“Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases. And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick”. (Luke 9:1-2)  

On this occasion, this power and authority was given to just the 12, but later Jesus will tell the disciples that this remit is now given to all who follow on and believe in His name: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 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” (Mark 16:15-18)

 Paul will later tell us that the ‘healing of the sick’ and ‘working miracles’ are two of the gifts the Holy Spirit will give to the church (see 1 Cor 12:8-11).

Certainly, the early church specifically prayed for this power and authority over sickness and demonic spirits (Acts 4:29-31) and God answered this prayer: “And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women.) Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them. There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one.” (Acts 5:14-16).

The South African Bible scholar, author and teacher, Andrew Murray, said: “The Bible does not authorize us, either by the words of the Lord or His apostles, to believe that the gifts of healing were granted only to the early times of the Church; on the contrary, the promises which Jesus made to the apostles when He gave them instructions concerning their mission, shortly before His ascension, appear to us applicable to all times. Paul places the gift of healing among the operations of the Holy Spirit.  James gives a precise command on this matter without any restriction of time. The entire Scriptures declare that these graces will be granted according to the measure of the Spirit and of faith.”.

“Oh, that we could learn to believe in the promises of God! God has not gone back from His promises; Jesus is still He who heals both soul and body; salvation offers us even now healing and holiness, and the Holy Spirit is always ready to give us some manifestations of His power.  Even when we ask why this divine power is not more often seen, He answers us: ‘Because of your unbelief. The more we give ourselves to experience personally ‘sanctification by faith’, the more we shall also experience healing by faith. These two doctrines walk abreast.  The more the Spirit of God lives and acts in the soul of believers, the more will the miracles multiply by which He works in the body. Thereby the world can recognize what redemption means.”.

…and that is the great secret that unlocks this divine power and authority to heal the sick: The Holy Spirit working in the lives of believers! It is not our power, it’s His! 

Why do we not see more of this power at work in the Church today?

1) Partly because of unbelief – we have allowed our rational (western) 21st Century mind to tell us it doesn’t / can’t happen today (Satan’s old, regurgitated lie “hath God really said…?”).

2) Because so few Christians today give themselves totally to God to be used by Him as He chooses and not for our own endeavours and plans. 

God is still the same. He still wants to see the lost saved. He has paid for our sin and our sickness on the cross (Isaiah 53:4-5). We receive our salvation by faith in His Word, believing it in our hearts and confessing it with our lips. We can receive His healing (that has already been paid for) if we simply ask in faith, believing, not doubting His promise and not doubting His completed work, and then confessing with our lips. (Romans 10:9-10). This is why James boldly states: “Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. 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: 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” (James 5:13-15).

It is why John, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, declares: “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth”. (3 John 1:2).

The LORD is looking today for sanctified vessels (like Stephen – see Acts 6:3-8), ‘full of the Holy Spirit’ that He can use to bring the gospel to the lost. The early church saw multitudes added to the church as the Lord confirmed the Word with signs following (Mark 16:20). We live in a sceptical world that sees no need for God in their busy (desperate) lives. 

The power and authority that God gives to His church has not changed because God has not changed. 

There is a call, just as in Isaiah’s day, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” (Isaiah 6:8).

Will you be one of the few that answer? 

You will either have this word snatched away (Luke 8:12)… Or be one who initially receives this with joy, only for Satan to come and tempt you by saying ‘Has God really said?’ (Luke 8:123) … Or you will simply be too busy with the cares and concerns of this life (Luke 8:14). Or you may be one of those who receive the Word with faith, who produce a wonderful crop unto eternal life! (Luke 8:15).

To be continued…

The post Whom Shall I Send? first appeared on Calvary Chapel Portsmouth.

Sadly, instead of fearing God we fear everything else, for what if God’s promises don’t ‘come true’? What then? That leads to us doubting God’s Word, which then gives way to unbelief.    

Thinking back to the four soils at the beginning of Luke chapter 8, we see that the seeds that fell on the wayside were immediately met by unbelief: “the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe” (Luke 8:12). The seed that fell on the rocky soil started well, only for doubt to consume and destroy (v13). The seed that fell among the thorns was choked by ‘life’s worries’ (v14) – in a word, fear. 

John Piper once said: “The tap root, out of which sprouts all the weeds of sin, is the tap root of unbelief in the promises of God. When you trust, or believe in a promise of God, you glorify God.  In fact, trusting somebody’s promise is the most fundamental honour you can do that person. The reverse is also true: The greatest contempt that you can bring down upon a person, is to say to them, ‘I can’t trust you’. So, when we don’t trust a promise of God, we bring contempt upon Him, we give Him a vote of ‘no confidence’.

In Luke 8:22-25 we see the disciples in a boat on the sea of Galilee. Whilst Jesus was asleep, a storm arose. In a state of fear the disciples awoke Jesus who then calmed the storm and chided the disciples for their lack of faith (v25) – their unbelief. Jesus had already ‘given His word’ and told them they were going to the other side of the lake, but here, overwhelmed by the circumstances’ they fear (demonstrating a lack of trust), doubt Jesus’ word, and their unbelief is exposed. 

In the remainder of Luke chapter 8 we see Jesus continuing to preach and actively demonstrate the ‘good news’. In quoting from Isaiah Jesus had said “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:18-19). 

Now Jesus demonstrates that He had come to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8) – both sin and sickness – by delivering a man who had been possessed by a legion of demons, healing a woman who had an issue of blood for 12 years, and then raising from the dead Jairus’ daughter!

Significantly, Jesus tells the woman with the issue of blood “thy faith hath made thee whole” (v48).  

To Jairus (upon his hearing that his daughter had died) Jesus said “Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole.” (v50).

We cannot get away from the fact that two thirds of Jesus ministry were spent healing the sick and performing miracles by the power of the Holy Spirit – in direct fulfilment of Isaiah 61:1. This is an integral part of the gospel (good news!) He came to proclaim. The good news is that through Christ there can be reconciliation with God and forgiveness of sins, “But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins“* He also heals the sick! Do you believe this? 

*(Luke 5:24)

Are you prepared to take God at His Word? Or do we receive the Word with joy, only to have doubt creep in and tell us that this is not how it is, that God doesn’t heal today?

Andrew Murray stated: “Oh, that we could learn to believe in the promises of God! God has not gone back from His promises; Jesus is still He who heals both soul and body; salvation offers us even now healing and holiness, and the Holy Spirit is always ready to give us some manifestations of His power. Even when we ask why this divine power is not more often seen, He answers us: ‘Because of your unbelief. The more we give ourselves to experience personally ‘sanctification by faith’, the more we shall also experience healing by faith. These two doctrines walk abreast. The more the Spirit of God lives and acts in the soul of believers, the more will the miracles multiply by which He works in the body. Thereby the world can recognize what redemption means.”.

“The Bible does not authorize us, either by the words of the Lord or His apostles, to believe that the gifts of healing were granted only to the early times of the Church; on the contrary, the promises which Jesus made to the apostles when He gave them instructions concerning their mission, shortly before His ascension, appear to us applicable to all times. (cf Mark 16:15-18)”

“Paul places the gift of healing among the operations of the Holy Spirit. James gives a precise command on this matter without any restriction of time. The entire Scriptures declare that these graces will be granted according to the measure of the Spirit and of faith.”.

“In this chapter (Isaiah 53), the expression ‘to bear’ occurs twice, but in relation to two different things. It is said not only that the Lord the righteous Servant bore our sins (v12), but also that He bore our sicknesses (v4). Thus, His bearing our sicknesses as well as our sins forms an integral part of the Redeemer’s work. Although He was without sin, He has borne our sins, and has done the same with our sicknesses. “As soon as a sick believer understands the meaning of the words, ‘Jesus has borne my sins’, he is not afraid to say ‘I no longer need to bear my sins’.  In the same way, as soon as he fully believes that Jesus has borne our sicknesses, he is not afraid to say  ‘I no longer need to bear my sicknesses.’ “Jesus, in bearing sin, bore sickness also, which is its consequence. He has made payment for both, and He delivers us from both. In Jesus, we have both pardon and healing. They are two sides of His redemptive work.”

Consider the impact on your family, friends, colleagues, if they heard of, or came to church and actually saw miracles of healing… It would be just like it was in the Book of Acts where we read: “and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles…  And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved” (Acts 2:43-47).  “And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women.)… There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one.” (Acts 5:14-16).

It will not and cannot happen except by the work and power of the Holy Spirit among a people who yield themselves to Him, to ‘Walk in the Spirit’ (Gal 5:16), and who are ‘Led by the Spirit’ (Gal 5:18).  Not wavering, not doubting, willing to take God at His Word, letting the Seed of His Word sink down into the good soil of faith and belief, who not only hear, but also do!

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Galatian believers and asked: “He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?” (Gal 3:5). 

May this study challenge and encourage you to a deeper walk with the Holy Spirit. 

To be continued…

The post The Thief of Unbelief! first appeared on Calvary Chapel Portsmouth.

Somehow, we have all heard and responded (to some degree or another) to the call to preach the gospel, but it seems only a handful in today’s church have taken Jesus at His Word and are prepared and willing to pray for healing for the sick.

This is largely the result of a lack of faith in God’s Word. We say we believe and trust His Word, but shy away from actually praying for the sick, just in case it doesn’t work! With such unbelief it’s no surprise we see few healed (see Matt 13:58) , and reaching the lost seems like an almost impossible task in a world where people see no need for an empty religion.

But what if… what if it’s true! What if God still heals people today?

Jesus came to destroy the works of the Devil (1 John 3:8)… and repeatedly Jesus attributes sickness to the work of the Devil. (see Luke 13:11-16 / Luke 8:2 / Luke 4:39).

The very ‘good news’ Jesus went throughout every city proclaiming was the mission He declared He’d been given:

─he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor;

─he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted,

─to preach deliverance to the captives, and

─recovering of sight to the blind,

─to set at liberty them that are bruised,  (Luke 4:18) 

The ‘good news’ was that God was breaking the power of the Devil over people’s lives! It included forgiveness of sins (quickening of our souls – see Ephesians 2:1-6), and the quickening of our mortal bodies (Romans 8:11). Our bodies become the Temple of the Holy Spirit when we turn to the cross and put our faith and trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins (1 Cor 3:16). But does the Holy Spirit expect a dilapidated and impaired Temple to dwell in? Most Christians have no doubt that Jesus can quicken our souls; so why do we struggle to believe that the One to Whom all power is given, in Heaven and Earth (Matt 28:18) can and will quicken our mortal bodies if we just look to Him with the same faith for healing that we do for salvation?

In the book of Numbers we read the account of how the Children of Israel murmured against Moses and complained about the Manna God had provided for them. As a result we read that “the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died” (Num 21:6). When the people acknowledged their sin God told Moses to “make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live” (Num 21:8). Anyone that looked upon this serpent on a pole (in faith) was then forgiven for their sin and healed.

In John chapter 3 Jesus Himself explains that this real event for the Children of Israel was a model in advance that spoke of Himself becoming sin for us and being put upon the cross. All who look in faith to Jesus “should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:14). Note that here we have the promise that we shall not perish (which applies to the physical life) and the promise of eternal life to come!

Do we really think that the serpent on a pole as a type was more effective than the fulfilment of Christ on the Cross? If the Children of Israel were healed and forgiven by looking at a serpent on a pole, are we who look to the actual Lamb of God, who became sin for us, ‘only’ to expect forgiveness, but somehow cannot expect healing? Is the arm of the Lord somehow shortened? (Isaiah 59:1).

“Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits:
Who forgiveth all thine iniquities;
who healeth all thy diseases;
Who redeemeth thy life from destruction;
who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;
Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things;
so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” (Psalm 103:2-5)

Do we think the blessings under the old covenant with Israel were greater than the New Covenant in the blood of Jesus?

In Luke 8:5-15 we have Luke’s account of the parable of the ‘four soils’, into which the seed is sown. The seed is a picture of the Word of God. Seeds are full of life and can multiply and reproduce once they are put into the right soil and watered. They have found 300o year-old seeds in Egypt that are so dry and brittle they would just shatter if squeezed hard. Yet when put in soil and watered they burst into life!

Such is the Word of God in a believing heart. Unbelief however, chokes out the Word and leaves us unfruitful.

“He saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe!“ (Mark 5:36)

“Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.” (Mark 9:23)

Will you be like those on the way side, that hear, but then the Devil comes and takes away the Word, replacing it with doubt? (Luke 8:12)

Will you be like those on the rock, that receive the Word with joy – ‘you really want to believe but…’  then succumb to temptation “has God really said?”  (Luke 8:13)

Will you be like those among thorns, who have too many interests in this world and can’t really be bothered to find out if this is true? (Luke 8:14)

Or will you be one of the few with an “honest and good heart, having heard the Word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience”! (Luke 8:15)

“For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him” (2 Chron16:9).

May this study stir up your pure minds as you step out in faith with your eyes upon Jesus!

The post Be not afraid, only believe! first appeared on Calvary Chapel Portsmouth.

Have there been times in your life – maybe even now – where you have tried everything you know to solve a problem you face? It may be a financial problem, maybe a problem at work or school, maybe a problem in the family?

Situations like this can rob us of our joy and leave us feeling despondent and empty.

In Luke chapter 5, the Apostle Peter was in just such a situation. He ran a small fishing business with his two friends on the shores of Galilee in northern Israel. Although we are not specifically told, we get the impression that times were hard. Peter, James and John had been out on the Sea of Galilee in their two boats all night, desperately trying to catch fish so they could eat and pay their bills. But that had caught nothing but the cold night air.

Then, in the morning, Jesus comes to them, asks to use one of their boats as a makeshift pulpit to be able to teach the multitude of people who had gathered along the shoreline.

When the teaching was over and the crowds had begun to disperse, Jesus suggests to Peter that they go out onto the water to catch some fish. Peter was tired. Fishing was his profession. As ‘kind’ as Jesus’ suggestion was, Peter was pretty sure it would be a complete waste of his time. Nevertheless, he agrees.

A little way from shore and they cast in their nets – nets that Peter and his friends had just spent an hour or two cleaning, and here they were, about to get them dirty all over again!

Does that sound familiar? You think things are as bad as they can get, then they get worse!

But no sooner than the nets had been deployed, Peter felt that familiar tug – the tug of fish in the nets!

As Peter tries to haul the catch aboard the boat, he soon realises that there are just too many for him to manage on his own, so calls out to James and John in the other boat. Amazed, astounded, overwhelmed! It’s hard to articulate the emotion of that moment. The joy, the relief, the excitement… then it hits Peter! He falls down at Jesus’ knees and begs forgiveness. Forgiveness for the thoughts he had had when Jesus first suggested going back out on the water – to the natural mind a pointless and time-wasting exercise… but here they were, two boats overflowing with fish!  Why had he doubted Jesus?

And there is the question for all of us…

Why do we doubt Jesus?

All that toil and hardship, only for it all to change in a moment because of Jesus.

Jesus said that we should “Take no thought for your life.” “Be careful about one thing only,” says our Lord—“your relationship to Me.”

But our common sense shouts loud and says—“That is absurd, I must consider how I am going to live, I must consider what I am going to eat and drink.”

Jesus says you must not. Beware of allowing the thought that this statement is made by One Who does not understand our particular circumstances. Jesus Christ knows our circumstances better than we do.

This is a lesson on trust. It is trusting when the natural mind tells us it’s absurd, ‘a pointless waste of time’. Jesus met Peter’s need at the right time. He is the same yesterday, today and forever.

Next time you are faced with a problem that seems too great, rather than toiling all night, take it to Jesus, and then wait for Him and His timing.

“When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour.” (Isa 43:2-3)

“For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.” (Rom 10:11)

“And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.” (Ps 9:10)

There are few things worse than misplaced trust. But that is something a Christian will never experience in Christ. “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee…” (Heb 13:5).

The post Don’t toil, take it to Jesus! first appeared on Calvary Chapel Portsmouth.