 Okay. Good morning once again. Started the recording. Everybody doing okay? TK. Okay, okay. All right. But good to see you all. Hope you had a good Sunday and got some rest yesterday. My day was not that great, at least towards the end of it yesterday. My team lost the match. I'm very disappointed and very sad. Yeah. So I went to sleep very, very sad. But anyways. Anyways, good to see you all. Hi, Karen. Hello, Samuel. I think there's a little bit of boom. I just got the gains maybe. Okay. Hi, Nina once again. Hello, Shiv Kumar. Good to see you, Prabhu. Hello. Thanks for joining. Okay. All right. Let's just do a quick recap of everything that we covered last in the last class, last week. I hope you were able to download the PDF. Everybody got the PDF of the class notes. Yes. No. Famous Indian nod I'm getting. Okay. Okay. Great. So what are some of the things that we covered last week? We saw some of the biblical reasons as to why ministering healing and deliverance is important. First thing, it reveals the nature of God. Okay. Second, it reveals God's greatness. Third, it reveals God's compassion. Okay. It has a powerful effect on people. Miracles have a powerful effect on people and the importance Jesus gave to miracles. Right. That's another point. And the kingdom comes with power. Right. So we did a very brief word study on the kingdom. Kingdom is two words, isn't it? King and his dominion. Right. So whenever the king comes, he comes with his dominion. Right. Okay. And the gospel is to be preached with accompanying signs. Right. And we see that we saw a lot of examples and Apostle Paul did that and the disciples and the and the early church and in the book of Acts also did that. Right. And then miracles encourage people to believe for more of supernatural. Okay. So those were some of the eight biblical reasons we saw. Why are we not demonstrating more of God's power? We looked at some of those reasons as well. Isn't it? Why are we not demonstrating enough of more of God's power? Lack of knowledge, lack of knowledge, wrong teaching, leaving the miracle ministry to reserved few or special elite, replacing the supernatural with modern substitutes. Yeah. Unwilling to press in till we see more of his power and other roadblocks to the supernatural. Right. As in not stepping out in faith, not taking the risk, a discouragement of past failures, scared. Okay. It might not happen again. What if I pray and nothing happens to this person? If you go pray for Nikhil and then he's still coughing. Oh, so let me just, but all of those are some of the things that we covered in the last class. Right. So let's just go on today to the next chapter, chapter two and see what God's word has to say on healing. Right. What God's word says about healing. Okay. You guys ready? You want to learn more? Yes. Okay. So we look at, I mean, just touch the basic fundamental point of it all. Okay. The source of sickness, disease and ailments. Okay. The source of sickness and pain and disease. Okay. What do I mean by source? What is the source of sickness? The word? Where it comes from, right? Where it originates from, isn't it? It's like asking, okay. What is the source of Gangadru? You know where it comes from, isn't it? The point, the starting point. That's what the source is. So when we're talking about the source of sickness, disease and ailments, we have to look into it. Because this is a point where it's debated a lot in Christian community. But let's just go ahead. So when God created, right, Genesis one, Genesis two, when God created the creation, like, you know, the worlds and whatnot, he created it perfectly. Okay. Everybody say perfect. Right. There was no, like, say chaos or damage or flaws. Everything was absolutely perfect, spotless. Like there was no mistake. Nothing was wrong with it until fall happened. Right. So let's say someone read Romans chapter five verse 12. Right. So the effect of the fall, which is sin. Okay. Can someone define sin? Okay. Disobedience. All right. What else? Lawlessness. Okay. Sin is disobedience, lawlessness. What else? Nina says missing the mark. All right. Sorry. Sin is death. Okay. Wages of sin is death. Okay. What is sin? In Hindi, what do you say? Papa? I need someone to translate that now. You all asked me one question, no? When we last semester, it was a joke and then you came and asked me, okay, what, which fruit did Adam and Eve eat? And then very intelligently, you all said papaya. And then because papaya. And then I laughed so hard. Yeah. So, like, say, Nina says missing the mark, isn't it? It's falling short. So exactly. So I was one of the definitions of sin. I mean, there is no one proper definition of it. Okay. Is say missing the mark. Okay. So the Bible says all have sinned and fallen short of the glory. Okay. So let's say, imagine you're doing a high jump, right? You're doing a high jump and you don't clear, but your leg hits the bar and it falls off, right? So you've missed the mark, right? Falling short. So all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, isn't it? And so another definition which I like is sin is basically, it's the, what do I say? It's a fault in design, so to speak, right? It becomes a fault in design. So when I said God created everything perfectly, sin came and did something to the design. Be with me. Okay. So that is, and so that is the beginning of everything that we're going to learn about, right? The source of sickness, disease and ailments. So because of the fall, the first reason, okay, is man's disobedience. Okay. The first point is man's disobedience. The natural process of decay and corruption set since the fall. So because of the fall that happened in Genesis chapter 3, as a consequence of all of that, sin, sickness came in, okay? Because of man's disobedience. Okay. Can someone read Romans chapter 8 verse 19 to 23, please? Okay. Thank you once again. Just for those online, I'll read it again. So Romans 8 19 to 23 says, for the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility. Okay. The creation was subjected to futility. Okay. That means for corruption, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it in hope. So what does that mean? But because of him who subjected it in hope. At the moment, yes, there is corruption. Yes, nothing looks perfect because of sin, but then there is hope. Verse 21, because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption. So this goes on to say, okay, there is a day coming, there is a time coming where creation will be delivered from this bondage of corruption. Okay. Into the glorious liberty of the children of God. Verse 22, pay attention guys. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. That means it's crying out. It's their language of prayer. Not only that, but we also have the first fruits of the spirit. Even we ourselves grown within ourselves eagerly waiting for the adoption and redemption of our body. Okay. Now very quickly, can someone read 1 Corinthians chapter 15? Let's go to 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 53 and 54. Thanks Vijay. Okay. So 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 53 and 54. Let me read it again. For the perishable must clothe itself with imperishable and the mortal with immortality. Okay. So perishable, our body is perishable, right? It's corrupt because of sin. Are you with me? Okay. Now the famous question we get asked when it comes to healing and deliverance is, okay, I'm a Christian, no. I believe in Jesus. Why do I get headaches? Why does my stomach pain? Why do I have to go through these things and whatnot? Yes. And rightly so, God has given us the authority to pray and minister healing and deliverance. Yes or no? But because we are still on earth, we're still living this life in this body which is made of flesh. It is perishable. It is corrupt. It is mortal and that's what the Corinthian Paul is writing in Corinthians in verse 53. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable the day is coming and the mortal with immortality verse 54. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true. Death has been swallowed up in victory where a death is your victory, where a death is your sting. Okay. And so that's the first consequence of the source of sickness and disease is because of man's disobedience. Right. A natural process of decay and corruption. It all happened because of the fall because of one man's sin. Are you guys with me? Okay. So that's why you don't have to commit sin. We inherited sin. Every man after Adam inherited sin. I mean a child or a kid, I know for sure, at least my son, he doesn't have to go to a lying conference to learn about lying. Did you do that? The natural responses? No. Even if he did that, he didn't go to a conference or some college like this to learn five steps to lying. You know what I'm saying, isn't it? And so all of that is a nature, a fallen nature of man because of man's disobedience. We've inherited all of that. Second is Satan's activity and direct involvement of demonic spirits. Right. Satan's activity and direct involvement of demonic spirits. So someone read Acts chapter 10 verse 38. Thank you. Right. So how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Guys, this chapter and the verse Acts chapter 10 verse 38 is one of the key verses like John chapter 14 verse 12. Will be repeated time and time and time again. Right. So these are one of the key chapters of scriptures for this course. Okay. Acts chapter 10 verse 38. So how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil for God was with him. So Jesus went about healing and delivering everyone who was oppressed by the devil. Okay. So now guys, we know all sicknesses. Right. He, you know, is due to demonic spirit. But then there are a few that we can recognize and say his decay. This is 100% you know, from the devil. So some of them are mentioned near notes. It is incurable diseases. There are quite a lot. Birth defect and deformities. Right. Unexplainable diseases. Symptoms that get worse after prayer and ministry. Symptoms that seem to move around to different regions of the body during prayer and ministry. So these are all the indications of clear oppression by the demonic spirit. Are you guys with me? Okay. So first one is man's disobedience. Yes. The fallen nature of the man because of the corruption. The second is the devil absolutely hates us. Okay. Like it or not. Okay. If he feels sad or happy, he doesn't care. He absolutely hates you. He doesn't want you to be happy. He doesn't want you to be whole. He doesn't want you to live a healthy life. He wants to destroy you, kill you. Okay. And then third one is natural causes. Okay. Natural causes is we as human beings go out of our way to destroy our body. What do we mean by that? Okay. Alcohol abuse, drug abuse, too much of sugar, obesity. Right. No exercise, no workout, whatever it is. Okay. One life, eat whatever you want, do whatever you want. Just going to live once, things like that. You get what I'm saying. Right. So again, this, we have to take care of this body. Right. So for example, so I'm, I was going to say I'm a singer, but I sing. Okay. I'm in worship ministry. I have to lead worship, isn't it? So if I, and I'm 35 years old. Right. You know, yes. Yeah. So you all know my age now. Okay. And I want to do this for, let's say another 35 years. That's how I've, that's how long I've covered my life insurance policy 70. Okay. So let's say I want to do it for another, say, you know, 35 years. I have to take care of my voice. Right. I have to do everything I can to protect it. That means not constantly say abusing it by say screaming, you know, which is not natural. If, if I am talking in this volume all the time, that's me abusing is my voice. Right. And say proper diet, like say, not, not too much oily foods and stuff like that. And not too much ice cream, not too much coke, et cetera, et cetera. I just take precautions. I eat ice cream, I drink coke. Okay. And I also eat oily foods, but don't overdo it, you know, your balance. And so that's how I'd have to take care of my vocal cords, isn't it? And so, because if I want to keep doing what I love doing for another 35 years or longer, you with me? And I've got us called us for ministry. Right. And then, you know, say he calls us, tells me to go to Himalayas or some mountain place, the regions and whatnot. So I have to be physically fit also to climb those mountains and whatnot. You get what I'm saying? So you need to take care of your body. If you want to do what God has called you to do and if you like doing what you're doing. Are you guys with me? Right. So three main reasons we touched upon regarding this, the source is because of man's disobedience, Satan's, you know, he oppresses us and then natural causes. Okay. So in all of this, right, the good news is that Jesus Christ came and paid the price for us all. Amen. Right. He came and he paid the price and we learn more about it as we go ahead. Right. He has redeemed us. He has brought you and me with the price. Right. He took our place on the cross so that you and I can be whole. Amen. Okay. So this classic question, does God send disease or sickness? Let me have my tea while you're thinking about it. Okay. The simple answer and a resounding answer is absolutely no. Okay. So what was the question? Does God send sickness? All of this questions, you will also be asked. Okay. When you step into like, you know, ministry leadership, the people that who follow you. Okay. We'll ask you this question. Does God send sickness? Tell me no. Right. So, I mean, a clear answer is absolutely no. It's not just, it's not the answer, which is, I'm not saying this because it's theologically just right. But that's the truth. It's not just a fact. Right. It's not just a fact. It's the truth. Right. The difference between a fact and truth is what? Fact can change. Right. Fact can change. But the truth is constant. It never changes. He is the way, the truth and the life. Amen. Right. So, but if God doesn't, we'll get to that. We'll get to that. So if God does not send sicknesses, there are certain difficult passages in the Bible. Right. How do we understand that? Okay. There are some difficult passages in the Bible. Let's say, for example, in 1 John 1 5 and James 1 17, I'll read it for as it says, God is light and there is no darkness in him. We know that scripture is right. It's from 1 John 1 5 and James 1 17. God is light and there is no darkness in him. And then there are scriptures that says, this is Psalm 18 verse 19 to 11. It says, he bowed the heavens also and came down with darkness under his feet and came down with darkness underneath his feet. He made darkness his secret place. His canopy around him was dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. Right. It's from the same Bible. Just one portion says, okay, there is no darkness in him. In him that is light, there is no darkness. And then there's the Psalmist is saying, he came down with darkness. He surrounded him. His canopy around him was dark waters. What is happening? Some of the difficult passages. Okay. Pay attention. Follow me. Another one. Titus chapter one verse two. Titus chapter one verse two, it says, God is truth and he cannot lie. God is truth and he cannot lie. Okay. And then we see passages like say a first Kings chapter 22 22. It says lying spirits came from God. Okay. Make up your mind, whoever wrote this Bible. Okay. Another passage. God is peace and he is not the author of confusion. What is it? First Corinthians chapter 14 verse 33. That's what it says. God is peace and he is not the author of confusion. And so what do the scriptures mean when God says, I will cause confusion. I will strike them down with confusion. God sent a spirit of ill will. The distressing spirit from God came upon Saul. What is happening God? You know, in all these questions you will be asked. Okay. I'm just scared what the questions my son will ask me. His generation is just going somewhere else guys. Okay. Let's pause for a second. God's word, God's will and God's actions, his deeds. Okay. Are they God's word? God's will. Okay. What is his will for your life? Say God's word, God's will and his actions, his deeds. Everything must be consistent with his nature. That's the first point we learned, isn't it? And the last class is miracles and healing and deliverance reveal the nature of God. Right. That means so when you go and say pray for a blind person and you heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, you are revealing a father who wants to see the person made whole. Yes or no? So God's word, his will and his deeds must be consistent with his nature. Okay. So and one of the first things that we see and we saw was that his covenant name is that he is Jehovah Rafa. That means he is our Healer. Right. That is who he is. He is our Healer. Amen. And so that means it has to be consistent with his nature and that is who he is. His nature is to heal us. Are you with me? Right. So that leads us to this beautiful first point, which I absolutely love. God's best. How do we interpret and how do we, what answer can we give to all these difficult passages that we just read? Right. Okay. He is this, but he's also says this, but is that it also this, what do we do? Right. God's best is seen in the person of Jesus Christ. Okay. This has to be a classic answer. It has to be your answer all the time. For it doesn't matter what the difficult passages. Are you with me? God's nature and his best is revealed in Jesus. Right. Because as a pastor called Bill Johnson from Bethel church in California, he says he is perfect theology. Jesus is perfect theology. That means if there is any theology that is teaching that, okay, Jesus doesn't heal. It stopped healing. Healing was only during early days and whatnot. Jesus is not wrong. The theology is wrong because Jesus is still alive. The same Jesus who healed as we read in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John is the same Jesus that heals today who also wants to heal now. Are you with me? Yes. So if you don't understand the difficult passages, listen to me very carefully. If you don't understand the difficult passages, but you understand who Jesus is, that is more than enough. Why? Because his God's best is revealed in the person of Jesus. Right. Because we will be looking at more questions as in frequently asked questions when it comes to healing and ministry. So in this chapter, we're going to look at that. I don't know if I should say this on camera on record. I get a little annoyed when people say, oh, but Job went through all of this. You guys tell me who is the benchmark? Is Job the benchmark or is Jesus the benchmark? I don't follow the Gospel of Job. I'm a follower of Jesus Christ. So I follow the Gospel of Jesus. If Jesus healed, if Jesus raised the dead, if Jesus cleansed the lepers, if Jesus was filled with compassion and if Jesus is the God that I am following, that's my answer to everything and to the difficult passages that I just read. Right. I absolutely love this point, guys. It's in your notes. God's best is revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. He's so much more than enough. Amen. Right. So one of the passages or lines in the notes, it says, who God is, is perfectly revealed to us in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus healed all who came to Him in faith. Amen. Another line it says, even the difficult passages in the rest of the Scripture have to be interpreted in the light of the person of Jesus. Amen. Okay. Second point in your notes, if you're following, God has for a time permitted. Everybody say permitted. Okay. Permit. Permit, right? Permitted. God has for a time permitted the consequences of sin and the works of Satan to continue on earth. He's permitted. Right. Okay. So Psalm 115 verse 16. Psalm 115 verse 16, it says, the heavens is God's and the earth is given to man. Right. The heavens, the earth was handed to man. Okay. One of the early commandments, if you remember, be fruitful and multiply. Right. And have dominion. Right. So God has given us the dominion of this realm. And that's why when Jesus, first of all, when he teaches the disciples to pray, he says, okay, pray like this. Let's say, our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, your kingdom come. Because if his kingdom doesn't come, there is someone else's kingdom in this realm. Are you with me? Right. So for, so God has permitted the consequences of sin and the works of Satan to continue on earth for a while. Okay. This is one of the consequences of the fall. So how do we explain this? Example is like a landlord and a tenant. I live in a rented apartment, house apartment. So I know I pay rent for my house. If I don't clean the house, if I just lay all the spider webs, all the food waste, everything. If I don't clean it, and if my house is smelling, you come home and then it's like, oh, you know, what is this pastor? Why are you living like this? Oh, no, this is not my house. It's, you know, he's the owner. It's his fault. Is the owner's fault or is it my fault? Who doesn't clean? The owner has given me the keys of the house, isn't it? Now, as a tenant, it is my responsibility to keep the house clean, to keep the house safe even, right? Just because I'm a tenant, I leave the door open, you know, I don't care anything. And then thief comes, he steals everything, your money, whatever is there. And he goes, you can't blame the owner, isn't it? What will the owner ask? What do you think the owner will say? Get out. Imagine, I mean, you know where I'm going with this, isn't it? You know, okay, he said, okay, owner is like, what is this? You know, my house got stolen and all, what, you know, what were you doing? And the owner will be like, excuse me, do I live in that house or are you living in that house? Is it your responsibility to lock the door, keep your house clean or is it my responsibility? My responsibility is to take the rent from you, correct? No. I want the money, that's all. Everything else that happens within you, fight between husband and wife and all, I don't care. You guys are with me. And this is what, this is exactly what prayer does for us. It's because now God has given this realm to us. And because this realm is run by another principality, we need the kingdom of God to invade our realm, isn't it? That's what we do. We ask and we give him permission to come and invade our lives. Let his kingdom come, let his will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Are you with me? Okay. The third one is, third point is many suffer simply as a result of their own sinful or careless actions. This is one of the points that we've again spoken about is, hey, you need to take care of yourself. Are you with me? And the fourth point is in the exercise of divine judgment. In the exercise of divine judgment. Now, this is a very interesting point and an important one. Nevertheless, every time when God wanted to get people's attention, when He wanted to get the people's attention, Israelite's attention, He would cause something and then they would turn towards Him. Let's just take, for example, Saul. On the road to Damascus, he was, in this encounter, he goes blind. But God heals blind people, no? Are you with me? How can he cause Paul to go blind? But what was Paul doing? He was persecuting the church. He was persecuting the Christians, isn't it? And so he wanted to get his attention. And so God intervenes with, this is called divine judgment. When he does that and he's done that, you read that in the Scriptures quite a bit. You know, where he removes his hand of protection. And again, in the Old Testament, you read this time and time again, where he handed them over to the canonites. He handed the people of Israel over to the people of Moabites or the Amalekites. Are you with me? What does that mean? He handed them over. So he just takes his hand of divine protection of them. Why? To teach them something, isn't it? Why? Because they were living a sinful life, isn't it? Okay, so because you're not following or keeping my commandments, you're doing all of this, like say idolatry, adultery, sexual immorality, et cetera, et cetera. You are my people. I have called you by my name, isn't it? And if you don't live according to my commandments, I need your attention. And so for a moment, I'm going to take my divine hand of protection over you. And because of that, so the interpretation of that is God has handed them over to their enemies. Okay, so that is the exercise of divine judgment. So we've covered four points guys, very quickly. What was the first thing that we learned is God's best is revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. Okay, and then second, God has permitted for a time being for the works of Satan to continue on the earth. Okay, the third point is many suffer simply as a result of their own sinful or careless actions. Okay, and a lot of things can come under that. And finally, in exercise of divine judgment, God to get people's attention, God does what he does. Okay, so in conclusion, God is not the author of sickness and disease. This is not his intent or design for the people. God is not the author of sickness or and disease. And this is not his intent or design for people. His will, his word and his actions will always be consistent with his nature. Okay, so we'll pause here for this session. We will take a break and we'll resume our next one. All right, let me just stop the recording.