Lessons in Healing Kathryn Kuhlman Matthew Chapter 8

I decided to do something today. I decided to give you the greatest testimony of all. That of Jesus Christ himself. And I want you to see exactly how he went about praying for the sick. His method. Exactly what he did. We have no greater example. There is no greater authority than the very Son of the living God. Know that. So stop whatever you're doing now for a very few minutes. That's right, honey. Put down that broom. That maybe you're down on your knees scrubbing the floor. Just that's right, honey. Like Mama used to say about the dirty dishes, they'll be there when we get home, and they always were. So just... Relax a bit, because the next few minutes may be very profitable to you. And while I'm talking, you get out your Bible and turn to the 8th chapter of Matthew. Jesus had just finished preaching the greatest sermon that was ever preached. No sermon that has ever been preached by the world's greatest orator. No theologian who has ever stood behind the pulpit has ever preached a sermon. No bishop has ever preached a sermon comparable to the sermon that is recorded in the seventh chapter of Matthew, that the greatest sermon ever preached. We cannot question the theology of the one who preached it. we cannot take issue with it. Because the one who preached it was absolute authority, the very son of the living God. And the last verse of that seventh chapter always intrigued me. He had just finished preaching that sermon, and this is what the word said. And he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes. But even though he taught them as one having authority and even though the people were astonished at his doctrine, they were literally awed by that which left his lips. He still had to go out and prove his authority. He had to still make proof of that which he taught by his deeds and by his action. All right, that follows now. And in chapters 8 and 9 of this gospel, we have nine manifestations of his power. And these arrange themselves naturally into three groups. Groups of three each. He gave three illustrations of his power. And immediately afterwards, we find the effect produced on the people by what they saw. I know the Bible teaches that believe and ye shall see. But human nature still reverts to the opposite. They say, let me see, and I'll believe. Then Jesus continues with three other illustrations of power, and again the effect produced. Finally, three further illustrations of power, and once again the effect produced. Now, in looking at these two chapters, let us be very careful not to imagine that Jesus Christ presented himself to the people and asked them to observe what he was able to do. He did not. After finishing that sermon, he did not stand before them and say, Now, follow me and see my great power. He did not boastfully present himself and say, now behold my power and what I am able to do. No. There was nothing theatrical in these manifestations of power. Nothing. I want you to see that. And we need to come back to this glorious truth. There was not one thing theatrical about these manifestations of power. They were absolutely natural, normal, necessary, and beautiful. Oh, when you look back on it, when you read, you see how natural. Jesus was in his dealing with humanity and how natural was the effect. Oh, that's marvelous. The first three illustrations were those of the cleansing of the leper. This is all found in the 8th chapter of Matthew. Then the healing of the centurion's servant. And then the restoration of Peter's wife's mother. And immediately afterwards, a man said to him, Teacher, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. Then moving beyond the realm of the physical, he proved himself master of the elements in the stilling of the storm, master of the great world of spiritual forces as he cast out the demons. master of disease and its source of sin, as he cured the palsy and forgave sin. And immediately after these things we read, they were of prayed and glorified God. That's the reason I still say that There can be no manifestation of the power of God in the healing of sick bodies without seeing the greatest of all miracles, the forgiveness of sin. Sin and sickness go hand in hand. Had there not been sin, there never would have been sickness. come into the world until there was sin. You just cannot separate one from the other. In exactly the same way that wherever there is healing, the healing power of Almighty God, you will also find the forgiveness of sin, which is the greater of the two miracles. All right. Now turn, if you will, please, to that eighth... chapter of Matthew. When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him, and behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. That was all that he said. That was all that he prayed. It was that simple. Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me cleave. You know, the thing that gets me most is that, so far as we know, after Jesus had preached that masterpiece, the greatest sermon that was ever preached, The first one to approach him. The first one to believe him to the point of action. Not only amazed by what he heard, but so completely believing what he said and believed him to the point of action was this leper. And his simple response, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus put forth his hand and touched him, saying, I will. Be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. Just five words spoken. I will be thou Klee. Oh, I tell you. If we're coming to the king, first of all, we must know what we want. the prayers that storm heaven are brief. I mean that. I get a little leery of some of these folk who have to pray so long and pray so loud. I don't quite understand it, honest. When they pray so loudly, I always have the feeling that... They think that God needs healing for his ears, that he must be a little deaf or something. Now, I'm not being sacrilegious when I say that. But I can't quite understand all this loud praying and loud shouting to get God to hear. And it's like that. And these long prayers. I still... contend that there may be a place for the longer prayer, but when you and I get desperate, I believe that it only takes a few words to make contact between the individual and God. And it's just like that. There's a place for the adoration and the pouring out of the heart. But it's when a man knows what he wants that he takes hold of God. Lord, if thou wilt or thou canst make me clean, it's hardly a prayer. It's a statement, an affirmation, a cry of need. And next, his attitude was submissive. He worshipped. All his cry was an honest one. Why question the willingness of Jesus? Because the man was not sure that Jesus would be willing. He was honest enough to say so. He admitted that he knew that Jesus had all power. He knew that. He had confidence in his ability. But he was very honest when he admitted that he wasn't sure that Jesus was... willing to give him what he wanted. If we look closely, we see that this man had learned a lesson. And that is that the will of Jesus is supreme. If thou wilt, thou canst. He did not question his power. It is not that he questioned his willingness unkindly, but he recognized that it must be as he willed. To state it boldly, the Master Jesus Christ could not possibly do other than answer this man as he did. Jesus had come to claim the surrender of the will, and the man yielded. Oh, that's wonderful. Do you want to know something? When the man's will bent to the will of Christ, then Christ's will touched the man's will. And through that contact, there was communicated to him the power and the virtue of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's it. Then he sent him away, telling him not to tell anyone of this great miracle, to keep silent about it. Why? I'll tell you exactly why. He said to him now, See thou tell no man, but go thy way, and show thyself to the priest. and offered a gift that Moses commanded for a testimony unto them. Uh -huh. Do you want to know why I always say to you now, your healing is wonderful, and we know how real is the power of God, but you go back to your doctor and you have it verified. Because when you're healed, you not only think you're healed, I don't have to tell you that you are healed. When God heals your body, you can stand any physical test. You can go to any doctor and have it verified. You can have x -rays, cardiogram, anything. God isn't a fake. He doesn't fool. It isn't something that's just in your mind. It's done. So Jesus said to him now, don't tell anyone until after first of all, you go and show yourself to the priests. Tell them what happened. Tell them what you've done. Have it verified by them. So you see, we are absolutely... biblical, scriptural, when we tell you to have your healing verified. Because this is one thing that has brought so much reproach on divine healing. It's because some evangelist said, now go your way, you're healed. And maybe the person wasn't healed at all. And then that's the thing that brings reproach on the gospel. on the Lord Jesus Christ, and on this teaching of spiritual healing. You didn't know that was there, did you? Sure. There it is. All right, now. The next case is that of a man coming to Jesus not for himself, but for another. And the first fact to be noticed is this. He stated his need. And then Jesus said, I will come and heal him. Now, in reading the New Testament, nothing is more wonderful than the tremendous assumptions of Jesus. The man came to him in trouble. Christ did not say, I will come and see what I can do. heal him. There was perfect confidence in himself. It was the quiet but the dignified voice of a great authority. The centurion said, Lord, I'm not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof, but only say the word and my servant shall be healed. Notice the centurion's Speak the word and my servant shall be healed. You don't even have to come to my house. I won't even ask you to come. He had such confidence in Jesus. He said, speak the word. That's all that's necessary, and my servant shall be healed. And then notice his philosophy of authority. For I am also a man under authority, having under myself soldiers. And I say to one, go, and he goeth. And I say to another, come, and he cometh. And to my servant, do this, and he doeth it. The centurion was not putting himself into contrast with Jesus, but he was saying, what is true of me is true of thee. Thou art also under authority. And because thou art under authority, thou art also able to exercise authority. Oh, that's wonderful. And the scripture says, so when Jesus heard it, he marveled. Now, the word marveled does not mean necessarily that he was surprised, but that he admired the man's faith, that it startled him by comparison with the faith of other men. What was it in that faith of the centurion at which Jesus marveled? Probably the intelligence of it. And I mean that seriously. intelligent faith. And it's just like that. And I believe that Jesus marveled at the intelligence of the man's faith. We hear an awful lot about simple faith. But here is a man whose faith is based upon a true philosophy of life. With the leper, it was a consciousness of a great need in himself and a great might in the master. But when the centurion came, Jesus marveled at his intelligent faith and said, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. It was a moment of great joy for Jesus. But with the joy, a great shadow came, for he saw the conclusion of the very children of the king who, disobedient to the king, should be cast out. Now see something that to me is very remarkable. The leper. And he was healed. But he did not use the same method in healing the servant of the centurion. He did not touch him. No, ma 'am. No. Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way. And as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour. That's our Lord. God bless you.