 1 Corinthians chapter 12. We're going to be looking at verse 9, a second portion of it, where Apostle Paul is now in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, speaking concerning the spirituals, or as we refer to them, spiritual gifts. And even as I've been reading a little bit before, you know, just to give us a context, again, I'll read in verse 4 following to verse 9 and look at verse 9, the second portion of it today. But Paul has already said in 1 Corinthians 12, 4, there are diversities of gifts, but the same spirit, there are differences of ministries, but the same Lord, there are diversities of activities, but it's the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the spirit is given to each one for the prophet of all, for the one is given the word of wisdom through the spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same spirit, to another faith by the same spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same spirit. So we'll be looking tonight at gifts of healings. And in order to be able to develop this and look at it as closely as possible, we need to really have a basic foundation. And so we'll begin by asking the question, why is there a need for healing? In other words, the question that has been asked so many times, why is there illness? Why is there sickness? Well, the obvious answer that you find in Scripture is a simple one. Sickness is a byproduct. It's one of the byproducts of sin. Because when you look all the way back in the book of Genesis, and you begin by looking at Adam, we notice that Adam's fall affected all of creation. The Bible makes it very clear that with Adam's fall, sin entered into the world, and the possibility of sickness, of illness was its result. And Scripture reveals to us that sin results in death, and sickness is often the cause of death. In Romans chapter 5, verse 12, it says, therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, in this way death came to all men because all sinned. When Adam fell, he was referred to, has been referred to theologically as the federal head of mankind. We were in what are called his loins. In other words, that's referred to a seminal theology. We were already in Adam, if you will, in that he was the father of all. So when Adam fell, his nature has been given to us. And so we all have a fallen nature. And because we have a fallen nature, we are prone to do that, which God has forbidden. And that which God has forbidden very often is referred to simply as sin. And so the Bible tells us in Romans 6, 23, the wages of sin is death. But he goes on to say the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord. You see, the wages of sin, that which we are going to receive because of our sinful life, is death. But God is gracious. God is revealed in Scripture as being merciful and kind. He's referred to as being a God who loves and cares. And so we know God is gracious. And because he is gracious, he began to minister healing to those who were sick. In the book of Exodus in chapter 15, verse 26, God said, if you listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians. For he says, I am the Lord who heals you. So God is the healer. In Psalm 103, verse 3, it says, speaking of God who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases. So God is gracious. And God is the one who heals. He's the one who is able to bring healing to those who are ill. Now in the New Testament, Jesus continued this work of grace as he healed in the gospels. When you begin to look at the miracles of Christ, you'll discover that there are no less than 20 healings by Jesus that are recorded by the gospel writers. And they're recording these healings. And the purpose of these healings was to cause people to understand that the kingdom of God was present in the Lord Jesus Christ. When Jesus was sending out his disciples to do ministry in Luke chapter 10, verse 9, he said, heal the sick who are there. Tell them the kingdom of God is near you. In Luke 11, verse 20, he said, if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you. In John 14, verse 10, he said, the Father who dwells in me does the work. And so Jesus continued the work of grace in the healings that he performed in order that people might understand that the kingdom of God was present. In the gospel of Mark, Jesus's commission is recorded. Jesus said, go out into the world and preach the gospel, make disciples. But in Mark 16, 17, through 20, he said this, these signs will follow those who believe. In my name, they will cast out demons. They will speak with new tongues. They will take up serpents. And if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them, speaking of potlucks and things that we have here at church. They will lay hands on the sick and they will recover. So then after the Lord had spoken to them, he was received up into heaven, sat down at the right hand of God. They went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. A couple of thoughts there and we'll continue in our study. These signs will follow those who believe. Not those who believe will follow these signs. And that's been a problem in the church for the longest time, because there are people who think that there are some who have particular ministries that are above and not above others. And they begin to follow after those particular ministries and ministers to their own hurt very often. And so as believers, we are not following the signs. The scripture said these signs will follow believers. It simply means where we are and Jesus is, God is going to be present. He'll be at work. And what happens in these works is, it says, even as Mark concluded his gospel, he said, they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. And so the word of God is preached and we believe that God is present and God very often will confirm his word by performing a work. These signs shall follow. And he had said, they will lay hands on the sick and they will recover. Now this ministry continued in the church after Jesus ascended into heaven. Even as we were looking recently at the gift of faith and I was pointing some things out concerning that the apostle Peter quite obviously was used by the Lord to perform works, miracles and even healings. We know that even as we looked at Acts chapter three versus one through 11, we looked at the healing there at the gate called beautiful concerning that one who was over 40 years of age. And as you continue looking at that, after that healing, the authorities commanded them to cease speaking in Jesus's name, severely threatened them, commanded them to cease preaching the gospel. But the result was Acts four 29 and 30, where they went to prayer and they said, now Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus. So rather than stopping, even as they were commanded, they continued to preach the word of God. But in their prayer, they were saying, we are asking that you would stretch out your hand to heal and perform miracles. So they continued ministry. And so the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ continued on. They ministered in Jesus's name. They continued working works in his name and he continued performing healings. As you look through the book of Acts, you see it in chapter five, verses 12 through 15. The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people and all the believers used, used to meet together in Solomon's colonnade. No one else dared join them. Even though they were highly regarded by the people, as a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats. So at least Peter's shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. In Acts chapter nine 32 through 35, as Peter traveled about the country, he went to visit the saints in Liddah. And there he found a man named Anus. Anus, a paralytic who had been bedridden for eight years. Anus, Peter said to him, Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and take care of your mat. Immediately Anus got up and those who lived in Liddah and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord. And so Peter was continuing doing the work that God called him to do. And I'm willing this as a foundation so that we can look at this gift. And I want you to realize that God continued healing. He heals in the Old Testament. He heals in the New Testament through the ministry of Jesus Christ. He healed through the hands of the apostles. And he continues to do that to this day. In Acts chapter 14, verses eight through 10, we see something in the life of the apostle Paul. In Lister there was a man crippled in his feet who was lame from birth. I've known a lot of people who I call lame and they were lame from birth. But they could walk. They were walking lame. And he had never walked. He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed and called out, stand up on your feet. And that man jumped up and began to walk. And so there were works of healing that were part of the ministry of Jesus Christ. And he imparted this ability, this authority in his name do wonders and works, and healings took place through the hands of the apostle. And this laying out of hands, this ministry of actually laying your hands on somebody and praying for them and asking God to move in a miraculous way and to heal them, is still part of the church. It's what God has called the church to continue doing. And you see that in James in chapter five, verses 14 through 16. Is anyone 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. The prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well. The Lord will raise him up. If you sin, he'll 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. And so God will do his miracles and he does his miracles to this day. And we do as a church pray for those who are ill. And we pretty much do it regularly, weekly, very often on a Sunday morning, sometimes on a Wednesday night. People will come up and say, I need prayer. Can you pray for me? And we'll say, no, I'm sorry, church services are over. Go home. No, we'll pray for them because that's what we do because that's what God commanded us to do. And and we pray for them because the Lord has said that he is the healer. He is the healer and we ought to just trust him in that. And so God is the healer and gifts of healings, even as we're looking at now in 1 Corinthians 12, 9, gifts of healings are part of the gifts that God gives to his church. Now, when you look at it, I'm going to develop it a little bit with you. Gifts of healings. Notice how it's referred to as gifts of healings. So when you see the word gifts, that gives to you some insight because the word gift implies that there's somebody who gives that gift and the obvious one would be God. God is the healer. God is the one who is gifting. God can use people as instruments, but God ultimately is the healer. And so God is a healer. Now, when we look at God, we know that God is capable of doing pretty much anything that is consistent while he can do anything that is consistent with his nature. You know, sometimes people try to stump believers by saying, you say that God is all powerful. And it's not me who says that the Bible says that, that God is all powerful. Well, if God is all powerful, can he, can he create a rock that's too big for him to pick up? I mean, how many of you have heard that one? Can he pick up a rock too big? God is all powerful, but I have to be without sounding sacrilegious. God isn't stupid. I mean, that makes no sense just because you put the word God before a ridiculous statement doesn't make the statement make sense. Why would God create a rock bigger than he could pick up? Is there a reason for that? And the answer would be no. And that's kind of what people do. They, they, they try and stump us. But the fact is, is God works in con with consistency, consistent with his own nature. There's no reason that God would break the laws of logic in order to do something that is unnecessary. And so when people ask questions like that, it's just because they're trying to, to cause you to think how ridiculous it is to believe in a God whom you say is all powerful. God is all powerful, absolutely. And he works within that which is consistent with himself. So God is not somebody is going, who is going to do something that is contrary to his own nature. But somebody will say, well, if you believe that there is a God who continues to, to heal, then why is there a lack of healing today? There's a, there is a sense that there's a lack of healing today. But then again, we don't know all things and we don't know who God is healing presently. How can we know that? But there are those who would sit down and say, why is there a lack of healing today? Well, part of what could be a reason we don't see more movement of the spirit is the nature of men. There are reasons that sometimes healing may not occur. And sometimes it can be one, it can be because of a certain person, a person may have unbelief. They're just not believing that God's going to do anything. And, and so there's this, this, this unbelief within the heart, you know, why would I even ask God to do something? He's not going to do it anyway. Why should I do that? And there are quite a number of people who won't even take the time to ask. In Matthew 13, verses 54 through 58, it says, coming to his hometown, he began, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers they asked? Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't his mother's name Mary and aren't his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Aren't all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things? And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor. Now notice, and he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith. It wasn't that he couldn't, is that they refused to believe. And he wouldn't do works there because they wouldn't receive from him. So sometimes people aren't touched by the Lord, simply because they resist him. They have unbelief. You see, God ultimately is the one who makes the choice to heal or not to heal. God can do that. In Mark chapter one, verses 40 through 42, it says, there came a leper to him, beseeching him, kneeling down to him, saying to him, if you will, you can make me clean. And Jesus moved with compassion, put forth his hand, touched him, said to him, I will be clean. And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him and he was cleansed. Jesus made that decision. The leper is saying to him, if you will, meaning you have the sovereignty, the ability to make a choice, a decision, and I know you have the power. What I'm asking is that you might have the will to do that. If you will, you can make me clean. And he said, I will. I do will that. And out of his compassion, he heals him. There's no formula and there's no guarantees. I wish that I could guarantee a healing. All you need to come, you know, and pray, and it's all guaranteed. But no, God is sovereign and God moves as he desires. And so God moves in the Old Testament. God moved in the New Testament through Jesus. God continued moving through the hands of the apostles. God moves to this day. Now, as you look at this, notice with me that it is referred to as gifts of healings. Gifts, again, can refer to the fact that one, God is the one who's given the gifts. But it can also be concerning the individual who at that moment is praying, who has the ability and authority in the Lord Jesus Christ to do a work. And he can pray or she could pray that the Lord would move. And God is the one who brings the healing. But God sometimes uses vessels to do that. I would mention very rapidly here that a person who prays for a healing doesn't mean that you have an office of healer. Because sometimes we may be thinking that certain people have an office of healer. And therefore, somebody has a problem and we call somebody and say, well, this person here has a healing ministry. He's got an office of healer. That's not what's taking place here. It could be that God at that moment is gifting that person who's being prayed for with a healing, but he's also using a vessel, an individual to pray, who is exercising faith on behalf of that individual. Sometimes I'll show you that in just a moment. And God is moving. And so it may be that the individual who's being used at that moment may be gifted at that moment with a gift. It also refers or could refer to the person who's receiving the healing at that moment, because they're the ones who are receiving a gift. Now, when it speaks of gifts of healings, the word healings refers to various diseases that are healed. In other words, there aren't just certain diseases that can be healed. Like you go on your praying for somebody and you say, what do you have? Well, I've got a headache. That's an easy one. In Jesus' name. You know, I pray that you may be healed from your headache. But what happens when they say I've got, you know, cancer? People have a tendency of shouting at that. What in Jesus' name? Like the shouting at the cancer is going to make it go away. You know, trying to drum up faith. It's not as if when you're speaking to the Lord, you say, oh, oh, this is the bad one. Lord, this is cancer. You know, it's not like that at all. Because the Lord of cold and cancer, what's the difference? What's the difference to him? There's no difference to him. He doesn't say, oh, no, I was hoping it was a headache. You know, I can handle headaches, you know, but cancer or no, it's nothing like that at all. God is all powerful. He's all powerful. Is there anything too hard for him? Well, the answer is no. So, you know, if I'm praying for you and you come in, you say, you have a headache or you've got some particular disease, I'm going to pray in the same way that if you came and said that you had a terminal illness, I'm not going to pray any differently. Why would I? Because God is the healer and nothing's going to surprise him at all. Now, it's gift of healings. There aren't just certain illnesses, but all illnesses. In Matthew 935, Jesus went through all the towns and villages teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness. And so, God has the ability to heal. You may be here tonight, and you may be, your doctor may have said to you that you've got a particular disease that cannot be healed. You just get ready because you're going to die. And we've had that, obviously, in this church for over the years, many times. And, you know, the bottom line is that I still have one thing to do, and that is to ask God. God in Jesus' name, I pray that you would touch my body, or I pray that you would touch my friend, my mom, my dad, whatever. And I'd leave it in the hands of the Lord. I remember I had a church I used to go to, and the pastor there prayed quite often for healings. And one day, he was sharing with his congregation how that he had prayed for somebody to be healed, and that person was not healed. And so, another member of the church approached the pastor and said to him, I feel sorry for you. And the pastor said, why? They said, because you prayed, and this person wasn't healed. And the pastor's response was, why would you feel sorry for me? I'm not the healer. God is the healer. It's not my responsibility to heal anybody. I can't. But I take him to the one who can. And if God decides to do that as a sovereign God, God who's able, I trust him. If God chooses not to do that, that's not my decision to make. That's God's decision to make. So you don't have to feel sorry for me for obeying God who said, pray for the sick. We just trust the Lord. And that's how it works. There's a simple trust in the Lord. Now, in scripture, you can read a lot of passages and see healings can occur in various ways. Sometimes a healing will accompany personal faith on the part of the person who is ill. In Matthew chapter nine, verses 20 and 22, it reads, Behold a woman who was diseased with an issue of blood 12 years came behind him and touched the hem of his garment. For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. But Jesus turned around. And when he saw her, he said, daughter, be of good comfort. Your faith has made you whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour. She had a personal faith. And she said, if I just touch the hem of his garment in Matthew nine, 27 through 30, it says, as Jesus went out, went on from there, two blind men followed him calling out, have mercy on us, son of David. When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him and he asked him, Do you believe that I'm able to do this? Yes, Lord, they replied. Then he touched their eyes and said, according to your faith will be done to you. Their sight was restored. In Mark 10, 51 and 52, Jesus answered and said to Bartomeo, What do you desire that I should do to you? The blind man said to him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. Jesus said to him, go your way. Your faith has made you whole. Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus. And so there are people in the Bible. Jesus actually commends who came to him with faith. I know you can do this. If you will, you can cleanse me. If you will, you can heal me. And so there are times that you see in Scripture that somebody has this kind of faith. They're asking if God and God moves. But then again, there are times when God moves not on behalf of somebody with faith, but on the behalf of somebody else who has faith on their behalf. In Mark chapter two, there's a paralytic who is brought to the Lord Jesus Christ by four friends. And as they're coming to try to get to Jesus, they can't get to him because the house that Jesus is ministering in is so crowded, they can't get to him. And so the friend is paralyzed. Is there on a mat? And so what do they do? They say, oh, man, what a bummer. Sorry. We'll take you back home. We can't get in. They didn't do that. They climbed to the side. They had steps on the side of this house. They went to the roof. They tore open the roof, damaged the man's property, vandals, and they damaged the property. They opened it up and they lowered this man down to the feet of Jesus. And what is interesting is what Jesus says. It says it in Mark two, verse five, when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic son, your sins are forgiven. So he saw their faith. There's no indication this person on the mat had anything at all. What he had were Faithfield friends who said, you may not be able to believe, but we do. Isn't it a great thing to have friends who can believe like that, by the way? The best friend you'll ever have is a friend who takes you to Jesus. That's the best friend you'll ever have. And he had four friends just like that. And this man was healed. In John chapter four, verses 46 through 51, it says, once more he visited Canaan Galilee where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son who was close to death. Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders, Jesus told him, you will never believe. The royal official said, sir, come down before my child dies. Jesus replied, you may go. Your son will live. The man took Jesus at his word and departed while he was still on the way. His servant spent him with the news that his boy was living. This man came and he didn't have an awful lot of faith that he, but when Jesus is go back, your son's okay. He believed him. He took him at his word. And when he returned home, the little boy was alive. Sometimes a person just approaches the Lord and says, God, please will you touch me? Sometimes a friend will bring them. Sometimes you have faith for yourself. Sometimes somebody else has faith for you. And then there are times when there's no faith evident at all. Any healing occurs. John chapter five verses five through nine, one who was there, one who was there had been in invalid for 38 years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he'd been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, do you want to get well? Sir, the invalid replied, I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me. Jesus said to him, get up, pick up your mat and walk. At once the man was cured. He picked up his mat and walked. No faith evident whatsoever. Jesus Christ sovereignly says, get up and walk. And the man responded to that order, but an amazing thing. But there was no evidence that this man had any faith. As a matter of fact, there was a there was a superstitious tradition that an angel would come to this particular well and stir up the water. It actually was an artesian well. So there was a natural movement of water underneath that would cause the stirring. And superstitiously, the people had begun to say, well, there's an angel that comes and stir it up. And that's why in the first one who steps into that pool is going to be healed. So they had actually a bunch of superstition that was going on. But Jesus Christ makes a determination in a sovereign way to do a work. That this man didn't expect. And incidentally, when you think about it, think about this too. And I didn't point this out when I taught this in John chapter five, several years ago. Actually, probably a few months ago. There was there was a great crowd waiting at this pool. When you read the passage, John chapter five, it speaks of a great crowd that was there. There were many in firm who were laying there waiting for the stirring of the water is what it says. So you got a picture of this for a minute. Jesus actually threaded himself to go past all these other people. I want you to think about that one for a minute because I I mean, doesn't that amaze you for a moment? I mean, he threaded past people. There are all these people who are in firm because he had a special appointment with one person. And I find that amazing because there are times that Jesus heals entire multitudes. And then there are times that he does a work for just one particular person. He has an appointment with that one person. Threatening past people to get to one person. Sometimes the Lord will do that even in our lives. I don't know why and I'm not blaming him for being a bad God or anything like that. But can you imagine that this man was there waiting for the stirring of the water? 38 years, he'd been crippled. Jesus goes past everybody else to reach one person. Because sometimes the Lord has one person in mind. Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem. And as he's on his way, he needs to go through a particular place in a place called Samaria. As he's about to go through Samaria, he stops at a place called the Well of Sychar. And as he's at this particular well, he's waiting for an appointment because he said, I need to go through this town. Now, he could have gone around it as was the typical journey of that day because the Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. But Jesus went to this well at a particular time because he had an appointment to meet a particular woman who was going to be there at noon that he could set free from her sins. And so I need to go through this city. It wasn't because I'm in a hurry. I need to go through this city because I've got an appointment. Because I'm going to meet a woman who's had six men in her life. Five that she was married to and one that she's now living with. And I'm going to bring to her something that will set her free. I'm going to bring to her living water. So there are times as you read your Bible, you're going to notice that the Lord Jesus Christ has an appointment. And in this particular case here at the pool called Bethesda, the house of mercy, Lord Jesus Christ went there and threaded past others in order to get to one man who didn't exist or show any faith initially who simply responded to him saying, get up, pick up your mat and walk. And so I believe that you see a lot of different ways that healings take place in Scripture so that we don't say that we have to do certain things in a certain way all the time in order to get a certain result. You know, if you pray for somebody and they're healed, the next time you pray for them, you might say, now how did I say that? Again, did I say, oh sovereign Lord, or did I say Jesus? You know, I should have written down that prayer because obviously that was a great formula to use. Well, I suspect that the Lord has a way of doing things in different ways so that we don't begin to compartmentalize him, make him do things in a certain way every time. And so sometimes somebody has faith. Sometimes somebody else has faith on their behalf. Sometimes nobody seems to have faith, but God still moves. And so that gives me a good reason to continue trusting him. Now somebody asked the question, well, the Bible says the prayer of faith is going to heal the sick. So does that mean that if I exercise faith, it will always result in a healing? Does God guarantee healing for everybody? There are those who have been doing their quote unquote ministries for many years who will tell you that God guarantees healing, that you need to have the prayer of faith. Some of those who are very well known, who are known for their teaching this particular doctrine is a health and wealth doctrine. It's been around for some time now. Some of those who are very well known for being preachers of it succumbed to illnesses and died. One in particular that I could name died of a heart attack. And it was basically apparently kept quiet. They didn't want you to know how he died because he died of an infirmity. And because he'd been making his living preaching a message, there's another man whose wife got cancer and she actually got on TV and apologized to everybody. I saw her do this. She apologized to everybody that she didn't have the faith to be able to fight the cancer. And so when you have that kind of doctrinal mindset, it's destructive because the Bible, I wish that the Bible guaranteed healing for everybody, but it doesn't. It doesn't. I've prayed for many people who have not been healed. So you may not want to come to me for prayer. No, I have prayed for many people who have not been healed. The greatest healing of all is going to be with the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the greatest healing. My father has a heart attack. I pray for my father. My father goes home to be with the Lord a few days later. I'm not healed. My father-in-law has a stroke. I pray God in Jesus' merciful name. Touch my father. My father-in-law goes home to be with the Lord. My mom has been ill with one sickness after another since I was four years old. So my mom has been ill for 58 years of one severe illness after another. My mama has had many strokes. She's had mild heart attacks. My mom has had physical impairments and ailments. I have prayed for so many years. Be merciful. Touch my mother. Heal her in Jesus' name. I have prayed for her on the phone. I've prayed for her anointing her with oil. My father, when he was alive, called me one time and I could hear my mom in such pain. She was screaming in the background. I could hear her screams. And I prayed for her. And mama hasn't been healed. I wish that I could stand up here and say, guess what? We're going to have a healing service. Every one of you sick people will be healed. I guarantee you, but I can't. God is the healer. He's the healer. He chooses whom to heal and when to heal. But all I can do is ask Him to heal. And if He does heal, the healing is a gift. The one who prays may be at that moment given an ability to pray in such a way that God moves through Him. But the person who receives that healing has received a gift. Whatever it may be. But faith, no matter how much you have, doesn't always result in healing. In 2 Kings 13-14, it says, Elisha was suffering from the illness from which he died. In 2 Timothy 4-20, Paul said, I left Trufimus sick in Miletus. 1 Timothy 5-23, Paul said to Timothy, stop drinking only water. Use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses. So somebody says, oh, I can use a little wine when I have a stomach ache. I'm like, oh, my tummy's hurting right now. I know where I'm going to stop on the way home. In Philippians 2-26-27, concerning Epaphroditus, it says, he longs for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill. Indeed, he was ill, almost died. God had mercy on him, not only him, but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow. In Galatians 4-13-15, Paul says, as you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you, even though my illness was a trial to you. You did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus himself. What has happened to all your joy? I can testify that if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and give them to me. My illness was a trial to you, and it was because of an illness that I preached the gospel to you. I have actually heard people who believe in guaranteeing healings say that Paul just didn't have the faith to be healed. To me, that's not even worthy of discussion. That is ridiculous to say something like that. The fact of the matter is that sometimes the Lord heals, and sometimes he doesn't. God is God, and that's all there is to it. Again, when my father went home to be with the Lord, we had prayed. We sought God. We asked God in Jesus' name, and the Lord said, no, I'm taking him home. And we went into that room there, that hospital bed, as so many of you have. And I stood at my father where my dad's head, I stood where dad was, and we looked down at him, and I remember reaching down and touching my dad's forehead and playing with his hair, just kind of stroking his hair. And I said, the Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. And my mom was standing next to me, and under her breath I heard her say, blessed be the name of the Lord. That's Christian faith. That's trust. We know where he is. We know. My mom, I had said to me, does daddy think about me in heaven? I didn't say this right, but this is what I said. I said, no, there's no sorrow in heaven. I didn't mean it like it came out. What I was trying to say is, no, daddy doesn't miss you, because he's caught up with Jesus right now, and you'll be with him one day. There'll be a glad reunion when that happens. And in heaven, there's no sense of time. So it's not like you have all these days that you're accumulating and sensing, oh, I miss. It's all now. We experience time because we're in a time, space continuum. Heaven is eternal. It's now. So when we go to be with the Lord, it's not going to be some great sense of separation through time. Because it's all instantaneous. So we're going to be with him and join him and enjoying one another. There's no sorrow, no pain, no memories of, gosh, I wonder how my kids are doing. Oh, you know, they're doing well. That's not there. So one of these days we'll look at them and it'll seem that we've never been apart from them. And so there's no suffering in heaven. So when our loved ones go, what a mercy of the Lord that they will never cry again. They will never have pain again. They'll never have sorrow again. They'll never suffer again. Nothing like that. Just joy at his right hand. There's joy forever. You see. And so, yes, we do pray for healings. And I asked the Lord to touch bodies and heal them. God can use doctors. I should say this very quickly, because some people have a problem with doctors. Oh, you know, you don't have faith if you go to the doctor. Well, I'm not accepting the doctor as my Lord and Savior. I have a doctor named Jesus, and he does a pretty good job in my life. But I do thank the Lord for those who are skilled in medical assistance. I thank God for him. I, you know, I've been making friends with a few lately, you know, and who are becoming one of my doctors told me, you know, this is a quote. He said, you and I are going to become friends. He told me that you're going to be coming to see me every 90 days. So we're going to become friends. But I'm looking at him. He's an old man. I don't think we're going to be friends that long, buddy. You better prepare. But I thank God for doctors. We have a doctor in scripture who wrote the Gospel of Luke, Luke the physician. I thank God for doctors. And I thank God, because God will use them very often as instruments to perform a healing in us. God is the healer, but sometimes he uses people to encourage this result. Hurley healing. Healings do occur, of course, but they don't always come as a response to our prayer. But when you are healed, it is God who does the healing. And it is God who gave you that gift. And so it's not an office. It's a work that is sovereign on the hands of from the hands of God. He sometimes uses us to pray and he responds. He sovereignly does it sometimes when there doesn't seem to be faith evident, but he has the power to do that. And in the body of Christ, there are those whom God can use on occasion to do those works, but it isn't some kind of like the role of. It's that God who gives his gifts and determines who has them at any given moment can sovereignly move in such a way that somebody can be healed. And when that person gets healed, they give all glory to God who did the work because he's the one who ultimately is the healer. What is my job to pray? What is God's role? He does the work. And we rejoice together.