The Raising of Dorcas from the Dead: Peter at Joppa

Healing From Death: The Grace of God Encounters Joppa Again
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In the last study we saw that Peter healed a man sick of palsy for years. These healings by Peter are particularly of note because they occur right after a major pivotal event, of the turn of the Gospel to the Gentiles, marked by Cornelius' baptism in the Holy Ghost, and that of his whole household. Both Peter and Paul were eminent emissaries of the Gospel going out to the Gentiles, but both were astounded that Gentiles could receive what they considered a divine right only of the Jews. Peter, a rough, working class fisherman, had nevertheless apparently always observed dietary laws, as he was overwhelmed by the vision of the sheet lowering from heaven with all kinds of animals and creeping things, with the command to take and eat. The vision was not dismissing the law, quite the contrary, it was as always, establishing it, as God's point to Peter was that all things are clean when declared so by God. Peter's adherence though to orthodox Judaism is seen when he confronts God about the fact that he has never eaten anything unclean, although through the baptism of Cornelius, the Roman, he comes to understand in the 'mixed' northern regions, that God did indeed send a light to the Gentiles.

Likewise Saul, (Paul), a student of Gamaliel with a formal higher education , zealous for the Lord and orthodox faith, is appointed not only to his own, but especially to the Gentiles,in what must have been a struggle for a man who did not care even for slight hellenistic influences in the faith.

Here, though, as Peter attends to the baptism of Cornelius, and his household, shortly there follows a move of the Holy Spirit in large numbers of persons coming to the Lord and Savior, often precipitated by an event of healing. In the last study we saw Peter healing Aeneas sick with palsy for 8 years and persons in 2 towns turn to the Lord. Now,an even greater miracle of healing takes place : the raising of Dorcas from the dead. This is the first post-Pentecost miracle of raising a person from the dead. It was no coincidence that Peter was nearby.

Tabitha of Joppa

Peter has just been in Lydda, the next town over, about 11 miles apart. Tabitha (meaning 'gazelle') also called Dorcas (meaning the same), was indeed characterized by grace having been a benevolent person helping many in Joppa. She was known for her good works and alms deeds. (9:36)

Dorcas dies (9:37) and her body is laid in an upper chamber, where many women meet to weep and sorrow over the woman who has aided and even clothed them. The disciples of Joppa, aware that Peter was over in Lydda and had just healed Aeneas, rush to him.

Act 9:38 And forasmuch as Lydda was nigh to Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent unto him two men, desiring [him] that he would not delay to come to them.

Peter comes immediately to Lydda, and is confronted by the Widows weeping and showing the garments which Dorcas had made them. Note that the one raising from the dead in the Bible that is different from all others is the raising of Lazarus. Only the Lord could have waited 4 days, beyond when belief held that the soul departed from the body/earth, and called back Lazarus. When the disciples near the event, it is with immediate response. There is no doubt that the woman had truly died, but it left a real gap in the ministry in Joppa: she had cared dearly for those who had no one to rely on.

The Raising of Life
The account of raising Tabitha from the dead is brief:

But Peter put them all forth and kneeled down, and prayed; and turning him to the body said, "Tabitha, Arise". 9:40

The first thing Peter does is:

1. Put them all forth: he creates some space between him , Tabitha and onlookers. Jesus had constant problems with crowds thronging healings and miracles, as though it was entertainment, but it was not, it was holy.
2. Peter kneeled. While there are certainly no 'requisite' positions to heal, do miracles or call out devils, this does show a state of reverance and respect for the work of God.
3. The Command: he turns to the body and says, "Tabitha, Arise".


We spoke before of the command to rise or 'Arise'. It is said often in healings and in most of the times Jesus raised from the dead a child of Israel. It is a command to life, and a command out of a dormant state. The voice of God alone can call forth life, and when the Holy spirit indwelt believers, they could as Jesus, Yshua noted do the same miracles, not because they had become something special or better, but because the Living God dwelt in them. This is no 'trick' or 'ritual' or way one must heal, but an understanding of what the healings meant and were for: they were always to show God's power, to show sovereignty over death , disease and the demonic, and to preach the Gospel, first and foremost.

The Result

There is no detailed or unexpected end here,:

And she opened her eyes: and when she saw Peter she sat up. And he gave her his hand and lifted her up and when he had called the saints and widows, presented her alive. 9:41

When life returned, it was, well, LIFE. He called her to arise, and she opens her eyes and arises. Note sometime the whole phenomena of people being given sight or opening there eyes in the first century in Israel. He makes the blind to see, and so did his disciples, although here, it is sight coming back from death. Strength came back to her to: she did not wallow at death's door for a few days or weeks, but as soon as Peter extends his hand, Tabitha is back. Her ministry can continue.

The Outcome at Joppa: Repentance and Belief
As stated elsewhere healing is for the Love of God making people whole, but it is foremost for preaching the Gospel, and those two things are not separate. The book of Acts states:

And it was known thoughout all Joppa; and many believed in the LORD. 9:42

When Peter healed at Lydda, Saron and Lydda both came to the Lord. The raising of Dorcas causes her town Joppa to believe. Joppa was where Peter had stayed with Simon the Tanner just before being called to Cornelius' house in Caesarea: Israel was beginning to be enlivened by the Holy Spirit of God---eyes opened, raised from the dead, and the dead bones of Ezekiel did indeed begin to knit together flesh and sinew, in the promise of the Savior.

A Footnote: On Raising Souls from the Dead

The question has arisen more than once in considering the many miracles and healings of God why we do not raise from the dead more in Holy Spirit filled congregations and practice. Certainly many have seen real healings, and the assumption is always that we are just not 'prayed up enough' or that it is not God's will, and both of those can be true. There is though a consideration of whether we really should even if we can unless absolutely directed by God in obedience. Since healing is to show God's love for us and preach His Gospel, it would have to be for His purposes and not ours. More than that, when we consider 'love', once a person is gone, if they had faith in the Savior, they would not want to return to such a struggle as this earth: they are held in God's presence and love and it is more than one could want. The desire to have a person return from the dead is to appease our own suffering, despair and longings, and is more to allay pain than other reasons much of the time. Note though that when Jesus raised Lazarus, the widow of Nain's son, and Jairus' daughter, it was to show the glory of God and to testify to His being the Messiah. No raising from the dead, even that of Dorcas, could bring about more that that: it was a testimony and a work of God. The resurrection of Christ, completed the work of the blood atonement and redemption of man from sin, the other times people were raised from the dead it showed the love and power of God but could not ever approach that unique and necessary purpose.

If a person is brought back beyond the time God has for them on this earth, the raising would surely testify to God's power and love, but years lived beyond God's purpose are not often fruitful or rewarding. Interfering with God's wisdom on such things can cause suffering untold. It is not that even that miracle cannot happen today, there are accounts of it. (John Knox is said to have raised a boy from the dead). The biblical accounts were of Children of Israel, coming back to life for more than one purpose. While seeing such a remarkable occurrence would very possibly bring many to the Messiah, the terrifying thought of playing too loose with life and death, has haunted the human race since the garden. Only utter obedience to Yshua through the Holy Spirit, the Ruach Ha'Kodesh, in my opinion, should be the impetus for such a thing, and that to glorify God, or bring many to covenant. Healing, and raising the dead, preaches the Gospel.

Peter Heals a Palsied Man at Lydda

Last weekend I was watching a video clip of a Pastor doing the rather expected task of preaching a little and singing 'Victory in Jesus'. Certainly, that is not headline news, save for the fact that this preacher, a man named 'Ring' had lived with cerebral palsy, a debilitating motor disease , preventing normal smooth motor functions such as easy speech and limb movement. By the time many with cerebral palsy are in their 30s, they cannot speak and movement may be exaggerated and contorted.

This preacher though, was remarkable, in that while he took a little extra time, he spoke with articulation and sang one of the best renditions of the song I had ever heard---a great feat since we have all heard it a thousand times! Why could this man, at his age preach a very fine sermon and sing with an anointing, when his counterparts afflicted by the same condition could do very little? The main difference was the Holy Spirit of God, the Spirit of Jesus Christ, Yshua HaMeschiach.

In the book of Acts, right after Saul is met on the road to Damascus, right after Ananias heals the blindness of the great soldier of God who will come to be, right after spiritual blindness is healed by the Light of the World, there is a description of a lesser known healing of a man named Aeneas, by Peter, the apostle holding the keys to the Kingdom.

Aeneas was stricken with Palsy, and had been 8 years in bed in the town of Lydda. Lydda, meaning 'strife', is about 9 miles south of Joppa, where Peter stayed with Simon the Tanner. (formerly called Diopolis under Roman rule). The Book of Acts does not give a great deal of information about Aeneas or his condition but does say:

Act 9:33 And there he found a certain man named Aeneas, which had kept his bed eight years, and was sick of the palsy.

Eight years is a long time in any condition which imprisons a person, whether it is a disease or not, but in moments, the seemingly uncurable ailment is a thing of the past.

9:34 And Peter said unto him, Aeneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole: Arise and make thy bed.

Note that Peter mentions two names immediately: Aeneas' name, and the name of Jesus Christ. He doesn't go into a discourse of 'how the whole process works', or even quote scriptures supporting the doctrine of healing, but post haste says the following:

1. Aeneas (called by name)
2. Jesus Christ (calling on The Name)
3. Maketh thee whole ('the thing is done', Jesus makes whole)

We spoke about wholeness much earlier in studying healing: a person who is ill, possessed, or a person in some physical or other earthly or spiritual 'distress' is a person who in some part of their lives are not 'whole' not 'statis'. One is brought back to wholeness in healing, and here it is by calling on the NAME of the Lord Jesus.

The second part of the verse, is the COMMAND following healing.

Arise and make thy bed

The word 'Arise' or rise, is used often in healings or commands by either Jesus or his disciples. The word arise is anistemi: which can mean anything from 'get up or stand up to 'come back to life', but it is an 'enlivening' from a static state. What a remarkable word, 'arise' is to some one who has been encumbered by palsy for 8 years---even more remarkable is the command to do a mundane but heretofore impossible task: make thy bed. Peter via Jesus restores the man to normal life, where one rises up and makes his bed, and carries it and goes about his business. The obedience is immediate:

9:35 And he arose immediately And all that dwelt at Lydda and Saron saw him, and turned toward the Lord.

We said before that healing is to pronounce the Gospel: the Good News, that God has not only not forgot his covenants with Israel but has come to fulfull them, and that the power of God through healing and miracles is not only not gone from the earth, but is at the hand of the Lord, to point the way to the greatest healing: Salvation. The gospel and healing brings Repentance, and many, as in other healings in Acts, turn to the Lord.

The Sum of Aeneas' Healing

Here then is the sum of the healing of Aeneas by Peter:

1. Peter enters into Lydda and encounters Aeneas, 8 years with palsy.
2. Peter calls Aeneas' name
3. Peter names 'THE NAME' of Jesus,
4. Peter points to Jesus making Aeneas whole
5. Peter through the Holy Ghost commands "Arise...and make thy bed"
6. Aeneas immediately obeys
7. Two towns see him and turn to the Lord. (Lydda and Saron)

Healing is for the Gospel and the gospel for healing. It is only through Salvation that we are made totally whole.

by ekbest09

Saul, Receive Thy Sight: The Healing of Divine Blindness

Saul was on the road to Damascus, enraged. These 'little christs' (Christians) , followers of the way, had been nothing but trouble since the day that itinerate rabbi from Galilee started preaching. Saul had stood in the background like many, and let the Sanhedrin handle things: they thought it was over when Annas and Caiaphas turned him over to Rome for crucifixion, but it wasn't but a few days and the followers of 'the Way' had spread all over Israel that Yshua had risen from the dead: they kept talking of him 'conquering death'---and the Temple folks couldn't really counter dozens of eyewitness reports, and worse, they could not find the body.

The followers of the one called 'Yshua' which they kept referring to as the "name above all names" were also performing some sort of 'miracles': people were still getting healed, and every time some one got healed, whole towns were believing that Yshua was the Messiah. () The Messiah! Saul had been brought up at Gamaliel's feet, and for a man to claim he had been God's Messiah: it so enraged Saul, that he became a champion of putting down the 'Way' and its followers,

Act 8:3 As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed [them] to prison.

Further, with a crowd of other regular Temple attenders, he haled one of them, a disciple named Stephen off to be stoned, for refusing to renounce the man they called 'Savior'. It was bad enough that Rome was trying to bring down the Jews, now there were growing thousands whom Saul and the elders of Israel thought might if this 'movement' continued to grow. He had to admit that Saul gave a better sermon than he had ever heard on the history of Israel and her God, but, well, he didn't cast a stone not really, but he watched the coats of those who did, and consented to the killing. He hadn't been the same since, though, because he just couldn't understand the power that Stephen had even during the stoning, nor the light that shone on his face, and it just enraged him even more.

The Way was growing in Damascus, where Saul had come from, so he sought permission of the Temple authority to go arrest everyone involved, and of course they were only to happy to oblige.

"And desired of him letters to Damascus to the Syagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem, Acts (9:2)

And so with some amount of blood on his hands, he thought for a righteous cause, he set out on the road to Damascus to overthrow "The Way, The Truth and The Life" as Yshua had called himself, only to confront the overthrow of what he had been: a religious, self-righteous man, zealous of Judaism, but without divine knowledge. He knew the Scriptures---but he was about to come face to face with the Living God of Israel, who would show the truth of Divine Blindness and how it is healed, using a blindness of the flesh to demonstrate.

Saul's Divine Encounter

He made it almost all the way to Damascus, when a an event occurred which Saul, in his life could never have counted on:

9:3 "...and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:"9:4 and he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him,
"Saul, Saul why persecutest thou me?"

Whatever happened, it hadn't happened to him in synagogue before, and a couple of things are notable: 1) Saul recognized immediately it was from Heaven, and 2) He responds immediately acknowledging what he saw as the Lord!. Saul did not argue or confront, the mighty man of Jerusalem that he was, but instead, astonished says

"...Who art thou, Lord?"

The event caused him to fall to the earth! And the answer was not obscure, and would cement in stone the man's apostleship to come:

"I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks"

One can only imagine the entire nature of the encounter, but the the Greek word for 'pricks' is kentron and can mean 'sting' or 'goad' and while most picture the spur that goads horses along, the intimation to Paul, was that he was going the wrong way intensely, and suffering because of it. It is a remarkable love that faced that enemy of God on that road, who instead of condemning him for Stephen's murder, saved him, but not without a divine lesson.


The Marks of Meeting the Lord


That it was the Lord is testified to by all of what happened. And the encounter matched some of the most significant encounters of man with God in the Old Testament as well.

1. The ones who were with him did not hear the direct interchange

Acts 9:7 And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.

2. He encountered a 'light from heaven'

3. He was struck with 'trembling and astonishment'.

9:6 And he, trembling and astonished said, "Lord, what wilt thaou have me to do".

In the Old Testament, when Daniel meets with a vision of heaven these things also occur in part or in full.

Daniel 10:7 ...the men that were with me saw not the vision, but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves.

Daniel 10:8 Dan 10:8 Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength. (aksi 10:16)

or in Ezekiel 1:28

And I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.

The command or aid to strength is given both times. The divine encounter of Saul on his way to persecute Christians, bears the marks of other encounters with God in the history of Israel by her prophets.

So far, then , the nature of the encounter which will involve one of the greatest healings of the Bible, follows the following pattern:

1. Saul is stopped from going an evil way
2. A blinding light occurs and Saul is rendered powerless
3. Jesus inquires regarding Saul's evil intent
4. Saul falls, trembling and astonished
5. Saul seeks obedience (below)

Saul's one redeeming quality is that he really did, even before salvation, have a zeal for God, his people and true worship, and a great knowledge of the Holy Scriptures much like a well-studied theologian today, only it was misdirected. The spirit of religion without a relationship with God is often a murderous one, or one of 'overthrow'.

Saul immediately understands on the spot obedience is required when he asks Jesus, Yshua, "...what wilt thou have me to do?"

Note : In the conversion, Saul was really getting the desire of his heart: union with God: he had sough it previously "intellectually" and by tradition. This 'conversion' though, will involve obedience and healing, but it is one of the few times in the Bible when God both smites with a condition and then makes the person whole, for a lesson to Israel. (e.g. Miriam or Moses struck shortly with leprosy and then healed.)

THE Lord's Command

When Saul encounters the LORD near Damascus, it becomes a turning point in Saul's Life, in Israel's life and in the Life of the World. The meeting also renders Saul, soon to be 'Paul' as fit to be an apostle: this enemy of the early believers, so zealous for their overthrow will shortly be their greatest defender and apologist! His letters will carry the Gospel of God to the next few millennia---but not yet. When Saul asks, the Lord, "What wilt thou have me to do?" (the response which should always follow an encounter with the Lord) he does not yet comprehend, that the task that lay before him will be the desire of his heart: to serve God in His Word.

The Pharisees over time have been seen pejoratively as some of the 'bad guys' of history. Most of the reason was their first century hypocrisy and opposition to the Messiah, and the term has come to mean 'religious hypocrite'. The real Pharisees though, were a sect of priests and their followers, who about 400 years before Christ, had sought to turn Israel back to the true practice of Judaism and the worship of the Living God, having seen so many fall away, and believing it was the reason for the Babylonian and Assyrian Exile. Over time though, and nearing the years just before the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, the Pharisees had become tainted with the world and deals with Rome, and by the time of Annas and Caiaphas, the sect bore no resemblance to its founders, exercising its power more as a political body than a religious one, although it must be kept in mind that even at the time all Pharisees could not be cast with the same cloth: Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea and Paul, all were of the sect. Saul, zealous for God but not with the knowledge or power of the living God of Israel, met heaven that day and hour, recognizing it immediately both as a well trained scholar and child, and now is about to receive an answer to his quest for God's will.

What Will Thou Have Me to Do?

Note that Yshua, Jesus does not immediately give him the blueprint for the rest of his life during the interchange. As is often the case, what the Lord was eliciting in Saul was faith, belief, and obedience/surrender. Jesus responds:

And the Lord [said] unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. Acts 9:6

Saul's first task is to obey the Lord without question. Now, some alarm may rise at the sound of 'blind obedience'. The 'blind obedience' of some societies has led to nothing good such as in the 'befehlsnotstand of the Third Reich, or of other genocides or destructive mass movements. Blind obedience though to the Lord is a different thing, because the Lord has only our good at heart, and is omniscient.
Blind obedience to the Lord does not fail in accomplishing divine purpose. Saul had sought God before, but intellectually and by tradition. Now he is confronted with power, love and sovereignty.

Only the next step is given: "airse, go into the city". The calling is promised.
"Arise" is used often in healings and commands by both Jesus, Yshua and his disciples. The primary word is 'anisthemai'

Aniseqmi

which can mean to rise from a dormant state, or as in resurrection, and another Greek word is used often the same 'egeiro'

Egeirw

meaning approximately the same, frequently used by Jesus.

'Arise and go' is a call to action: it is used to send the disciples, it is used of the Jairus' daughter, raised from the dead (little maid, arise), and in a number of other passages, although here, it is calling Saul, to a new life, and a calling which so far exceeds his expectations that he cannot imagine it, nor certainly could the persecuted disciples.

As with Daniel and Ezekiel, only Saul hears directly and sees directly, the men with him only in part:

"And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man" 9:7

The result of the encounter was dramatic and strength-robbing , also like Ezekiel and Daniel's encounters:

"And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened he saw no man: but they led him by the hand and brough him into Damascus" 9:8

Saul has come to overthrow, but Saul is overthrown. Saul has come to conquer, but has to be led into the city by hand, blinded by the Light of the World. The Light of the World has rendered Saul physically blind, to show the spiritual blindness which the leaders of Israel had succumbed to.

The Healing of Divine Blindness

There is a sequence to the healing of this 'Divine Blindness'. In almost all other cases of blindness and healing in the Word, the blindness is physical and is healed by the Lord. Here, though, Saul is divinely blinded, and then healed.

1. Saul is struck blind on the Damascus Road
A. It is for a purpose Acts 9:15.
B. To Illustrate Spiritual Blindness of the Pharisees (considered

9:40-41 And [some] of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also? Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

C. Saul is three days in the dark (no food nor water)

God has planned Saul's healing though, before he is struck with heaven's 'blindness'. As Saul is being led into Damascus, another disciple, Ananias is being called, to go to Saul and heal him. Ananias is

1. Called and anointed for the healing
2. Sent to Saul

"Arise and go into the street which is called Straight and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus for behold he prayeth. And hath seen in a vision, a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight. "

3. Declares to Saul the purpose of the blindess

"Go thy way : for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the gentiles, and Kings and the children of Israel."

God in calling Ananias, removes fear of the once-persecutor, and announces first to Ananias the agent of healing that Saul is to be

a. A chosen vessel for God
b. A bearer of God's name to the Gentiles
c. A bearer of God's name to Kings
d. A bearer of God's name to the Children of Israel

4. Explanation to Saul of his experience and laying on of hands

"Act 9:17 And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, [even] Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost."

All fulfill prophecy, and all were the TRUE intent of Saul's heart. Note that Ananias feared at least in part (9:14-5) to go see Saul for he heard that he was coming in the high Priests authority to bind "all that called upon the name". What a crime they were persecuting back in first century Jerusalem! Calling on the Name. God takes away the fear and sends Ananias to Saul in perfect love. Yet lest the love of God be untempered with the justice of God, He gives to Ananias a prophecy of Saul's forthcoming ministry and call

"For I will show him how great things he will suffer for my name's sake.9:16"

The laying on of hands has been discussed previously in this blog as one of the main pillars of practice for the Christian, in authority and anointing, as well as healing.

THE HEALING

The healing of Saul's Blindness is instantaneous:

"And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received his sight forthwith and arose and was baptised."

Baptism here is the baptism of the Holy Ghost, the indwelling that comes with belief and faith. The scales fall away and sight returns to this pillar of Israel, set for the defense of the Word of God. With Moses, God showed his power by having him put his hand to his bosom, and taking it out it was leprous, then putting it in again, it was clean.

Exd 4:6-8 And the LORD said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand [was] leprous as snow.
And he said, Put thine hand into thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again; and plucked it out of his bosom, and, behold, it was turned again as his [other] flesh. And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.

Here is our God, 1500 years later, speaking to another Jewish leader about former and latter signs that herald his Way and the great consequence for turning away from the 'sign' or 'ensign' of God. (see also Numbers 21:9)

The Light of the World had again healed a blind man, only this time the application was not only to one man, but to blindness in Israel. He meant for the scales to fall and for His spirit to live WITHIN the tabernacle again. Saul's healing is received, his fast ends, and he is strengthened (again like Daniel and Ezekiel) and he then spends several days in Damascus with the disciples he had come to harm, who now care for their enemy in the love of God.

THE OUTCOME

Saul unlike most believers at first, already had a lifelong education in the Word of God, and in the 'governance' of Israel. He was anything but unlearned. He was not learned yet though in 'walking in the Spirit' and attending to the things of God, yet he almost immediately began to preach that Messiah had come:

"And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues that He was the Son of God" 9:20

This had to have astounded early synagogue worshippers who knew Saul only as a student of Gamaliel and right hand of the Sanhedrin. (:21) Many were saved at Damascus by the innate disposition and Holy spirit filling that Saul had: he PROVED that Jesus, Yshua was Ha Meschiach, the 'Very Christ', the very Messiah of God, by the Scriptures.

Those who lost Saul to 'The Way' * though reacted the way they did other folks who brought thousands to the LORD: they took counsel to kill him. Consider those murderous religious folks who had made their bed with Rome:

-They plotted to silence the man born blind, healed by Messiah
-They plotted to kill Lazarus
-They plotted to kill Jesus
-They now plot to kill Saul

George Bernard Shaw (hardly a christian) once remarked about noticing about how cowards are always screaming to have things killed. This great healing of both real and divine blindness in Israel, turning a religious zealot into a herald of the Word of God and a healer himself, was so clearly a sign of God that no one could protest. Those not right with God plotted to kill the evidence that Yshua HaMeschiach, Jesus of Galilee and Nazareth, Jesus Christ, the Messiah of God, was real and had come for His bride, Israel. That just had to be stopped, now didn't it?



ekbest

Preaching and the Healing of Messiah: The Reason for Signs & Wonders is the Gospel

FREE DOWNLOAD OF THE STUDY: PREACHING FOLLOWING HEALING

As I was studying the book of Acts, I noticed one particular passage, in which the Apostles got in trouble for healing a lame or impotent person, and when they respond to the Magistrates who later imprison them (we will consider the event in a moment in more depth), their answer encompasses on of the best pieces of oratory in history! They manage to gracefully answer the Magistrates and then within a few sentences, preach the whole of the Gospel. That little piece of preaching may not be the great sermon of Stephen being stoned, nor Paul on Mars Hill, but it was concise and perfect, and points to the reason for healing, signs and wonders: the preaching of the Gospel of Yshua HaMeschiach, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the Lord, the Adonai of Heaven.

It is not that God does not love us enough, that he would not have healed any, and it is not told just how many He healed followed Him, but it is often told that many did. Everytime though, that Jesus healed, the Gospel went out, and it was by faith. And every time preaching followed the healing, it included several major 'essentials' which Israel needed to hear, to believe and be made whole. That healing to God was the most important thing of all, leading to and being part and parcel of Salvation wrought by faith. Healing was so integral to preaching the Gospel that if the preaching that followed was not mentioned in every passage in detail, it can most certainly be observed to be a sort of preaching in itself, for it declared openly the power and healing of God through Jesus, Yshua.

The purpose of this study is two-fold: 1) to show that healing and preaching go hand in hand, and both declare the Gospel (prophecy also is in league with healing, but that is a study for another time), and that 2) there was a certain way the Apostle's preached, and that they were always 'instant in season and out', even when being arrested , beaten and imprisoned.

There is no doubt that unlike the Church today, they took the harvest of Souls very seriously in the wake of Messiah's ascension, and with the filling of the Holy Spirit: they knew that as long as they preached the Gospel, they would not be held accountable in the final judgment of any they failed to inform. They did not want that blood on their hands. How unlike today when people are concerned if they even share their faith, they might have a moment's dissension in their reputation! The followers of Yshua in the first century had eyes only on the eternal; they were unwavering in their purpose having seen the pearl of great price which caused them all to leave all for the great calling of the Lord and Savior.

Healing and Preaching

I will not belabor what a whole book would be needed to cover, but throughout the Scriptures, Healing and Preaching go together. This is even more so in the New Testament than the Old, but in both the Old and New Testament, healing serves as a declaration of God's nature and power. When Elijah heals the widows son, it declares the power of God through the prophet. When Miriam is blighted with leprosy and then healed, it was to declare God's anointed and the consequences of disobedience. While examples abound, the Old Testament incidents foreshadow the primary intent of healing in the New Testament, the preaching of the Good News of Salvation.

In the New Testament, almost every incident of healing, is followed by a preaching of all or part of the Gospel. When Jesus heals (we have covered a number of His healings in this blog), he turned often to those He had healed and those who witnessed the healing and would exact from them the most critical thing He was looking for : faith. When Jesus healed the centurion's servant he was so impressed at the Centurion, a roman's faith in the Son of God, that he gave him great accolades:

Mat 8:10 When Jesus heard [it], he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.

When Jesus heals the man at the pool of Bethesda, he notes to the man and others that he has been made whole and is to sin no more. When the Pharisees rebuke Jesus for the healing on the Sabbath, and equating himself with God, Jesus explains He is doing His Father's work, and expounds a bit on His purpose and mission, and then stating:

Jhn 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

The Gospel is preached by the Son of Man, himself.

After Pentecost, though, when thousands were saved at a time, the apostles and disciples took to the streets and every public forum within reach, healing, performing miracles, and preaching the Gospel . Peter and John are put in jail after a stir by Magistrates for the healing of a lame man and preaching the resurrection from the dead. They are in jail overnight and then tried before the 'reappearing' Annas & Caiaphas. Alexander and John are there. Annas and Caiaphas recall presided over the Temple Trial of Yshua, Jesus, and then turned Him over to Rome. Now, Peter and John, the stalwart leaders of the church, face the same. Yet even when they are arrested, even before the trial, just after the healing of the the lame man, they preach the 'essence' of the Gospel, succinctly and quickly, as though the hearers might never hear it again, or at least as though they couldn't take that chance!. The very short sermon is declared:

Be it known unto you all and to Israel
That by the name of Jeus Christ of Nazareth,
Whom Ye Crucified , Whom God raised from the dead,
even by him doth this man stand before you whole. 4:60

The means of Preaching Post-Pentecost

This same pattern is found in most post-Pentecost preaching by the Apostles and early disciples. There is both

A. An order to what is preached
B. The Content of What is Preached, certain points are always made,
C. An urgency of what is preached.

In the healing of the lame man, people want to know where the power of healing came from, and Peter and John address the crowd, with the knowledge of Jesus and the power of God. When a blind man is healed by Jesus in John 9, the Light of the World is preached. There are countless examples. Yet once can take an even closer look, to learn what the Holy Spirit filled disciples knew was most important to preach, even in a crisis and even in the face of danger. Look again at the above passage and we will note the most important lessons:

Who the Gospel was directed to:
Be it known unto you all and to Israel,

The Name of Jesus
that by the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth (the name of Jesus , the "name above all names"--- Phl 2:9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:)

Our Sin Against Him

whom ye crucified (Note that this sin was above all others!)

The Resurrection

whom God raised from the dead,(the greatest display of God's power and sovereignty)

The Cause of Healing-Power of God
even by him doth this man stand before you whole
(They declare the power of God is behind the healing, and the Resurrection of the one we all killed).

Note that while not expounded in depth, the whole of the Gospel is presented, including one more major point which is seen in post-pentecost preaching, repentance. In the passage above, though not stated outright as in other preaching following healing and 'signs and wonders' , the pointing out of our sin towards the LORD's Messiah, implies a need for repentance. So then in sum, we see the very basis, the foundation of what must always be preached at healing, and indeed anywhere else, even when there is only a brief time span, and with no excuses:

1. Who the Gospel is for : first Israel, and then the Gentiles
2. The Name of Jesus: not just who Jesus is, but the Power and Sovereignty of His Name
3. Our Sin: We crucified our own Messiah, the gift of God, by our own nature, and likewise, the preaching of the Cross and what was done there.
4. The Resurrection: the utter Love of Sovereignty of God over death: Salvation
5. Repentance (here implied, but elsewhere clearly called for)
6. The reason for the healing or miracle.

More on the nature of 'Pentecostal' Preaching

In another passage in Acts, we see the same similar PILLARS OF PREACHING which follow healing, but certainly can stand alone as daily preaching as well. Consider the following passage: Acts 3:12-25, another case of Preaching after healing which leads to Salvation and 'being made whole'. This is the healing of the lame man at the Gate Beautiful.

Act 3:12-26 And when Peter saw [it], he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk? The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let [him] go.But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you;And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.
And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did [it], as [did] also your rulers. But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled. Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. AAnd it shall come to pass, [that] every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days.Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.

TO WHOM

Acts 3:12 Ye Men of Israel... (note it is always the Jews first)

BY WHOM

The god of Abraham and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our Fathers, hath glorified his son Jesus;

OUR SIN AGAINST HIM & WHO HE IS

whom ye delivered up and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go. 3:13

3:14 But ye denied the Holy One and the Just and desired a murderer be granted unto you

(this passage also declares Messiah's innocence).

THE NAME AND RESURRECTION

3:15 And killed the Prince of LIfe, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.

Note up to now, that Yshua, Jesus is delivered and denied to the 'State' the Roman Government when innocent, so part of Our sin against Him, and theirs at the time is the betrayal of innocent blood, so innocent that even the brutal Pilate could tell. It was also the betrayal of an innocent Prophet, the consequences which were deadly and well known in Israel, and there are several times in the Gospels when people referred to Yshua, Jesus as a prophet. (Matthew 13:57; 14:5; 21:11,46; Mark 6:15; Luke 4:24, 7:16,39 13:33, 24:19.) And lastly, most significantly, we crucified our Messiah, the gift from God that we not die forever. The notion that we must hammer people with individual sins like drinking, drugs, sexual sin, lying, etc is far secondary: the apostle preached the sin our what we did to Jesus. Repentance of the other things comes later. Our first sin for repentance is what we did against the LORD and SAVIOR.

Consider also that while in this passage it does not say the "name of Jesus" as in others, He is in vs 15 called the Prince of LIFE, in the preaching of the resurrection. The apostles are convicting their hearers that they chose death over life, and the Prince of Death over the Prince of Life. The sin against God was even greater than the sin at Eden. Why? Because after Eden, God did not have to give us a 'way out'. Ever. And here, after centuries of toil, brambles, thistles, heartache pain and sin, God was not only giving the human race a way out, but was allowing us to sacrifice His son to provide that way out, and we rejected the gift. And yet, the gift, made it possible for us to be made whole, healed to God, and given eternal life. That is why when we reject Him yet another time, no 'way out' remains.
The ultimate choice was foreshadowed centuries earlier

Deu 30:19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, [that] I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:

The passage also notes the Resurrection, as in others, without which there is no Life or Gospel, only a dead martyr. And it shows as well that when we see and receive, look and believe, as Spurgeon used to cry, we are WITNESSES. The word in Greek is 'martyria' from whence comes the word 'Martyr' and 'testimony'. We do not just die for our faith as 'heroes', nor preach according to styles or methods, but we are to TELL WHAT WE LEARNED AND SAW---that is when belief in others comes. Who is Jesus? Why did He die, When did you see His Resurrection and what did it mean? We often get that in a night here or there in church when people give their testimonies, but we are to preach it regularly to the unsaved.

HIS NAME

And his name, through faith in his name hath made this man strong whom ye see and know, yea, the faith which is by him hath given him the perfect soundness in the presence of ye all.
The prior passage already called him the Prince of Life, but this more detailed preaching that the first we looked at in the beginning, notes that HIS NAME has power, and is not to be taken lightly: real, not metaphorical or convened power. What made the man whole? FAITH IN HIS NAME. Healings, prayers and miracles are always in the NAME OF JESUS, the NAME OF YSHUA. Darkness cannot touch his name, and no name is above his. Further, one sees the preaching of faith. Not a self-generated, 'get myself ready' kind of faith that some preach today, but the faith given by God as a gift that makes a person whole.


CHRIST PROPHESIED & A SUFFERING MESSIAH

One thing in Acts 3 which is not in all, but still in many of the passages of the apostle's preaching is the emphasis on the fulfillment of Old Testament Prophecies, or Messianic prophecies which were fulfilled by Jesus, Yshua, with an emphasis on the 'Suffering Messiah.' Why did the apostles teach about the fulfillment of prophecy? Because there could be no Messiah who did not fulfill every prophecy of Messiah in the Torah/Tenach. Had to be. Israel had to have more than just signs and wonders, even in power and Love to rest assured that this man Jesus, the Rabbi of Rabbis, was who he said he was. And He had to be presented as a suffering Messiah. Why? Because Israel, partially mistakenly was looking only for a worldly King in Messiah who would come and deliver them from their enemies and from death. In Ancient times, both a suffering Messiah and a Kingly Messiah were noted by rabbinical teachers in the Book of Isaiah. Many surmised that there might be two Messiahs, although no one could estimate a 'suffering' King of Isaiah 53 and other passages. "It pleased the LORD to bruise Him" did not meet with former ideas of the great deliverers like David, Saul, Joshua, the Judges or Abraham. And crucifixion was never a Jewish form of a death penalty, but even Jesus on the Cross pointed to Ps 22 by reciting a passage from Psalm 22 that pointed back to the whole psalm about a crucified Messiah.
All the prophets prophesied some aspect of Messiah: his birth, birthplace, characteristics, ministry and so forth, but the Holy One Jesus had to be tied to those prophecies for the 'imprimatur' of Israel. SO Acts 3:18:

But those things which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath fulfilled.

THE CALL TO REPENT

We mentioned just earlier, that implied in our sin towards the Savior was our need to repent. Anyone in church for awhile knows that 'repent' means a literal 'turning away'. The turning away is from sin, darkness, death, old ways and all that keeps us apart from God. This passage is more direct about the need to repent. Modern concepts some fear are little more than 'saying you are sorry' or demeaning someone to do right, but repentance in the early church and in the true Gospel sense means to turn away from what is not of God. Why? Because it's killing us. People coming to the LORD fear giving up things they think they love, but are really addicted to: drugs, cigarettes, sleeping around, ill business practices, and so they do not want to come to the LORD because of what they think they will have to give up. But like bad food and poisons, those things are killing us little by little and robbing us of life, health, being 'whole' and living in the presence of God. So included is a call to repentance, first and foremost away from the death of an earthly life without God, to Life through Yshua, Jesus, the prophesied Messiah:

Call to Repent

Acts 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the time of refreshing shall come from the presence of the LORD.

Note also that after the conversion or turning, comes REDEMPTION, 'that your sins may be blotted out' (referring to the Book of Life), both biblical and Jewish. And what follows is the reward of heaven:
when the time of refesing shall come from the presence of the LORD"

with the vail rent in two, the blessing comes directly from the Throne of Heaven. The time of refreshing is also used as describing Pentecost and the Second Coming.
Calling for repentance then, in Preaching following healing or in general, is not a condemnatory oratory of how bad people are, but of the great reward from turning from death to life and being made whole and given eternal life. Much of our current preaching which has at least remained 'fundamental' in the correct usage of the word, has too often been 'telling people off' for how bad they are in their sins and how they need to get 'saved' without ever teaching what that even means. Or how real it is.

What more of the 'refreshing' is told? The next point of the apostle's preaching is

THE SENDING OF MESSIAH

3:20 And he shall send Jesus Christ which before was preached unto you; 3:21 Whom the heavens must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.

The sending of Jesus after his ascension comes first through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit Comforter, the spirit of Jesus, the 'Parakletos', who walks in and with us in this world, keeping us in the presence of the LORD, and later, the passage speaks very clearly to the 'all in all' the 'restitution of all things' when Messiah comes again, and which the prophets told from the beginning. Abraham is the first named prophet, but God spoke to more than one even before Abraham, and even as early as Noah and Enoch, the endtime promises began to form, although Genesis 3:16 included the LORD's triumph in a Messiah from the start.

Acts 23-24 turns to a discourse on Moses prophecy of 'The Prophet and from Samuel and then returns to preaching.

REDEMPTION FROM SIN

What does being saved mean and why is it preached? I sometimes wish we could use a few other words, because some repeat 'get saved' so often it has lost its very mighty meaning. Yet the Cross, the sacrifice, the blood akedah, meant that our sins are gone in the Covenant of Covenants. He took our sin away. What joy would there be if we still had to earn some part of salvation? Two mistakes are made today in teaching that all we have to do is nod at the Cross in acquiescence and then forget living in and for Christ, or to believe that Jesus opened up a way but we still have to struggle to get in and may not. We are admonished to persevere, and we are admonished to trust in the finished work of Messiah on the Cross. We hear "I know whom I have believeth and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I delivered unto him until that day", and we hear 'faith without works is dead'. Theologians struggle but it is not really a contradiction, rather a dialectic. If the way had not been open by Messiah, we would not go to heaven. If the blood had not paid the price, we would not go to Heaven. Yet if we receive and accept Him and His way, why would we choose to get out of it? Or return to the slavery of sin? Why would we choose to get off the way, when we chose it for ourselves? Acts 3:26 says

Unto you first, God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you in turning away everyone of your from his iniquities.

Corrie Ten Boom referred to a similar idea as saying it was like a ceiling with two ropes hanging down, and they look opposed because one cannot see the rope intertwined into one above the ceiling out of site. So here is the healing Messiah, who once He heals and saves does not really expect one who experiences total love, forgiveness and eternal life to say, No, I'm sorry Lord but I want to go back to destruction, death, horror and nightmares without anyone to turn to." The Messiah is the Way, The Truth and the Life, and that is not to be dissected.

The Preaching at Pentecost

Going backwards in Acts a little, we find again the same elements of preaching, healing and miracles at Pentecost: It started with

1. The Miracle of the tongues of flame which appeared at Pentecost, and
2. Questions about how

"how hear we every man in his own tongue"...2:8

Peter, the Rock on whom Messiah built his church stands to preach and answer, using not a formula, the the soul of the Gospel, so to speak

ACTS 2:14
1. TO WHOM: Men of Judea and all ye who dwell in Jerusalem

2. MESSIANIC PROPHECIES FULFILLED: Joel is mentioned:

Act 2:16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:And it shall come to pass, [that] whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

3. SALVATION

Acts 2:21, Then it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the NAME of the LORD shall be saved.

(that's a mighty powerful name), and yet in Acts 2:21, it immediately shows to 'way out' to those infected with and beset by sin, and a divine curse since Adam which they could neither bare nor rid themselves of.



4. THE PREACHING OF JESUS (THE NAME) AND TO WHOM

Act 2:22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know

5: THE SIN AGAINST MESSIAH

...Ye have taken by wicked hands and have crucified and slain;


6. THE RESURRECTION

Whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death; because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.

7.SHADOWS AND TYPES OF THE MESSIAH IN THE SCRIPTURES

This is just a shade different from direct prophecies of Messiah, but the apostle preaches about the men who foreshadowed Jesus, Yshua and who He would be such as David, the King of Israel, Joseph rejected of his brothers, whose body was born to Canaan after saving Israel, and a myriad others. Even the resurrection is foreshadowed in 2:27 's reference to Ps 110

'thou wilt not leave my soul in hell'

He emphasized that David believed in Messiah:

Therefore being a prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh he would raise up Christ to sit on his Throne: He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ that his soul ws not left in hell neither his flesh did see corruption. 2:30-1.

There were a few more references that Peter made, such as 2:36 GOD MADE HIM LORD AND CHRIST, 2:38 REPENTANCE: repent and be baptized for the remisionof sinces and receive the Holy Ghost.and 2:39 PROMISE IS TO THE JEWS FIRST , the Covenant and Prophecies of Messiah.

REAL PREACHING VS FORMULA PREACHING

In concluding these examples of many, about the nature and topics preached by the early CHURCH in the days near Pentecost, it must be stated above all that the intent here is never, never to suggest a 'formula' or 'method' for preaching. Healing was an opportunity for preaching, and the preaching always gave a reason for the healing and where the power came from: Jesus. It would be remiss though not to make clear that real preaching , like healing comes not from a set of standards or 'points' but from the Holy Ghost. Jesus was very clear in telling his disciples not to even plan what to say before the magistrates and rulers, for He said that what they should say in that hour would be given them. Now, too many take that as an excuse not to prepare a sermon, but the real preparation is time in the Word of God, even more than outlines and commentaries. Preachers often remark that they had a sermon prepared but the one that came out was different: the Holy Spirit knows who is there, what they need to hear, what passage is timely and anointed, and who should preach, heal, sing, etc, so for all our planning and study, we cannot nearly do what the Holy Spirit can, and our job is to listen, pray, keep in the Word and surrender to the will of the Lord and not our own. This study though came of an observation, that those brave Holy Spirit filled men of the first century, who had been there at Pentecost, been with the LORD just a time before, preached with more wisdom and less encumbrance than we have or use today. Their early preaching helps direct and form preaching today, and corrects doctrine, and points to loving preaching. The Word wins souls, the Holy Spirit preaches Messiah and lifts Him up and draws all men to Him. We yield first to the working of the Spirit. ekbest.
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Note: Alexander who was present when the apostles were tried, was the brother of Rufus, both sons of Simon of Cyrene who bore Jesus' cross on the road to Golgotha. Alexander was with Paul when the riot occurred regarding Diana of the Ephesians: he tried to testify but they started shouting.

Abiding in the Vine: Part II-Video

Rather than belabor the points in writing, I am including a brief overview of some major principles Jesus taught in John 15 and I John 4 on Abiding in the Vine. This study may be found also at propheteuo.blogspot.com . We will continue with the topic of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit as a critical topic, but parenthetical to the other healing studies, hopefully within a week or two. Hope you enjoy the video, and yes, you can use it in church as long as the credits stay on.

Abiding, IN THE VINE...and the Gifts of the Holy Spirit

While usually each new study in this Bible blog on Healing and the Mind of Christ has been directed towards a particular incident of healing, and most recently the healings which Jesus performed, the current study, a sort of parenthesis will deal instead with a few principles which affect all of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.

One must begin by saying that the Holy Spirit, to do a work of God in this world, does not absolutely REQUIRE anybody, anything or any circumstance or atmosphere. When God does a work in this world through the power of the Holy Spirit, he can make a stone speak, or a foal of a colt, he can part waters, or even slay wicked men regardless of the circumstance. Samson was not your typical 'church-going' Christian, yet God made him the great defender and Judge of Israel for a season who brought down the stronghold of the Philistines. Likewise, when several of the wars of Israel were fought, God gave the soldiers of Israel through their leaders instruction or performed acts which were sometimes 'supernatural' and sometimes relied on the enemy's deception in which they thought they heard thundering hooves or one in which the light glimmered on the water in such a way as to make it look blood red and filled with dead bodies, causing the enemies of Israel to retreat. Even Israeli soldiers were alot like soldiers of the day in general: not exactly virgin stoics, yet God caused events to happen in the defense and deliverance of Israel for His Name and purposes alone to bring about His will in the world.

So, before outlining some very important principles of living and walking in the Holy Spirit, enabling and facilitating the good and right use of the Gifts of the Holy Ghost, it should be noted that these are not like 'earthly exercises' which must be conducted in order to hear from God or see Him work. That would rob Him of his sovereignty and amount to our thinking we were somehow capable of 'calling up' or even 'conjuring' the gifts, which would be a great sin and offense. However, there are real Biblical commands, straight from the mouth of Jesus coupled with promises, which show us just exactly what 'walking in the Holy Spirit' is like, or as Jesus portrays it 'abiding in the Vine'. There are things that grieve the Holy
Spirit and lessen the chance that God will answer our prayers, or that the gifts make present in a less powerful way. An example of this is fairly commonly known, such as fasting and praying before healing services, repenting of sin and unforgiveness before prayer and supplication, or fasting and praying before preaching a sermon. If a preacher was indulging in sexual sin, he would not be preaching in the power of God in the same way as if he were not. That does not mean he would not be dynamic necessarily, only that the very sovereign work of the Spirit would not be as pronounced or even present with the sin grieving the Holy Spirit. Likewise though, doing what pleases God in obedience to the Holy Spirit, with a forgiving spirit having no contention with others and 'prayed up', preaching becomes easy and a joy, with the feeling of 'living waters' flowing through, aiding everyone who hears including the preacher.

Abiding in the Vine
In John Chapter 15, Jesus expounds the teaching of abiding in the Vine, walking in the Spirit which leads to the premiere and excellent gift of Love, and the other gifts flowing out of it. ....

The Light of the World Opens Blind Eyes: The Healing that Declared Messiah!

The Beauty of the Word and the Healing of a Man Born Blind.

By the time one of the Gospels concludes it is noted that the things that Jesus did, healings, miracles, and such, if they had all been recorded could have filled volumes.

john 21:25 And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.

That mention in Scripture, referred to only the things he did in the last three years of his life, his 'earthly' ministry as many call it, and doesn't even include every healing, anointing, work or miracle which has happened since by his power in those who believe. Among all the miracles and healings though, while others were more eminent and astounding such as walking on water, of all the healings in the Bible save for the raising of Lazarus, the healing of the Man born blind since birth carries an eternal significance, for in addition to the act of healing, it heralded the declaration that Jesus, Yshua Ha Meschiach, was the Messiah of Israel, the Holy One of Israel, expected for centuries.

After Jesus heals the man at the Pool of Bethesda, and after he teaches about tolerance and forgiveness for the woman caught in adultery, following the feast of Tabernacles, in Chapter 8 of John, he pronounces that he is the "Light of the World".
(See Promise of Messiah: Light of the World) This also is no small pronouncement, for he explains what that means to the darkness that holds this world so tightly, John 1:5,9
expounds

Jhn 1:4 -5 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. and...

John 1:9 That was the true LIght which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

So soon after celebrating the feast of Tabernacles, the Light of the World which lasts beyond one feast, explicates his role as the Light of the Whole world, forever.
Now the Light of the World can do many things excellently, but a magnificent feature of Yshua was that he could make darkness flee. Spiritual darkness, Social darkness, the darkness of sin, and the darkness of the physical body in blindness. The declaration of his being the "Light of the World" precipitates, the healing of the man born blind since birth.

The True Test of the Messiah

Why is the healing of a man born blind since birth so significant? Because, as shall be seen, even the common people counted this as the sure sign that the Messiah had come. Why this sign and not another?

1. The sign had been prophesied, notably in Isaiah, and
2. It was the one 'impossible' task, that even the great prophets of God, since Abraham, Moses, Elijah and Elisha had not performed.

It was not to be merely the opening of blind eyes: Jesus opened many blind eyes. In his role as liberator, much of his ministry was spent delivering people from the bondage of deafness, blindness, lameness, mental and spiritual afflictions and most critically the bondage of sin and unbelief.

Isaiah and the Messiah Who Heals the Blind

The verses and promises Israel clung to in Isaiah as a litmus test of Messiah were:

Isaiah 29:18 "the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity"
Isaiah 35:5 "the eyes of the blind shall be opened..."
Isaiah 42:7 ...to open blind eyes
Isaiah 42:16: I will bring the blind by a way they knew not...
Isaiah 42:18- "look ye blind that you may see"
Isaiah 42:19 "Who is blind but my servant or deaf....."
Isaiah 43:8 "Bring forth the blind people that have eyes"
Isaiah 56:10 His watchmen are blind..."
Isaiah 59:10 "We grope for the wall like the blind...

and in other passages:

Lamentations 4:14 They [referring to Israel] have wandered as blind men..."
Malachi 1:8 blind not allowed for sacrifice.

Two important issues arise here: one is the test of Messiahship in the healing of one born blind since birth, and one is that the blindness that Yshua meant to heal was more than mere physical blindness, but the spiritual blindness that had beset Israel since her birth: there eyes had been darkened at many times in history to who they were, to what they were, to who and how great their God was, and to the Salvation and Deliverance of God which came to be repeated over and over in the course of God's wilderness people. Note a few lines above where he compares Israel to the blind:

Lamentations 4:14 "They have wandered as blind men..." or in Is 56:10 where even the watchmen are blind.

The porch of Solomon was not the only place God had declared that He was the Light of Israel. Remember the burning bush of Moshe or the pillar of fire in the Wilderness of Zin: there were other times the Light of Israel and the world appeared. Between the theophanies though, there were great periods of darkness in Israel, when eyes were darkened. It was that Spiritual darkness that Messiah came to deliver out of, and He did it first, by performing the long awaited miracle of the opening of blind eyes, or a man who had never seen a thing, who was born blind.

The Blind Guides of Israel

As soon as the eyes of the man are opened, without even completely knowing who Jesus was or where he was from, he began to expound his way and light to the Pharisees, who at another time Jesus called

"Mat 15:14 Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch"

In Matthew 23:16 he refers to:

Mat 23:16 Woe unto you, [ye] blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor![Ye] fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.[Ye] fools and blind: for whether [is] greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?

Before any confrontation with the Pharisees and other leaders of the Temple, Jesus, Yshua, rebukes them for being blind themselves, and for leading Israel into Spiritual and moral blindness. It is no small wonder that the Great Love of God incarnate would do that, as he had seen firsthand what those men had done to Israel: selling the holy things of God as merchandise, merchandising their positions, buddying up to Rome while young zealots gave their lives for Israel, and breaking every law of man and God. They were merciless, though keeping Shabbat by refusing to lift even a finger lest it be declared work. They made sure the Temple's coffers were filled with the paltry riches of widows they had swindled with 'corban' laws. The high priest Caiaphas and his cohort Annas were not even from Levitical lines: they had bartered their positions from Rome, and yet these were the men , who by the end of the healing on Solomon's Porch, were declaring that no true prophet came out of Galilee!---showing they did not even know the Word of God very well, for several had including Jonah, Elijah, Elisha and others of the 'minor' prophets. Yet these men, who had taken the Spiritual leadership of Israel by force and merchandising, patronizing Roman authorities, were sitting in judgment, of one who had just healed the eyes of a man born blind. While this is getting ahead of the study, the blind man, who can now see, retorts against the Pharisees:

Jhn 9:30 The man answered and said unto them, Why herein is a marvellous thing, that ye know not from whence he is, and [yet] he hath opened mine eyes.

So the Scriptures to this point, have noted that Israel was too wont to walk in darkness herself, and that by this time in History, even the leadership was blind to God's true ways, or to a real, living, breathing, powerful Messiah. Sounds familiar.

Luke 4:18, further notes that a part of Messiah's "inaugural address" is the 'recovering of sight to the blind:, a reflection of the passage in Isaiah 61.


Blindness and Sin

Messiah came to deliver from sin. There is no question even in unbelievers' minds that this is the essential task of God's Christ, or Messiah. [Meschiach in hebrew].
Nor should there be doubt that sin is equated with darkness and blindness. Even in descriptions in Zechariah of the Anti-Christ, it speaks of him having one eye darkened:

Zec 11:17 Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword [shall be] upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.

The Hebrew word 'kahal' for darkened refers to a dimming, or darkening, in which the light is decreased, and while that seems very straightforward and it indicates that sin, which is often defined as 'missing the mark', is a dimming of the glory which we were meant to have, and the more one sins, the more darkness prevails. Darkness leads to confusion, chaos, the dissension of the Spirit and an inability to hear from God in prayer not to mention trouble in the world: it is often the case that before a number of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit work in power, sins may need to be repented of. Darkness also, is found at the edge of Glory, including God's abode we call 'Heaven'. (see Genesis 15: The Horror of Great Darkness)

Sin and Punishment: Who Did Sin?
As Jesus encounters the man born blind, the people who gather want to know the following:

9:2 ...Master, Who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind."

In Ancient Israel as today, we often assume that when we see trial or trouble the person must have deserved it somehow, and while that can occasionally be true, it can also be from happenstance, providence or even as a test of faith. Note that

1. Blindness since birth was equated with sin
2. A Generational Effect is noted-that the sin of a parent could cause a consequence in the child's life.

The second point is indicative of a lack of teaching about sin, for in Jeremiah, God does a new thing:

Jer 31:29-30 In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children's teeth are set on edge.But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge.

Basically, the sins of a father were to be no longer visited upon the son, although initially this was the case:

more to follow....

The Troubling of the Waters: Jesus Heals at Bethesda

prophIntro-enhancements.mp3

One of the most well known stories in the New Covenant is the telling of the healing of the man, infirm for 38 years, at the Pool of Bethesda. Jesus has just a few days before been at a feast day, and following, he heals a Nobleman's son after rebuking him a little for wanting to see only signs and wonders. The healings begun, and two miracles of healing into the Gospel of John, Jesus arrives at Bethesda.

There was at Bethesda a pool, surrounded by five porches, and the sick of all kinds waited at the pool for what was said to be an angel 'troubling the waters'. We have in our cultures today, similar places, such as Lourdes and Medagorje in the Catholic religion, or the portion of the Ganges for several religions in India, in which pilgrims from all over the world go to bathe in the waters believing they have a divine element which heals diseases. The Pool of Bethesda, known in Israel for the same, attracted the infirm and impotent from all over who sat among the columns, with stairs going down into the pool, and it was reported that whoever was first to the water, was healed of whatever infirmity ailed them. John 5:2 remarks that there were 'a great multitude', and lists the types who waited the stirred waters:

1. Blind
2. Impotent ( a variety of illness)
3. Halt (motor dysfunction and lameness)
4. Withered.

Angels were not at all unknown in Israel: they had a strict Scriptural interpretation of Angels as the emissaries of God advantaging the Children of Israel in many ways in their history, such as the visitation of Abraham and Sarah announcing Isaac, or the 'dragging' of Lot's family from Sodom, bound for destruction, or the angel guarding the way back into the Garden of Eden, the paradise of God. So the saying of an angel troubling the waters, was based no doubt upon some divine observation.

For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool , and troubled the water:
Whosoever then first after the troubling of the water, stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.5:4

At least one other 'troubling of the water' is mentioned in Scripture although in an inverse way: in Ezekiel 32:2 in a lamentation for Pharaoh, Pharaoh is described as troubling the waters for contention:

...and troublest the waters with thy feet, and foulest their rivers. (Ez 32:2)

Both words, Old and New, for troubling, mean what one would naturally assume: the Greek tarache, meaning disturbance or troubling, and the 'dalah' [daleph, lamed he]
means to churn, stir up, or trouble. An amusing side note is that a related and very similar word, delaya or delayhu, is the name for 'Delilah' in Hebrew, who troubled Samson's waters to no end!.

So whatever the mechanism or reason or etiology, the waters stirred by the angel at Bethesda was certainly convincing enough, that a multitude, including this man waited even for years to make their way down into the pool, although one had to be first. If one looks at photographs of the pools, of the remnants left, one can see why a man unable to walk well or at all would have a very difficult time ever being first to the waters: it was impossible to get down the stairs in time amidst the many rushing into the waters.

The Man with the Infirmity

the man with an infirmity was said to have had it for 38 years. John 5:5. Jesus, as it is mentioned elsewhere, knowing what was in a man, encounters the man, and and immediately knew how long he had been in that condition.

Jesus ....knew that he had now been a long time in that case.. Jn 5:6

and said to him

Wilt thou be made whole?

Now, these remarks seem minor, but they contain a lot of information: the first verse points to one characteristic of our Lord and Savior that often gets 'read-over', that he knew people based upon their spirit: one verse puts it 'he knew what was in a man'. Jesus was already conversing in his Kingdom, living in the ways of Heaven- a person was 'known' to him without asking, and this can be seen as the 'conversation' or citizenship of heaven, when it is noted in .... that we will be 'known as we are known.'.

1Cr 13:12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

So Jesus encounters the man in utter truth, because he can see all about him, with the loving eyes of Heaven.

There is more though, in the statement 'Wilt thou be made whole'. I have discussed a sort of 'model' of the person which is central to the Mind of Christ, in the concept of 'wholeness' vs 'dissension'. When a person is whole and right, he is everything that God meant him to be, although most of us never get near to this. Since sin entered the world at the Fall of Adam and Eve, most of what is in the world conspires to make us anything but 'whole'. It is well within the description God gives of the Potter and the clay: the fresh lump of clay begins whole and without imperfections but with air bubbles, too much slip, dirt and particles, hits, uneven pressure etc, the clay can become either a vessel which can be used, or so 'dissensioned' that it can be ruined forever.

Our lives are very much that way: though we may have differing 'temperaments' or a few other characteristics, those things rudimentarily given at birth are meant in God's plan for our lives to contribute to the 'wholeness' of what we are to be and do in his loving care. Most however, do not find God young, and the world hits hard, and blow after blow, hurt after hurt, sorrow after sorrow, depending on the degree, a person becomes 'dissensioned' from what he or she was to have been, and the healing process, whether it is mental, emotional, spiritual or physical, involves 'making whole' or bringing the dissensioned state, back into the 'shape' or state(not always literal) that it was supposed to be. This places in divine context Jesus' words: 'Wilt thou be made whole', referring to physical wholeness, but the later events show that Jesus is concerned uttermost with the man's spiritual wholeness.

The Willingness to be made Whole

There is also here a fascinating note of the 'willingness' to be made whole!. I have been around many deeply troubled people in my career and in life: some were overcome by grief and mourning, some by depression, some by deeply distorted states of imaginations and even hallucinations, what the world refers to as psychosis, and while they will participate sometimes for years in therapy, they do not want to change. It is hard to believe, that those who are hurting and in horrible circumstances would not want to be whole and well, but they feel a certain amount of 'comfort' in their circumstance: they know it and though it is painful, they prefer it to the unknown, even healing. The poet Rainer Maria Rilke once remarked after abandoning psychotherapy, that he was afraid that 'if his demons left, his angels would leave also'. Like Rilke some feel safe in self-destruction, a premier oxymoron, rather than accepting what a healing might bring. John 5:7 though implies it is not only his willingness but the inteference of events and others that encumber him:

Jhn 5:7 The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.

This passage also speaks to the nature of man, even in divine things, and more so in this day and time: pushing and shoving others out of the way in order to get even a healing from the Lord. This selfishness on the part of others kept this man in suffering for 38 years, and yet of all on the porch that day, he was the one appointed to healing and later defending and declaring the Gospel!!! However, the wait was worth it, for Jesus himself, not a mere emissary came to him, and well, life just wasn't the same later. At that point he did not need the Angel nor the healing waters, for the Living Water confronted him directly and healed him.

The Command of Healing

In this healing, Jesus does not mix a substance, nor lay on hands, but as in many healings, only speaks the healing, even 'commands' the man to be whole. He starts interestingly, with a command, that was not possible before--to

1. Rise
2. Take up thy bed and
3. Walk Jn 5:8

Most would expect, that Jesus instead would have just said 'be healed', or something similar, but He was giving also the frame of faith. When God intends and speaks, the thing is already done. It is a foregone conclusion. That bed, and that bent condition had imprisoned the poor fellow for 38 years! Now, in a moment, in front of the living Messiah, he is instructed to pick up that prison and take it with him. It no longer binds him: he binds it!

What was the result?

And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the Sabbath 5:9.

The man obviously immediately BELIEVED and OBEYED and wholeness and healing followed in an amazing way.

The Legalists and the Healing Messiah

Now legalists in any religion attend to every word of doctrine hoping to catch error almost always in everyone but themselves, and this healing was no exception. And as the healed man, goes immediately to show his healing as is commanded in the Old Testament, (Lev 13:2-59) to the priests in Israel to declare the healing, but is met with the legalisms so many meet with today in the House of God: they do not attend at all to the healing, except for the way it was done, by whom, and why on the Sabbath day. They do not give thanks and glory to the LORD for such a miraculous healing, or rejoice that the LORD is among them, but instead look to 'get the guy who did it'.

John 5:12

What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed and walk?

1. They turn to accuse the Healer (the Messiah)
2. They accuse Him of a crime that doesn't exist
3. They seek strife on the Sabbath [Shabbat]

So really, they are the ones sinning against God: the crime doesn't exist!. It is wrong to work on the Sabbath in such a way that defiles the rest and quiet God gives to be alone with Him and rest from labor in joy and health, but it is nothing but the work of God to heal on the Sabbath, and it is 'ok' with God! Jesus points out later that it is not wrong to do good on Shabbat!

Mk 3:4
And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life or to kill?

They want to know who did this thing? but the healed man did not know, he just knew he believed.
And he that was healed wist not who it was; for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place John 5:13.

Note that Jesus did not stay for the accolades, Healing is to make whole not for reward, which is always rightfully his.

These men would have reversed the healing of 38 years of misery, just to win an argument. Don't we have them in the church today?

Sin No More: Can the Healing Be Undone?

There is though a small codicil of faith necessary for the healing to continue, direct from the Savior's mouth. Jesus finds the man later in the Temple, for it was of essence that the man come to know the Messiah:

Behold, thou art made whole; sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee. Jn 5:14

Jesus notes that there is a relationship between healing and sin. It was commonly known and believed that sin and healing were related: remember when the blind man was healed in the Temple, and the question Israel had for Jesus was 'who did sin, this man or his parents ?' (Jn 9:2) When the disaster of the tower of Siloam occurred, again the same question came up. Jesus there also noted that they did not sin more than others. Another time, Jesus notes that the reason for an infirmity was to show the Glory of God, so that illness and hardship and even disaster can be:

A. For no reason at all, other than natural occurrences
B. As a judgment from God
C. Because of Sin
D. To show the Glory of God

and that these things can occasionally overlap. Job, the perfect and upright man, finds all gone in a moment, including his health, for no sin. Daniel, dedicated to the LORD in the last days of Jerusalem before the exile, finds himself torn from his parents, and alone in captivity for most of the rest of his life, and so did Joseph at 17, but it was for the glory of God.

But sin and disease and healing CAN be related and must not be overlooked. We do not like as a society or even as a world today to receive such notions as the 'judgment of God', we somehow feel that a God of Love is just generally o.k. with our destroying his world and everything and everyone in it. Therefore we never repent, and the world is seldom healed. The Church at the end of the holocaust, millions of deaths later, looking the other way at best, debated whether Germany should really have to repent at Stuttgart. Here, however, Jesus is warning the healed man, to sin no more lest a worse thing come unto thee' Jn 5:14.

The healing can be equated with Jesus' description of the casting out of devils or demons as in Luke 12:44-45

Then he said, I will return to my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty , swept and garnished. 45 Then goeth he and taketh with himself 7 other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.

Devils and the Healed Person

This is not a popular teaching in a day when men consider themselves so sophisticated they can make it alone without God. Devils? We have 'psychology' whatever that is, and mental illness with diagnostic categories, not 'devils'. C.S. Lewis, in the Screwtape Letters, mentions that the greatest demonic strategy of Satan is for modern man not to believe he exists. So, professing to become wise, they become fools, and the foolishness of God surpasses the wisdom of man in a slight paraphrase.

In Luke 11:25, the process of 'casting out' a spirit or devil or demon is spoken of by the Messiah himself:

When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man he walketh through dry places, seeking rest and finding one he saith, I will return unto my house when I came out. 24 And when he come he findeth it swept and garnished.25, Then goeth he and taketh to him 7 other spirits more wicked than himself and he entered in and dwell thee and the last state of that man is worse than the first. John 24-26.

This passage also refers to the healing of the man at Bethesda and Jesus' warning. The nature of it is
1. The Spirit (causing the possession or infirmity) is cast out.
2. The spirit or devil 'walketh thru dry places
3 The devil 'seeketh rest'
4. Finding none (no rest for the wicked)
5 Seeks to return and
6. Finds the original host 'clean'.

The 7 plus 1 devils, overthrow the original host, and it is sin which has made it possible: returning to the practice or sin which caused the first possession to occur. The healing can be undone, and the last state worse than the first.

This also points to the process of devils and disease as well: the dissensioned state is one of 'overthrow'--whether in a person, a family, a city state or nation. Even the unbelieving existential psychologist Rollo May wrote about the phenomena psychological. He called the demonic anything which overpowered a person. When a person is then healed by God himself, if he chooses to go back to the state of distress, the result is seven fold worse, and that can be readily seen in persons who for example come to the LORD, live life in the LORD for a little while, sobering up, giving up drugs, adultery, gambling, or any of the thousands of things people are delivered of, and then, deciding it is easier (?) to live in the flesh they just quit and go back. Often, the latter state is worse than before they walked with the Lord.

It is just a small note, but the fact that devils find NO REST apart from a host person, shows a little of the nature of the demonic: restlessness, agitation, ill-ease, anxiety etc. In Hell, there are not 'hosts' to attach to so all live in a state of unrest. Nothing swept clean there. In short, the process of demonization is overthrow.

The healing of disease follows a similar patter when sin is antecedent, which we must assume in the case of the man at Bethesda, since he is told to 'sin no more'. Again though, sin is not always but often antecedent: sin can lead to natural causes of disease such as in smoking, drinking, etc, unclean habits can lead to septicemia, sin can lead to demonic activity as can be the case with stress and psychological disease, or sin can lead to disease as a chastisement.

Those who snub and ridicule the notion of all this also go without healing, and often lead chaotic, stressed , rushed painful lives without rest. Jesus, Yshua, Messiah is our rest and our peace, he is our healing, but we have to believe and receive. Until next time: many blessings, and no 'troubled waters'. ekbest