the Great Commission contains the order by Jesus to us, his disciples, to preach, heal, deliver from demons, raise the dead and so on. Jesus made it clear to his disciples that they would not be able to do this until they received the power of God in the person of the Holy Spirit – the baptism in the Spirit. This is clear in Luke 24 and Acts 1 but the same idea is found in John’s gospel: “As the Father sent me so send I you (John 20:21).” Preaching healing and teaching. No one of any sense could imagine that the disciples were sent to do anything other than what Jesus did in the way he did it. By the power he used to do it – the Holy Spirit. So then he goes on to talk of the Holy Spirit: “And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit (JOHN 20:22).” He did not present them with a medicine kit but with the conscious power of God on their lives.

This was not just for the apostles:“When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said. With shrieks, evil spirits came out of many, and many paralytics and cripples were healed (Acts 8:6-7).” Philip was not an Apostle. Nor was Stephen: “Now, Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people (Acts 6:8).”

So we have been commissioned to teach and preach the gospel of the kingdom of God and to demonstrate the truth of the word we preach by signs that follow.

We need to get the Message Right:

It is the word that God confirms with signs. If you want the signs logic indicates you must have the right word. You can’t expect God to confirm a word that isn’t a word he is prepared to confirm.

For many centuries much of the church has not presented the message of the gospel – it has been truncated. Only a part has been presented. The good news of the gospel includes healing.

“So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders (ACTS 14:3).”

“I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done - by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ (ROM 15:18-19.)”

In these two references we see two things:

1. It was Christ who did the signs – by the power of the Holy Spirit.
2. The purpose of the signs was to “confirm the message” or, to use Paul’s words, to “fully preach the gospel”. The implication is that the gospel is not fully preached if we do not have the attending signs.

The signs are the proof of the kingdom. God has never expected the world to believe a gospel without proof and the church has never been authorized to offer the message without proof. Where there isn’t proof there really isn’t any kingdom. There is just a theological abstraction.

The signs are God’s own mark on the faithful preaching of the gospel. We know the goods by the trademark they bear.

Matt 4:23 says Jesus preached the gospel of the kingdom. This is the same Gospel he told his disciples to preach. It is the gospel Paul preached to the Gentiles. In Romans 15 which we read previously he calls his message “the Gospel of Christ”  but in Acts 28:31 we are told his message was “the kingdom of God and… Jesus.” Earlier in v23 it says that Paul “declared to them the kingdom of God and tried to convince them about Jesus from the law and prophets.” So there is no difference. There is not a gospel of the kingdom and a gospel of God’s grace in Christ. They are the same gospel.

It is unscriptural to leave out the words “of the kingdom” when presenting the gospel. The gospel is not just some vague good news. It is not simply the fact that you can have your sins forgiven and receive eternal life – that is only part of the story. It is a stepping stone to God’s ultimate purpose – that is, God is willing to take over governance of the human race. Kingdom in the Bible is the normal form of government. All man’s problems started when we rejected the government of God. God is calling men back to be part of his kingdom. We become members of his kingdom by being born again, as Jesus said: “no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit…you must be born again (John 3:5-7).”

The church is the visible form of the kingdom. We are ruling with Christ. The kingdom is within us. The Lord looked on the visible church as the embodiment of his kingdom. We must see that the kingdom forces which are at work find expression in the visible church.

It follows from this that we are his ambassadors. An ambassador is a person who represents another nation or kingdom. Usually he is vested with authority to act on behalf of the nation he represents. We are vested with authority to represent Christ and his kingdom: “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God (2 COR 5:19-20).”

The gift of the Spirit is the power of the kingdom as we have seen.

The gift of the Spirit is often called a seal in the Bible; “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,  who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession- to the praise of his glory (EPH 1:13, 14).”

Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come (2 COR 1:21, 22).”

The idea of a seal comes from the ancient idea of a signet ring which was used for signing official documents. Often a person would give his signet ring, or his seal to another person if they were going to act on his behalf. We see an instance of this in the life of Joseph after he interpreted Pharaoh’s dream: So Pharaoh asked them, "Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the spirit of God?" Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you."

So Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt."

Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph's finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. He had him ride in a chariot as his second-in-command, and men shouted before him, "Make way!" Thus he put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt.

Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I am Pharaoh, but without your word no one will lift hand or foot in all Egypt “GEN 41:38-44).”

The gift of the Holy Spirit to us is like a signet ring – it is an authority to act on behalf of God.

In ancient times a slave or an adherent to a religious group were often tattooed with a mark designating who they belonged to – either the god or the man. This was usually done on the forehead or right hand. In the Spiritual realm we have been tattooed with God’s signet. We can’t see it but the spirit world can: Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name (REV 3:12).”

The gift of the Spirit is God’s seal on every Christian. With that we get written on us the name of God the Father, the name of the kingdom of God – the new Jerusalem and Christ’s own new name – the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what it means to be “baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Matt 28:20).” The gift of the Spirit is a seal on us in then Spirit that gives us authority to act as citizens, ambassadors, of the kingdom of God.

We have not been called to explain healing and sickness, we have been called to heal the sick. That is the mandate he has given us. One of our problems is that we are praying for healing. This is alright, but Jesus didn’t tell us to pray for healing – he commanded us to heal. We spend too much time begging God to do what he has commanded us to do.

Another problem is that we don’t know God’s will. So many pray for healing “if it be your will.” The problem here is that they don’t know God’s will and the reason for that is that they have not taken the time to find out from the Word what God’s will is. The revelation of God in Christ is that God wants to heal everyone who comes to him for healing. Jesus took our sicknesses and pains on the cross so we could be free from them. So the will of God is revealed regarding healing. To pray “if it be your will” is thus not faith – it s disobedience and unbelief. Rather we have been given authority to command healing in Jesus name.

Christians have been given unlimited power of attorney over Christ’s kingdom: “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it (JOHN 14:12-14).”

Here Jesus specifically says that those who are his disciples will do exactly the same things he did – healing, delivering and so on. The implication is that it is not us doing it however – we ask in his name and he will do it.

This is the same as we saw in Rev 3 – his name is on our forehead – we have been given his name so that we can do his work on his behalf. Interestingly immediately after this promise in John 14 Jesus talks about the coming gift of the Spirit. See how it all ties together? The King of the Kingdom has given the citizens of the kingdom a task to do – to represent the kingdom on earth. To enable them to do this he has given us his signet ring, his name so we can act on his behalf – and he has given the power of the kingdom, the Spirit of God, to back us up. In effect he has made us kings and priests in the kingdom to rule now. We need to rise up and live according to our mandate.

We need to command healing. Act on the commission we already have.

 “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 (Acts 3:6).”  Peter knew what he had. He had the name of Jesus.

Jesus left his name with us – we have the right to use it… we use his name by his authority. He said, “You ask the Father in my name and I will endorse it.” When we ask in his name the request and the petition passes out of our hands into the hands of Jesus. He then assumes the responsibility for that need. When we pray in Jesus name it is as if Jesus himself were doing the praying. He takes our place.

There are four proofs of our mandate to heal:

1. We are to be witnesses of the gospel of the kingdom with signs following: “These signs shall follow those who believe (Mark 16).”  This is for all Christians.

2. God has given gifts of Holy Spirit in the area of healing: “To another gifts of healings (1 Cor 12: 9).” Both words (gifts, healings) are in the plural. This indicates that there are different healing gifts. One person may be gifted in healing one complaint; another person may be gifted in healing another complaint. It also indicates that each healing is a separate gift. Thus the person may not necessarily always have this gift.

3. God has given the ministry of healers: “Do all have gifts of healing (1 Cor 12:30)?” (The answer demanded is, “No.”) When included in this list it indicates that the person has a recognized ministry of healing that has a degree of permanence and a spread of ability to it.

4. The Elder have a special role in healing: “Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective (JAMES 5:14-16).”

The connection of healing with confession here indicates that the role of the elders involves discernment as to whether or not there is a hidden cause to the sickness – some sin or other. Under such ministry James says the sick will be healed. There is no doubt about it.

Let’s be Practical:

1. We need to speak authoritative commands of faith.

We need to tell somebody’s body what to do in Jesus name.

Prophesy to the body parts – tell them what to do – vibrate, grow, feel, come alive.

We are often just too timid – false humility because we don’t want to sound proud or arrogant.

2. Often we need to carry out prophetic actions. Jesus often did strange actions when healing people. We can do the same if we are hearing the Spirit. God will reveal himself as the miracle working God.

3. Sometimes the sick person needs to do something – Jesus often required them to act before they saw their healing.

Chapter 8: Healing and the Kingdom of God.

Chapter 8: Healing and the Kingdom of God.

The great hope of the Old Testament is that one day the Messiah would come and establish the kingdom of God. The Jews divided human history into two ages: this present evil age and the age to come, when God and his Messiah will rule.

As a diagram it looks like this:

 

We need to understand what this means – at least in the Jewish understanding.

The present evil age is the age, the period of time, when this world is under the domination of evil forces – of Satan and his hosts. As a result of this Satanic domination there is suffering and evil in the world, including death, sickness, war, natural disaster, physical disability, political domination and so on. This present age is evil and is unjust – the innocent suffer and the guilty often get away with their evil acts.

But one day God and his Messiah will come and there will be a great battle, the forces of evil will be defeated and God will set up a kingdom on earth that will never end. The evil forces of Satan will be overcome and a kingdom of righteousness, peace and justice will result. Of course, in that coming age, there will be no suffering, sickness or death.

The Jews, in their popular thinking, had a tendency to downgrade this expectation. They tended to interpret this kingdom in Jewish terms – God will set up a new Jewish kingdom and the enemies of God – the Gentile nations – will be defeated and ruled forevermore by the Jews. The coming of the Messiah would bring about this great deliverance for Israel. We see that this was the understanding the Jews in general, and also the disciples of Jesus had – even after the resurrection. On his last time with the disciples Jesus is asked, “Will you again at this time restore the kingdom to Israel (Acts 1:6)?” They are still thinking in purely nationalistic terms. They wanted a deliverance from the power of Rome. But Jesus had bigger fish to fry – he had just defeated the spiritual powers behind Rome, the principalities and powers and the kingdom had already come but in a way totally unexpected by the Jews. This was not something radically new – in fact the prophets had indicated that this was to be the true nature of the kingdom. But the Jews had only seen the promises through the eyes of their own suffering and had missed the point entirely.

In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, he made earth to be the centre of his kingdom and man to be his co-reagent on earth. The kingdom of God was on earth, and visibly so. But through the Fall of Adam the ownership of earth passed to Satan, so the kingdom of God was no longer visible on earth. Then God promised that one day his future king would overcome the serpent who had brought about this change of affairs. “He shall bruise you head and you shall bruise his heel (Gen 3:15)” - thus indicating that the defeat of the serpent would be through the death of the coming messiah, the seed of the woman. Through him the kingdom of Satan would be defeated and God’s kingdom would again be established on earth. Then the evils of this world – including sickness – would be done away with.

This was prophesied in more detail by the later prophets, we will only look at one at the moment. The context of this is the future rule of God: “For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; it is he who will save us. Your rigging hangs loose: The mast is not held secure, the sail is not spread. Then an abundance of spoils will be divided and even the lame will carry off plunder. No one living in Zion will say, "I am ill"; and the sins of those who dwell there will be forgiven ( Isa 33:22-24).”

This passage gives us an insight into salvation – it is about the God “who will save us.”

It is describing a future state, the kingdom of God – but it also has an application to this life, to present deliverance and salvation.

When you can say three things (v22) you have salvation: The Lord is my Judge, The Lord is my Lawgiver, The Lord is my King. The results of that salvation are no sickness and no iniquity (v24).

What does this mean in practice?

The Lord is my judge:

What this means is that He tells me what is wrong and right. This can dramatically alter one’s behaviour. It leads to two guiding principles:

(i)What you do – do all to the glory of God (1 Cor 10:23).

(ii) What you do – do in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. (Col 3;17).

You are free to do anything you can do in obedience to these two principles.

The Lord is my Lawgiver.

This means the Lord sets my lifestyle. This is built around three things: diet, exercise and rest. You cannot expect to be healthy and functioning effectively if you ignore these three areas. It will eventually catch up with you.

All progress in the Christian life is by faith. And to serve God you need a healthy, fit body.

Rest is as important as diet and exercise. It takes faith to rest. This is not a legalism of the Sabbath, but a principle of rest.

The Lord is my King:

“God, whatever you tell me, I’ll do.”

When it comes to personal relationship with God it matters where you are. You can’t be righteous if you are not living where he wants you to be. God has a geographic location for you.

The kingdom of God is a total social security kingdom. When you are in it everything is included. But you have to be seeking him first.

A New Testament scripture gives us the same picture of the future kingdom: “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away (REV 21:3-4)."”

Sickness is the result of incipient death, as we have seen, and in the new kingdom there will be no sickness or pain.

So the Jewish expectation was that one day God and his Messiah would come and establish his kingdom and when he did so sickness, pain and death would be removed from our experience.

Another Old Testament scripture casts this hope in terms of the coming day of Redemption, the day of the Lord: “The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD's favour and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendour (ISA 61:1-3).”

The coming age was thought of as being an age of the Spirit of God - that creator spirit who, in the beginning made the heavens and earth at the command of the Word of God. He would again recreate and restore things to be in the order God originally intended. The coming kingdom was an age of the activity of the Spirit. But the activity is not exactly what Israel expected – instead it was an activity of preaching, physical and emotional healing and deliverance from spiritual bondage.

The rest of the chapter talks of restoration of the Promised Land as an inheritance – but there is a twist – the whole thing has a much greater meaning than the words appear to have on the surface. The apostle Paul was right when he interpreted the promise to Abraham about the land in Romans 4 to mean the whole world, not just Palestine. Abraham’s descendent will possess the whole world but those descendents are those who have the faith of Abraham. It is not about natural descent but about faith in the promise of God. So the Gentiles are included in this – and Isaiah hints at this here: “Aliens will shepherd your flocks; foreigners will work your fields and vineyards (ISA 61:5).”

“And you will be called priests of the LORD, you will be named ministers of our God. You will feed on the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast (ISA 61:6).”

“Their descendants will be known among the nations and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the LORD has blessed (ISA 61:9)."

 “For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations (ISA 61:11).”

This is about God’s blessing going to all men, to all nations. All nations would enjoy the benefits of the kingdom – forgiveness of sins, physical and emotional healing and deliverance from evil spirits, and these things would come to all through the preaching of the good news of the coming kingdom.

So this kingdom was promised in the Old Testament, but the time came when God began to bring this kingdom to birth on the earth.

The first step was through John the Baptist. The Old Testament had promised that, before the Messiah came and set up the kingdom, there would come a forerunner warning that the time was near: “In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: "A voice of one calling in the desert, `Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him (MATT 3:1-3).'"

The kingdom did not come in John, but he was called to announce it would soon be here. “The Kingdom is near.” He was a voice of preparation. John understood some things about this coming kingdom. First he understood that it was not something to be restricted to Israel, it was not a matter of physical descent from Abraham: “And do not think you can say to yourselves, `We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham (MATT 3:9).”

In fact John dispossessed the whole nation of Israel from the future promised kingdom. He did this in a simple but profound way. You see, when a Gentile became a worshipper of God, a proselyte to Judaism, they had to get baptised to show their repentance. This showed that they had been separated from God and from his covenants of promise. Every Jew knew that this was a requirement of the Gentiles. To become a child of the covenants meant to become a Jew – and part of the process of conversion to Judaism was baptism.

What John did is demanded baptism for repentance of Jews also. In doing this he was saying: “The coming kingdom is not for Israel as a nation because you are separated from God and his promises. The future kingdom is for those who are truly repentant and who have submitted to the rule of God. It has nothing to do with national deliverance from Rome; it has everything to do with deliverance from sin and spiritual evil.”

The second thing John knew for sure about this coming kingdom was that it was to be an age of the Spirit of God: “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire (MATT 3:11).”

 After John came Jesus and he was Baptised by John:“Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John (MATT 3:13).”

 “As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased (MATT 3:16-17)."”

The words from God are particularly significant. They are a combination of two different Old Testament scriptures. The first phrase is from Psalm 2:7 “You are my son.” Psalm 2 is a kingship psalm, or a messianic psalm speaking of the future king of God’s kingdom. When a king ascended to the throne in ancient times it was considered that they were adopted by the God of the nation and became their son. So this phrase is a traditional phrase and means: You are the one who has become king, or in Jewish terms, the Messiah. So this identifies Jesus as the Messiah of God. The second phrase comes from Isa 42:1 “in whom I delight.” This is taken from one of what are known as the servant songs of Isaiah. There are four prophetic songs concerning the coming “servant of the Lord.” Thus Jesus is identified by this phrase as the coming “servant of the Lord.”

The interesting thing is that Israel had never before made the connection between the messiah and the servant. They never saw them as the same people or person. In fact regular Jewish interpretation saw the servant as being a symbol of the nation of Israel. By joining these two quotes together a new thread of understanding is brought into being: The messiah is the servant of the Lord, the one who will suffer for the sins of God’s people (Isa 53:4, 5). Through him will come the forgiveness and healing that had been promised for so long. And Jesus was the man who fulfilled the promise of the servant.

 “Surely he took up our infirmities (sicknesses) and carried our sorrows (pains), yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed (ISA 53:4-5).”

The other important thing about Jesus baptism was the coming on him of the Spirit in the form of a dove. When the kings of Israel ascended to the throne they were anointed with oil, symbolizing the Holy Spirit. The coming of the Spirit on Jesus at his baptism has to be understood in this light. This is when he was “chrismed” – when he was anointed, when he became the anointed one, the Christ. He was born to be the Christ, but it was at this point of time he became the Christ, the king.

From that point on Jesus is the bearer of the kingdom because he is the king of the kingdom. Where the king is there is the kingdom and the authority of the kingdom and power of the kingdom is found in him. So from that point on Jesus goes out and proclaims the kingdom: “From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near (MATT 4:17)."”

This sounds the same as what John said but the meaning is different. John meant that the time was near. Jesus meant that the kingdom was near – “at hand” as the KJV translated is. It is present and those who want to partake of the kingdom now have access to it. But you can’t see it – it comes to you by faith. In fact the kingdom was present in a unique way – Jesus was the king of the kingdom and so the kingdom was present in him.

The kingdom is within reach to those who want to possess it – but this is not a physical kingdom – it is a spiritual kingdom. As a result it is not to be taken hold of in a physical way; it can only be taken hold of through faith.

He demonstrated that the kingdom was present in himself by doing the works that were expected in the coming kingdom. It was expected that when the kingdom came sickness would be done away with and bondage to evil spirits would cease, so that is what we see happening in the life of Jesus: “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them (MATT 4:23-24).”

In doing this he was fulfilling he words we read in Isa 61 concerning the future kingdom: “He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour."

Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing (LUKE 4:16-21)."

What he was saying – and they would have all understood this – is that the future kingdom has come – it had come in Him, in Jesus and the proof of that was the miracles of healing and deliverance that Jesus worked among the people.

Later on, when John the Baptist was in prison, John sent to Jesus asking if he was in fact the Messiah: “When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples to ask him, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?" Jesus replied, "Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me (MATT 11:2-6.)." The proof of the kingdom is seen in preaching and the signs that follow it. Jesus never expected mankind to believe in an unproven gospel message. It is proven by the signs that follow.

Jesus central message concerned the kingdom of God. He entrusted the same message to his 12 disciples and the 72. We will come back to the commissioning of the 12 and 72 in another chapter.

Yet Jesus never defined the kingdom. This implies that the concept was commonly understood by his contemporaries or that it was defined in his own words and deeds. Both appear to be true, in part.

Whatever his contemporaries understood, they did not find in Jesus the king they hoped for and expected, his idea of kingship differed from theirs. They wanted a restoration of the Davidic dynasty. They did not expect too much of the kingdom, but too little. Jesus came not simply to bring political liberation to one nation but to bring spiritual, physical and relational liberation to all people. He came, not to dethrone Caesar, but to destroy the evil force behind all unsanctioned power, Satan himself. And to do that he had to die.

Jesus was sure that this kingdom was an age of the Spirit also. When he was challenged by the Jewish leaders about his right to exorcise demons he responded: “But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you (MATT 12:28).” Healing and casting out demons is the clash of the kingdoms.

Even the demons knew what Jesus was about: “Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out, "What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are- the Holy One of God (MARK 1:23-24)!"

Even more telling is the following: “When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were so violent that no one could pass that way. "What do you want with us, Son of God?" they shouted. "Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time (MATT 8:28-29)?" These demons knew there was a future time when they would be bound and sent away – the time when the kingdom came. But they also knew that Jesus was the king of the kingdom and so had the authority to bind them now. They knew now was not the time of the future kingdom but they also knew that the future kingdom was standing right in front of them in the person of Jesus.

Jesus saw Satan as the cause of all kinds of physical suffering. Often, when the text states that Jesus healed the sick, it included the driving off of a spirit. While not all sicknesses are the work of demons, they may all be seen as the work of Satan. The work of the kingdom is to undo the work of the evil one: “He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work (1 JOHN 3:8).”

GE Ladd in his classic book, The Gospel of the Kingdom, illustrates it this way:

The kingdom of God has come, but it is a sort of parallel universe to our universe. It is here but it is invisible to our natural senses. One day it will become visible but it is still here now. We can reach out in faith and take hold of it – if we want to.

Jesus defeated Satan on the Cross: “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross (COL 2:15).” Jesus did not put an end to Satan’s power, rather he bound it so we may have authority over it. Satan is bound and his pseudokingdom is breaking up, yet God has left him room to maneuver.

Satan’s power over us was a legal authority. Sin brought a condemnation of death. Christ, on the Cross, paid the price of death so that the condemnation was annulled. Satan was not destroyed at that time – that is still to come – but his legal authority to act in the way he does was taken away and his rights to control the kingdom of man on earth removed.

The kingdom of God is a power already released in the world. It’s beginnings are tiny.

Jesus illustrated how it has come in parables: “Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop- a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. He who has ears, let him hear (MATT 13:3-9)."

The kingdom has come in a small way – like a seed. But it will grow and one day cover the whole earth. The Jews had expected it to come with a mighty battle and God’s rule to cover the whole earth as a result of a great victory. But Jesus tells us in the parables that it has come in a different way. Jesus went on to talk of leaven, a mustard seed, sowing grain – small beginnings but with a great result.

Prior to the coming of Christ they had little defense against satanic bondage. Now, however they discovered in their daily experience something in the essential makeup of the cosmos had changed. Their authority over Satan and his works was actual and experiential. It did not have to be hoped for in the future, it could be had now.

Jesus did not promise forgiveness of sins – he bestowed it. He did not simply assure men of the future fellowship of the kingdom but invited them into fellowship with himself as bearer of the kingdom. He did not merely promise vindication in the Day of Judgment but bestowed on men a present righteousness. He not only taught an eschatological deliverance from physical evil – he went about demonstrating the redeeming power of the kingdom delivering men from sickness and death.

So the kingdom has come - it is here. How do we experience it?

The power of the Kingdom is, as we have seen, the Holy Spirit: “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (ROM 14:17).” These are the key hallmarks of the promised kingdom:

Righteousness – a kingdom where justice and right will prevail.

Peace – we have to understand this in the Jewish sense, Shalom – which, as we have already seen means to be living in God’s blessing and provision in every area of life.

Joy – no sorrow shall be there.

So as we experience the Holy Spirit we experience the kingdom.

Another scripture shows this connection clearly. We are not interested in the actual context here but only with the connection between the Holy Spirit and the kingdom to come: “It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age (HEB 6:4-5).” To share in the Holy Spirit is to taste of the powers of the coming age – the kingdom of God.

However we need to be clear on one thing – though the kingdom has come in Jesus and the Spirit, it has not come in its fullness. There is a “not yet” to the fullness of the kingdom. This is where Ladd’s diagramme illustrates it well for us. The kingdom is here – but it is only partially here. There is still a future time when the fullness of the kingdom will be seen visibly on earth and when the blessings of the kingdom will be available fully to all of the citizens of the kingdom. Until then the kingdom is only here in a provisional way.

It is near – we can reach out and touch it and possess its blessings – but it is not fully here. For this reason sometimes some of the blessings are not fully realised. Death is one case in point. In the kingdom there will be no more death – and consequently no more sickness, which is incipient death. Clearly this is not the case today where people, including Christians, still die. And clearly Christians still get sick.

So though the blessings of the kingdom are available now – and as such healing is available – the provisional nature of the kingdom means that sometimes a particular blessing is not manifested in a particular person’s life. Not all the sick get healed. And that is just a factor in the provisional nature of the kingdom as we presently experience it.

Sickness is incipient death – so there may not be a total victory over it while we are in these bodies of death. Only on the last day, when we receive our resurrection bodies, will salvation be complete.

The parables of the kingdom illustrate this incompleteness of the kingdom. In the parable of the soils not everyone receives the kingdom – this parallels healing. The word of healing goes out, but not all are able to receive it for various reasons.

Freedom from sin and sickness is eschatological. Full freedom will only come with our resurrection. Yet freedom has already come, and we experience it now in partial yet real ways through following Jesus Christ. But can we have a strong expectation of healing today because the kingdom has come in Jesus? The answer is yes. Jesus taught us to pray the prayer of the kingdom: “Your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matt 6:9).” Where is the kingdom to come – answer, on earth. Most Christians think the aim is to get us to heaven. Not so. The gospel is to get heaven to earth. Do you believe God’s will can be done on earth to the same extent as it is in heaven? This prayer is about the coming of God’s kingdom. It is not about our going to heaven. Our needs are met in the kingdom, but that starts with a spiritual relationship with the King.

God commands us to pray that his will shall be done; that his kingdom will come on earth as it is in heaven. This is not a prayer for the future, for Christ to come again. When Christ comes again his will WILL be done. Rather it is a prayer for God’s will and kingdom to be manifested in our lives NOW. And part of that is to be free of sickness and disease.