Be Healed by Doing These Two Things

Summary:  Opinions are all over the map on whether God heals today, and if so, how do we receive healing from God? I hope to simplify this issue by suggesting two biblical actions that, I sincerely believe, will grow your faith to be healed by the Lord.

A great healing in the Bible has much to teach us

Acts 3:2-8a  Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them. Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk.

These verses describe an event that is rich in truths concerning divine healing. I want to focus on two main truths. And if you include these two into your approach to sickness and infirmities, you will begin to see God move mightily. These two truths, essential to a New Testament understanding of God’s healing power, are:

• the power in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ (see Acts 4:7,10)

• faith in that name

Let’s consider this great healing that the Lord did by the ministry of Peter and John. The man was “lame from birth” and was completely healed—“walking and jumping, and praising God” (vs. 8). His healing tells us that nothing is too difficult for the Lord. There is no healing need you might have that is beyond His power to heal. The Bible tells us that while on earth Jesus was “healing every disease and sickness among the people” (Matthew 4:23; also 9:35 and 10:1). There is no affliction — blindness, cancer, nothing! — that is beyond Jesus’ ability to heal. He can heal “every” disease and sickness.

The man begged Peter and John for money. But Peter redirected his attention and said, “Look at us!” Now it’s very important not to read that out of context and conclude that Peter was speaking out of pride. He was not, as Peter said when the crowd gathered in amazement at the healing. Peter clearly told them that it was not “by our own power or godliness” that the man was healed (Acts 3:12). So how then did the apostle explain the great healing of the lame man? It was the two things Peter declared in verse 16:

By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see (Acts 3:16).

1. Healing in the name of Jesus (our Lord Jesus Christ)

The full name of our Savior was revealed for the first time in the Bible in Acts 2:36, NKJV — “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” Lord…Jesus…Christ — from this verse in Acts on to the end of the Bible we see more than 80 occurrences of His mighty triune name, in various combinations: the Lord Jesus Christ … Jesus Christ our Lord … Christ Jesus our Lord, but most often as “Lord Jesus Christ,” as in, for example, “…always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20 and many others).

We see from Acts 2:36 that God the Father has deliberately given His Son Jesus a name that speaks of the fullness of the Triune God — the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is consistent with God’s desire for Jesus: “It pleased the Father that in Him [Jesus] should all fulness dwell … [2:9] For in Him [Jesus] dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 1:19; 2:9, KJV). Acts 2:36 tells us that “God has made” His resurrected, glorified Son Jesus to be “Lord and Christ.” That speaks of the Lordship of the Father (“Lord”) and the anointing of the Holy Spirit being conferred upon Jesus as Messiah (“Christ”).

Knowing this great truth of the fullness of Deity bodily dwelling in the resurrected Son of God (Col. 1:19; 2:9), the believers of the early church invoked that name, in whole or in part, to bring divine healing to the sick and infirm. Here are some examples of Jesus’ name being used in physical healing and demonic deliverance:

• “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk” (Acts 3:6)

• “Stretch out your hand to heal…through the name of your holy servant Jesus” (Acts 4:30).

• “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” (Acts 16:18).

• Jesus Himself told His disciples, “These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons … they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well” (Mark 16:17-18).

• Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up (James 5:14-15a).

When addressing a healing need in your own life or in others, always invoke His name: Jesus…Jesus Christ…the Lord Jesus…Christ Jesus…the Lord Jesus Christ. Sickness and demons will retreat in the face of any form of that mighty name of our Lord and Savior.

Acts 4:7-10  They had Peter and John brought before [the Jewish Sanhedrin] and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?” … [10, Peter replied] It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed.

The resistant Sanhedrin briefly imprisoned Peter and John, then put them on trial the next day. They challenged the apostles, asking by “what power or name” they had done the healing of the lame man. Peter boldly replied that the completely healed man standing before them had been healed “by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.” That is how divine healing occurred then, and it is still how divine healing occurs today—in the name of our wonderful Savior and Healer, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now let us go on to point #2 in how the healing occurred (then and now).

2. Healing by faith in the Name of Jesus

Acts 3:16  By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see.

It is not enough just to invoke the name of Jesus. We must do it, Peter declared (vs. 16, KJV), calling upon “His name through faith in His name.” The Bible clearly states that “without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6). Acts 19:13-16 tells us that seven sons of the Jewish priest Sceva tried, without faith, simply to copy the apostle Paul’s formula to cast out a demon. They said, “In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” The demon in the man clearly recognized that they were just mouthing the name of Jesus, but without faith in Him. The result? The demon in the man mocked them and had the possessed man give them a violent beating. The lesson? Jesus’ name has mighty power, yes, but that power is for those who have sincere faith in that name. Peter and John did; the apostle Paul did; the 7 sons of Sceva did not and suffered for their taking the Lord’s name in vain.

Let me close this message with some Scripture verses about healing to help you build your faith to ask the Lord for healing with faith in Jesus name.

• Jesus promised (Mark 16:17f) that “these signs will accompany those who believe…they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”

• Although Hebrews 11:6 does day that “without faith it is impossible to please God,” the same verse goes on to assure us that “anyone who comes to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” God is for believers in Him, not against us!

• “The prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up” (James 5:15).

• The apostle Paul was preaching about Jesus in Lystra. A lame man was listening attentively. When the apostle “had seen that he had faith to be made well, [Paul] said with a loud voice, ‘Stand upright on your feet.’ And he leaped up and began to walk” (Acts 14:8-10).

• In Matthew 9:27-30 we read of two blind men coming to Jesus. The Lord asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they replied. Jesus said to them, “According to your faith let it be done to you.” And He healed their blindness, recognizing their faith.

• “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive (Matthew 21:22, KJV). Include healing among the “all things, whatsoever” you ask the Lord for in prayer.

Many more faith-building examples can be found in Scripture, but let me finish by addressing the important question: “Is it God’s will to heal?” The Bible’s answer is a clear Yes! Matthew 8:2-3 tells us about a leper who knelt before Jesus and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus’ answer settles this question for all time: “I am willing; Be clean!” Believe Jesus for His healing touch. He was willing to heal 2,000 years ago, and He’s still willing to heal you today. Why? Because “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). He healed willingly then; He heals willingly today. You can count on Him.

3. In Sum: ask the Lord for healing (1) in Jesus’ name, (2) with faith in Jesus' name

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Check out our widely-read, detailed sermon on "Divine Healing for Today"

For a large list of Bible verses on healing, see our List of Scripture Verses on Healing

Our most extensive collection of sermons on healing the sick is our "Divine Healing Sermons from 50 Years of Holy Ghost Ministry"

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