Authority And Power To Heal, 12/1/14

We can be greatly encouraged by the word of God in these times despite the fearsome things we see coming upon the world. There is increasing disease but we do not have to fear that. As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we have authority over these things and God wants to use us to heal the sick of any disease, no matter how serious, even death. This starts with the fact that we who are truly born again have access to heaven:

Hebrews 4:16

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

This gives us the authority to act as priest of God to all in the world who need our Father's loving generous help:

Exodus 19:6

And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”

1 Peter 2:9

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

So we have authority to bring those in need of a touch from God before the throne of God for them to receive from God what he wants to give them.

One of things God wants to do for people is to heal them physically. So we have the authority to minister God's supernatural healing power to the sick. Indeed we have a command from our Lord to do that:

Mark 16:15-20New King James Version (NKJV)

15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they[a] will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” 19 So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.[b]

So we see that if we live a life of holiness and obedience to God that deadly things will not kill us and we can be used of God to heal people. Here is a great example of this in scripture:

Acts 28:1-6New King James Version (NKJV)

28 Now when they had escaped, they then found out that the island was called Malta. 2 And the natives showed us unusual kindness; for they kindled a fire and made us all welcome, because of the rain that was falling and because of the cold. 3 But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat, and fastened on his hand. 4 So when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped the sea, yet justice does not allow to live.” 5 But he shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. 6 However, they were expecting that he would swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had looked for a long time and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.

Paul was able to do this because he was priest of God who walked in holiness and had authority over all the works of darkness. This stopped the poison of the snake from harming him:

Luke 10:19

Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

This Authority, translated from the Greek word(Exousia), is available to all who have truly received the Lord Jesus as Savior and Lord and been truly born again and made a new creation. But it is important to understand that a true new birth does not happen for just anyone who chooses to pray a 'sinner's prayer.' To be truly born again only comes from the establishment of a spirit to spirit union with God that can only entered into by a sincere and humble act of the heart wherein one truly yields to God. Not everyone who prays the sinners prayer really does this. But, again, for all who truly have, all this authority and power is available.

This is a much needed revelation in our time of increasing plague. We know that ebola is killing people in Africa and it will also soon begin to claim lives elsewhere, including America where the government is actively working to produce an ebola epidemic. We need to understand that we have authority over this otherwise deadly disease and all others. We do not have to fear it because we:

"will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them"

And we can trust God to heal it from our prayer of faith because:

"they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover"

In this time of increasing darkness in the world God wants to shine his light even brighter than never. The good news about the outbreak of great diseases is that God will be manifesting his great supernatural healing power through those who believe the word of God and go forward in faith to take authority over sickness and lay hands on the sick and pray the prayer of faith for them to be healed. Indeed our Lord taught us that for those who truly believe in him we will be used of him to perform even greater miracles than he did:

John 14:12New King James Version (NKJV)

12 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.

This promise for us to do greater works than our Lord did while on earth is available to us now because he has already gone to the Father:

Acts 1:9-11New King James Version (NKJV)

Jesus Ascends to Heaven

9 Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, 11 who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”

After he went to heaven he poured out the Baptism of Fire and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit:

Acts 2:1-4New King James Version (NKJV)

2 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord[a] in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

And with the Baptism of the Holy Spirit comes supernatural power(Dunamis) to do the works of the ministry just as Jesus exemplified for us. The baptism of the Holy Spirit also makes available the nine gifts of the Spirit, one of which is healing:

1 Corinthians 12:4-11New King James Version (NKJV)

4 There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. 6 And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. 7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: 8 for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same[a] Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.

All of these gifts are available and we are encouraged by the word of God to pursue and develop them all:

1 Corinthians 12:31New King James Version (NKJV)

31 But earnestly desire the best[a] gifts…

Healing includes raising the dead from premature death. Most come to their appointed time to die, but the enemy is always trying to kill people prematurely and we have authority to reverse death in these instances. Jesus gave it to us:

Matthew 10:8

Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.

And once again, don't forget, Jesus himself said that if we truly believed in him we could do even greater miracles than he did while here on earth:

John 14:12New King James Version (NKJV)

12 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.

So be encouraged in these times that God has made available to us his spiritual authority and power over all the works of darkness, which includes all disease and sickness. If we choose to pursue God with all our hearts, all these gifts can be at work in our lives. It is up to us to believe and appropriate these promises and make ourselves available to the Holy Spirit to be his vessel of supernatural power to reach a lost and dying world. I hope we all will surrender to this call.

God bless you and may you be blessed in going forward in the supernatural healing power of our Amazing God and King, ths Lord Jesus Christ.

-Stephen Pursell, 12/1/14