I am very emotional when I preach the Gospel. In Matthew 9, when Jesus said to the paralysed man who had been laid at His Feet, “Son, your sins are forgiven”, the religious Pharisees accused Him in their hearts, “Only God can forgive sin!” Knowing what was in their hearts, Jesus made this amazing declaration, “So that you may know that the Son of Man has Power on earth to forgive sin” – He turned to the paralysed man and commanded him – “Get up and walk!” Jesus, in His own words said that He healed the sick to PROVE that He could forgive sin. How then can we separate healing and salvation in evangelism when Jesus linked them together so closely? And Matthew 8:16-17 records of Jesus that He healed all that were sick to fulfil the words of Isaiah the prophet, He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses. Jesus bore our griefs and carried our sorrows. There is no limit to God’s Love – Salvation, Healing – it’s already done – take it!
If only you can fully understand the love that God has for the sinner. Why? First, He wants to save them from the fire of hell; second, because He needs them to fulfil His purpose in bringing the glory of Christ to the world.
Look how much of God’s time and energy is directed towards saving the sinner! The lost sheep takes priority over the safe ones in God’s plan every time! In my crusades I do not see the people as others might – all the energy and power of God is being concentrated at that moment on reaching these people’s hearts, not merely their heads – I see individuals whom God desperately wants in the Kingdom because I know what God wants to do in their lives.
As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. ‘Follow me,’ he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ On hearing this, Jesus said, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but those who are ill. But go and learn what this means: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.’ (Matthew 9.9-13, NIV)
All of us once were sinners whom God loved, chose, fashioned and created. As an evangelist I know that when God looks at sinners, He doesn’t just see alcoholics, drug addicts, the hopeless broken lives. What He sees is the potential, what you can be when He touches you! God is always seeing the future. When you were still a sinner, God saw something in you He wanted. Sometimes it takes a long time – with Moses it took 80 years to form the real man that God could use to do the job! If only you knew what God sees in you, if you could see yourself as He sees you, not as you see yourself! What a difference it could make in your life if you would recognise your potential with God!
[Jesus] said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptised will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” (Mark 16.15-18, NKJV)
I believe in the importance of the healing ministry: Go into all the world, heal the sick, raise the dead – don’t move away from the simplicity of Jesus. Do what the early disciples did. The miracles are the evidence that Jesus has forgiven their sin.