APRIL 29, 2016
GIFTS OF HEALING
MEMORY VERSE: 1 Corinthians 12:9 “To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit”
Today we are looking at the first of the power gifts. What is the gifts of Healing? This is a special manifestation of the Holy Spirit were God’s healing power is greatly manifested to effect healings for diseases and sicknesses of all kinds. Many call it different things. We have some call it the healing anointing, the healing power etc. it is important for us to clarify that there is a big difference between receiving healing as a result of responding to the word of God taught or meditated upon personally and receiving healing as a result of the gifts of healing.
Healing is possible through both means; however, the dynamics of receiving is not the same. We would discuss that later. Let us examine examples of the gifts of healing in operation. Mark 5:28-30 “For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?”. In the above example, we see that the woman with the issue of blood was healed by the operation of the gifts of healing operational in the life of Jesus. We see the scripture say that Jesus said “virtue had left him”. That word “virtue” is in the Greek Dunamis (power). This means that she plugged in to the healing power (gift) which was active in the life of Jesus and hence her healing. The ministry of Jesus was characterized with many been healed through the operation of this gift. We have examples in Matthew 4: 23 “And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people”, Acts 4:22 “For the man was above forty years old, on whom this miracle of healing was shewed”, Luke 9:11 “ And the people, when they knew it, followed him: and he received them, and spake unto them of the kingdom of God, and healed them that had need of healing”
There is something however I want you to see about the gifts of healing. It is not written gift of healing but as gifts of healing in 1 Corinthians 12:9 “o another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit” and gifts of healings in 1 Corinthians 12:28 “And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues”. Now in 1 Corinthians 12:9, the “gifts of healing” is referring to the operation of the Holy Spirit as a gift but in 1 Corinthians 12:28, the “gifts of healings” refer to the ministry gift. All believers can operate in the first but not all believers are called into the ministry gift spoken of in 1 Corinthians 12:28. It is for some and not all.
Another thing I want you to see is something we find in Acts 8:7 “ For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed” we see here that there was a category of healings that accompanied the ministry of Phillip at this point. We see that the insane were delivered, the demon possessed and the lame. We do not hear about the blind seeing nor the deaf hearing or other healings of other categories.
The writer of the book of Acts was specific in the category of healing that took place. It is likely that at this point in Phillips ministry when operating via the gifts of healing, this were the only type of healing that took place.
As a minister of the gospel, it is important to know how to minister healing by a simple word of faith and how to minister healing by the gift of the Holy Spirit.
CONFESSION: I give myself to the workings of the gift of healings, the healing power of God works through my hand. I declare that the nations of the earth receive healing through my hands.
FURTHER BIBLE READING: Mark 4, Matthew 8
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