Sermon Archives (March  24, 2002):

Is Healing for You? – Part 10

Good afternoon church.  I have been teaching the last nine sermons on “Is Healing for You?”    We’ve sought to answer that question from God’s Word?   What does the Bible, God’s Word say about healing?   And our finding have been this:

Having received God’s answer, that yes, healing is for you, our focus is now to determine from the Bible how we as Christians obtain healing.   In our last service we discussed, anointing with oil, the laying on of hands.  Today we will be examining special anointings.  (Acts 19:11-12) “And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.”

Beloved let us bow our heads.   Father, let every believer hear this message today and the world as well.  Teach us Father by your word your principles of healing.   Teach us Father how we may obtain and understand healing through these special anointings.   And all God’s people said, “Amen.”

What?  Say what?  You mean we’re going to talk about healing through handkerchiefs, little bits of cloth.   Paul gave out little bits of cloth, like the ones we have here today.   So you mean to tell me that you as this minister are going to be teaching us about how to heal others with little bits of cloth?   Now this is too much.   What inquiring minds would believe that?   Talk about off the wall.   Sick people being made well from little bits of cloth.   This has got to be nuts.  Right?  Wrong!   Not nuts at all. 

(Acts 10:38)  “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed.”    Did Jesus have power?  Yes!   Did he heal people?  Yes.   Well how He do that?   Or if he didn’t do that, how did this anointing, this power from the Holy Spirit accomplish that?  (Mark 5:25-34)  God’s word gives us this story of a healing “And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, and had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was not at all bettered, but rather grew worse,  (This is a tragic story.  The medical establishment of that day had taken all this woman’s money, and still she’s bleeding.)  When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment, (The woman didn’t seek to touch Jesus, just his clothes.  Maybe this woman knew something that we as intellectuals, we modern thinkers didn’t know.  The story continues...) for she said, ‘If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.’  (This woman actually believed that if she touched cloth in close proximity to Jesus, the Son of God, there would be enough power in that cloth to heal her.  Continuing …)  And straightway (that means instantly…) the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.  Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that power had gone out of him, (Say what?  The woman touches cloth on Jesus, and you mean to tell me that Jesus knew power had left him?  That power had been drained from literally the Godhead.  Apparently so. Jesus…)  turned about in the press crowd, and said, ‘Who touched my clothes?’  And his disciples said to him, ‘You see the multitude surrounding you, and you ask, ‘Who touched me?’  (Jesus is still talking about cloth.)  And he (Jesus) looked round about to see her who had done this thing.  But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.  And he said unto her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you whole; go in peace, and be healed of your plague.”

The woman didn’t touch Jesus.  The woman touched cloth.   And because the cloth had power, and because the woman believed, the faith of the woman – not the faith of Jesus, but her faith – cause the energy of Jesus to healed the woman.   So then later, what do we see Paul doing?  Cutting up bits of cloth.   Praying over the cloth.  Placing God’s anointing and his anointing into the cloth and then sending out the cloth, to heel others.  Paul knew that cloth could retain a healing power.   

Now for some this is still a strange story.   But let us look at it in another contemporary terms.   How many of you have ever been around cigarette smokers?   Now when people smoke cigarettes, they will tell you that their intent is to put cigarette smoke into their lungs.   But if they come into a room, into a car, while smoking even after they leave that room or that car the power of that smoke remains in that room or in that car.   The power of the smoke outlasts the presence of the individual and even the cigarette.  They can take their clothes off, hang them in a closet, and a non-smoker opening that closet will smell the power of that smoke still on those clothes for weeks or months to come.   Cloth then acts like a storage battery.   Cloth can retain power.

Did Jesus heal the woman?  No.  The scriptures say rather that power left him.   It was drained out, discharged from him.   How?  Faith tapped into that power.   The woman’s faith, not Jesus’ faith, threw the switch, caused God’s power to flow, and brought about her own healing.   This type of healing was not uncommon,  (Matthew 14:34-36) “When they had crossed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret. When the men of that place recognized Him, they sent out into all that surrounding region, brought to Him all who were sick, and begged Him that they might only touch the hem of His garment.”  (Here it is again.  The multitude even then believed that to be healed only required a touching of Christ’s clothes.  And what was the result?) And as many as touched it were made perfectly well.”   Those who believed, and touched the cloth were made well.

If you think this type of faith is unfounded, how many have seen a rock concert where the audience goes wild just trying to strip the clothes off the performers?  The reason some would say fanatically, “Oh, if I could just have a scrap of his clothes, or a locket of his hair.”   Why?  What value could a locket of hair or a scrap of cloth of one specially anointed possibly have?  That scrap of cloth empowers the true believer.   That scrap of cloth becomes a point of contact with the anointed one of God.

Now here today, we have little pieces of cloth, and we are going to give them out.  Now some would say, “What would make these pieces of cloth any different than if we got them at a store?”   You and I are going to pray over these pieces of cloth right now.  Why?  How could this little minister down on a street corner in Los Angeles do anything with bits of cloth?   (Matthew 18:20)  “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them."   We, a multitude, not just two or three, have gathered today in the name of Jesus, and God tells us that as a consequence Jesus, the anointed one of God is thus in our midst right now.  Does Jesus have power?   Yes.   Is He not the anointed one of God?  Yes! Haven’t we just learned that cloth will retain the power of Jesus like a storage battery? 

Beloved let us bow our heads, “Father, we claim these scriptures today.   We, who are gathered together in your son’s name, call forth the great power, the power of the Holy Spirit, and Christ’s anointing upon these pieces of cloth today.   Place the anointing of Jesus upon these pieces of cloth, that they may hold that power like storage batteries to heal not only ourselves, but those that come into contact with these pieces of cloth after they have departed with them.   By the blood and name of Jesus, we claim this healing anointing.   Amen.”

Pastor Bradford will be giving out these pieces of cloth today.   But how do you use them?   In a practical way, how do you turn on this anointing, and let the power of Jesus flow?   Jesus tells us,  “Daughter, you faith has made you whole.”   These clothes will work only with believers.  Otherwise the power will not flow.  Why?  (1 John 4:4)  “Because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”   The woman came forward, and she confessed her faith verbally to Jesus.   The power and the anointing of God’s Holy Spirit in you as it was that day upon Jesus is like gasoline.   When the woman said, “I believe.  I believe.”   That was like striking a match in a room filled with gasoline.  The power of God exploded.  It was released.  It was immediately drained from Jesus.   When you take that piece of cloth to another or even to yourself, tell the person that you are bringing that the cloth has the anointing of Jesus upon it.   Ask of them, “Do you believe Jesus is your personal Savior?”   They must answer, “I believe.”   Then ask them, “Do you believe that by touching this anointed cloth of Jesus that you will be healed?” to which they must verbally reply, “I believe.”  If you do this and they so speak honestly in reply, the match will be lit and they will be healed.

Beloved, I have four more offering to make today.  Will you close your eyes and bow your heads.  If anyone today wishes to accept for the first time Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior raise your hands.  Christians are praying.   I see a hand raised.  Thank you.  You may put it down.   If there is anyone who requires healing today, raise your hand.   I see hands raised.  Thank you.  You may put them down.   If there is anyone who has accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior before, but is unsure as to the certainty of that prior acceptance, raise your hands.   Lastly, if you have backslidden in that which you know is right, and are concerned as to your state should Christ return or call you home today, those who seek the renewing of their mind in Christ Jesus raise your hands.  I see many more hands today.   Thank you.  You may put your hands down.   Now open your eyes.  Everyone who raised a hand for any one of these four offerings take one step forward.   Well that was just about everybody.

I would like all of you who just took a step forward, to form a line in front of me.   I have brought oil and will anoint you.  When I come to you, tell me your name and which one of the four offerings you held your hand up for.  While I am praying over others, please raise holy hands in agreement as a Church in support of the one being prayed over.  Realize that the gift you receive today is not from me, but rather from the Holy Spirit, which works through the ministry.   Since most everybody will be in this line, Pastor Bradford will be giving you both these anointed clothes and the raffle ticket after you have received your anointing.   Those not anointed will still be able to get an anointed cloth and a raffle ticket from Pastor Bradford.   Just get at the end of the line.