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Redeemed from the Sickness: Atonement for the plague

Sunday English Service – 10 APR 22

Transcript

We’ve been doing a teaching on redemption, titled“Redeemed.”And in that I’m talking about what we are redeemed from. And one of the things that I surely want to cover is the fact that we are redeemed from sickness. And we’ve been doing it by looking at Old Testament pictures of redemption in which in those types of the Old Testament which depict redemption, speak of redemption,and teach redemption, there is healing also included in it. And today, we’re going to go to another picture from the Old Testament,where you will see healing depicted as part of redemption.The point is to show you that redemption is not only from our sins.Jesus died on the Cross, not only to save us from our sins, but also to heal us from our diseases. That’s the point we’re trying to make.So,before we go to the Old Testament, let me go to some New Testament scriptures to point out something to you. This will lead us into the Old Testament passage, and you will understand it better.

Please turn with me to Romans,chapter five,and verse 12:“Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man,and death through sin,and in this way,death came to all people, because all sinned”.A tremendous statement here;a very key truth is presented here. The truth is this:through one man sin entered the world. Who’s that one man?That one man is Adam. Sin didn’t enter into the world when we sinned; sin entered into the world when Adam sinned. So that we are now born itself,“We’re conceived in sin and born in iniquity,”as the psalmist says. So,through Adam,sin entered into the world and through sin,another thing came in,death.Now, sickness is the incipient death.Incipient meaning it is a starting point of death. Death begins by sickness. So, when it says, “Through one man sin entered and through sin death,”it is talking about how sin entered and it brought about all these sicknesses and all of those things that lead to death also. So, if you want to deal with sickness, the remedy for sickness,therefore is embedded in the remedy for sin. It has to be because it is because of sin, sickness came and death came and so on. Therefore, the remedy for sickness cannot come apart from the remedy for sin.

 
A lot of people say today, there’s a big debate about whether Jesus died for our sins or for our sicknesses also. Did He atone for our sins or did He atone as well for our sicknesses also?I’m saying,“Yes, He did atone for our sins, but that included our sickness also.”When He atones for our sin, our sickness is involved in it because through sin only sickness came. That is why when we began the series, I told that story about how this Canadian evangelist,medical doctor evangelist, Lillian Yeoman, was invited to a village when she was practicing as a doctor to attend to a problem there. A lot of people were getting sick, some even died. This was 100 years ago. They wanted to find out what the problem was. She went there and this problem was peculiar to that one little town. So,she asked them, where does the water come from? And they said it comes from somewhere up the mountain. So,she said, trace the water and find out what’s wrong with it. Just trace and see whether it’s good all the way. There is no pollution happening anywhere. So,they went and traced it all the way up through the mountain and up in the mountain there was a little puddle with some water stagnating there and there are few pigs dead there. It was like a pig soup brewing there. And water is flowing through that and coming and that’s the water people are drinking and cooking with. That’s the water the people in the town were using.No wonder they were getting sick.No wonder some are even dying because of this.
 
The moment they removed those pigs and cleaned up the place, all fever stopped, all death stopped,all sickness stopped. Nobody was getting sick anymore. Everything is well the moment they took care of that. We need to find our pigs that cause all this sickness. Where does the sickness come from? What is the problem with sickness? What is the remedy for sickness? Our pigs,the Bible says,is the sin,Adam sin. Adam’s sin,someone has to deal with Adam’s sin and remedy that sin and then only the sickness problem will be dealt with because they’re embedded together. Sin brought sickness and death and therefore the solution for sin brings about the solution for sickness and ultimately,even death. At the coming of Jesus,we’re given a body that will never die, the Bible says. So, that is how sin problem is taken care of.So,sin and sickness are together.Redemption cannot be without dealing with sickness. If redemption deals with the sin problem, it will naturally deal with the sickness problem also, that is how the Bible teaches it.
 
Now, when Jesus died on the Cross for us and took care of the sin problem,naturally, it has brought some benefits to us in our body also. That is why He suffered in His body.“His body was like a ploughed field,”the Bible says. From the top of His head to the bottom of His feet, it was wounded. And the Bible says, “He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities, and the chastisement of our peace was laid upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed,”the Bible says. So,the stripes that Jesus suffered is the stripe that brings us healing,not only spiritually but also physically because it starts spiritually and then goes into the physical also. So,Christ’s redemption has brought some benefits for our body. Now,the Bible calls it one place,“The earnest of our inheritance.”Ephesians,chapter 1 and in verse 14, we are told about the earnest of our inheritance. The word,“earnest” is maybe an old word in the English language, not many people use the word earnest nowadays. When you use the word“earnest,”they think you’re an old man, you know. But the Bible was written and then translated in English, and in all the translations are pretty old also. So,they use the word“earnest”in the King James Version,the word“earnest”is used, but let me read it to you from New King James Version, which I like and which I use a lot. It says, talking about it from verse 13 let me read:“In Him you also trusted,after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed,you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise”.So,you receive Jesus and you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchase position to the praise of His glory. So,New King James has recognized that“earnest”is an old word, and they’ve chosen to use a more modern word,“guarantee.”Here,it says,“Yeah, you got saved and then we got sealed with the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit with whom you are sealed is the guarantee of our inheritance.”In other words, salvation brings us an inheritance and the Holy Spirit is the guarantee for our inheritance.
 
Now, let me use an even more modern word,even simpler word that you will understand better what this guarantee is all about. Even guarantee is confusing. So,we don’t want“earnest,”we don’t want“guarantee,”we’ll use a word that is more meaningful for us right now. And that is the word“down payment.”Now,everybody knows, because you pay down payment on a lot of things that you bought with a 999-month lease, and you owe them money for 999 years or 999 months,maybe. We’ve all done that, right. So,we understand down payment. We’re doing it every day;down payment. Now,down payment is not like the down payment you put on a bike or a car or something like that.Some down payments in this world are very big. One man wanted to buy a property that I had, and he didn’t have the money right now.He said,“I’m trying to sell my property.I’ll sell it and then, I’ll be able to buy it as soon as they pay the advance, ”he said, “I’ll be able to pay off the entire sale price to you because the advance is so big it will cover your sale price. As soon as I sell it, I’ll pay the total price and buy it, ”he said. That means,he’s going to get a big down payment.
 
Nowadays,when properties are worth crores and crores down payments can be worth very many crores, right. Now, if a man will get that many crores as down payment so that he can pay completely for a property, how much do you think God has given to us as inheritance and what kind of down payment do you think he would have given to us? I am telling you and I’m here to tell you that you and I have received a big down payment with just a down payment we can pay for a lot of stuff. A lot of people with our down payment itself, we can get rid of all our debts. With our down payment itself, we can buy a nice place to live. With the down payment He’s given, we can cover a lot of our expenses, pay a lot of our dues. That down payment is so big. What is the down payment? The down payment is the Holy Spirit who lives in us. What does the Holy Spirit do? Romans, 8:11 says, with reference to healing, it says, “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you,He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies. ”When you live in your mortal body in this world today — we are mortals, we are people who will die one day, right — when we live in our mortal bodies in this fallen world, in the world of sin, as we live in our mortal body, we need some help with this body because it is affected by sin, weakness, feebleness and so on. A lot of times things go wrong with this body, we need the help of the Holy Spirit everyday.“If the same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, dwell in you, ”the Bible says, “He’ll quicken your mortal bodies. ”The bodies that can die will be quickened. You’re not given an undying body right now, but you’re given the down payment. A body that won’t die is a full payment that is coming. Hello! And Romans 8 says that our body longs for it. We all in our body can’t wait to receive the full payment. We’re waiting for the day when will never grow old and will never die. We’ll have an undying body. Even those that are dead will be given back their body as a glorious body, a body that can never die.We’re all waiting eagerly for that day. But for right now,in this world,to make this tough journey, to make it through this life, to be the person that you need to be,to be the husband in your family,to be the father to your children,to do your duty as a person in this world and fulfil your call in your life,to live this life out successfully, every thing that you need is given to you by way of this down payment. This down payment is enough to cover your entire life, this mortal life until you die. This down payment is good enough.That is what in King James Version, they call it as“the earnest of our inheritance.”Our inheritance is big but we’ve got the earnest that is the down payment. Our inheritance in Christ is so big and the down payment itself is so big, the benefit of the down payment is what the Christian church can enjoy today. And the full payment is yet to come. What is the down payment? The life of Jesus made manifest in our mortal flesh is the down payment. In this mortal flesh, in this body that can die, I can experience the life of Jesus, the strength Jesus, the health of Jesus in this body. That is the down payment.Amen. You and I have a wonderful down payment then and the down payment is able to carry us through this life and take us till the end, until the mortality comes to an end and we will become immortal. We’ll have immortal bodies at the coming of Jesus. Alright.
 
So,let’s consider this question. So,I said all of this to point out to you the healing for the body is connected to the sin problem. Once the same problem is attended to, the problem with our bodies also is attended to. There is a benefit for our bodies through the remedy that is brought about for this sin problem of our lives. Alright. So,did Jesus redeem us from our diseases when He atoned for our sins? We looked at many pictures. We looked at the Passover lamb. We saw how they not only shed the blood and smeared it on the lintels and the posts of the house and sat behind it, but they were also supposed to eat the flesh,so that they can have the strength to go on the journey. 765 years after the institution of Passover. People who have forgotten Passover,who did not observe Passover properly — I don’t know they didn’t completely observe it or didn’t observe it in the way that they should — 765 years later, the days of Hezekiah, somebody reminded them, look, you haven’t done this thing. God has told you to observe Passover every year because it depicts the Lamb of God that is to come and take away the sin of the world. God wants you to be trained and wants you to be taught about the coming Saviour. That’s why He wanted you to observe this Passover every year, but you have neglected it. This is an ordinance that God gave you,a command to observe it, but you neglected it. Let’s observe it they said — 765 years they have not observed it—and when they observed it, people were healed, the Bible says in 2nd Chronicles chapter 30, verse 20, people were healed 765 years later. And Hezekiah prayed for some of the people that were sick there. Those people were healed just by observing the Passover, just by the type. Just imagine we live in the realm of reality today.
 
Then, we talked about the wonderful tree. How they came to a place called Marah and the fountain they found after three days of not having any water, they were glad to find a fountain of water, and they come eagerly to drink from it and they cannot even put it in their mouth because it’s bitter. Moses cries out to the Lord because people are complaining. And God showed him a tree, the Bible says. And that tree reminds us of the Calvary tree. The tree on which Jesus died. The Bible says,Christ died for our sins,“as it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree.”There’s no lamb there. There is no eating of the flesh. There is no shedding of the blood. But Moses is pointed to a tree. When Moses was pointed to the tree that included everything, the Lamb that died on the tree, the Lamb of God, the blood that was shed, the body that was broken, everything is involved there. When the tree was cut and put in that fountain of water, the fountain became sweet. The fountain of water represented how, that man from his very birth is plagued by this disease called sin. And therefore,he’s also got in him the potential for sicknesses. He’s born with it. The sickness that he’s going to have 50 years later is there in him, in his genes. That’s how men are born. Men and women are born in this world, in that way. What is the answer to the problem? Just like God pointed to the tree, today, God points us to the Cross. That is the answer to the human problem of sickness with which we are born in this world.
 
Then we looked at the cleansing of the leper. The cleansing of the leper is a very interesting story because there,the leper was cleansed, “they make atonement for him. ”The Bible says, in verse 18, in Leviticus, chapter 14, with the story of the cleansing of the lepers. Inverse 18, it says, “They made atonement for his sins”. So, there is a connection between atoning for sins and healing for the body. Cleansing of the leper and atonement for sin,both are connected.
 
Now, let’s look at another thing, another picture. Turn with me to Numbers, chapter 16. Now, remember, the whole point that I’m trying to make is that sin and sickness are connected. Through one man’s sins, sickness entered into the world. That is why I took this time to explain all that I explained already. So, with that in mind, let’s go to chapter 16 of Numbers. Let me read to you from verse 41. Number 16,verse 41, another wonderful picture of redemption. The Bible is full of redemption stories and pictures.On the next day, all the congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the people of the LORD. ”Now, what is the issue here? Let me introduce you to this issue here. What happens is, there was a man named Korah who’s in the leadership of the people of Israel, and he’s got some other leaders that are joined with him, Dathan, and Abiram and so on. They pulled up the council of elders, which consisted of about 250 leaders of the congregation of Israel, like a big committee, you know, 250 people. They all joined together and started a revolt against Moses and Aaron. What was the revolt? What was the issue? Verse 3 says, in that same chapter, They gathered together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You take too much upon yourselves, for all the congregation is holy, every one of them,and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD? ”“What’s so special about you?” they said. Why you exalt yourself over all these people. Who made you leader over all these people? All these people are holy, good people. What makes you think that you are some special that you are ordering us around and you’re telling us what to do? And why should we listen to you? They’re causing a revolt, you see? And God said, “Alright. Let’s see who’s got God’s authority to be the leader. ”He said, “Come tomorrow, and we will check it out. ”He said, “Come tomorrow, and come with censers. ”It says, inverse 6, Do this:Take censers, Korah and all your company; put fire in them and put incense in them before the LORD tomorrow, and it shall be that the man whom the LORD chooses is the holy one. You take too much upon yourselves, you sons of Levi! ”You’re saying, we are taking too much upon ourselves. You are only talking too much. Thinking too much of yourself. Come tomorrow and come putting incense and fire in the censers. And let’s decide and let the Lord show us whose side He’s on. And they come the next day and they gather. On the one side, there is Aaron and his people, the other side there is this revolting crowd of Korah and its 250 people. And all of a sudden, the Lord tells Moses to tell Aaron to withdraw from those people. He says,“Get away from those people, Korah, and his company. And they withdraw and the place where they were standing, the earth opened up and swallowed them right before their eyes. I mean,this is a tremendous event. If you and I were there, we would immediately repented, got right with God and got right with Moses, particularly. We want to be good to that man, you know. If the Earth would open up and swallow people because of him, why I want to be a good sight of that guy, you know. I will get right with him and I’ll be on the right side of everything. And I’ll go home and repent and tell God that I’ll never do it again. And never do it again. But these people such hard-hearted people they were, the very next day they started this trouble and that is where verse 41 comes, where it says that they were coming and accusing Moses and Aaron saying, “You have killed the people of the Lord”. They’re talking about what happened yesterday when the earth opened up and swallowed these 250 and the other leaders.
 
Now, it happened, when the congregation,inverse 42, when the congregation had gathered against Moses and Aaron, that they turned towards the tabernacle of meeting;and suddenly the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared. Then, Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of meeting. And the Lord spoke to Moses saying, “Getaway from among this congregation,that I may consume them in a moment. ”And they fell on their faces. So, Moses said to Aaron, “Take a censer and put fire in it from the altar, put incense on it, and take it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them; for wrath has gone out from the Lord. The plague has begun.”They started another problem, as if what happened yesterday was not enough. Now, they are again revolting against Moses and Aaron and the plague has started, tremendous plague. And Moses says to Aaron, “Take a censer and put fire in it from the altar, put incense on it, and take it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them. ”That is the thing that you need to notice. Atonement is the remedy for sin. Atonement is what they did to bring sinners to God, to reconcile them to God. That is what is called atonement. It’s a biblical word, theological word. So, Moses is saying, “Aaron, go quick, get the sensors, put fire in it from the altar and take it and make atonement for people, ”he says. Now,we come to the subject, make atonement for them. For wrath has gone out from the Lord. The plague has begun. ”Then Aaron took it as Moses commanded and ran into the midst of the assembly; and already the plague had begun among the people. So,he put in the incense and made atonement for the people. And he stood between the dead and the living;so, the plague was stopped. Now those who died in the plague were fourteen thousand seven hundred, besides those who died in the Korah incident — so about 15,000 people have died — So, Aaron returned to Moses at the door of the tabernacle of meeting, for the plague had stopped. So,what happens, this guy goes with a censer and making atonement fort he people. And the plague had begun and people were dying left and right and when he stood between the dead and living, verse 48 says,“ the plague was stopped”.
 
Now, this is a wonderful picture of our redemption. What is redemption? What is the atonement for sin all about? How does it happen? It’s a wonderful picture of the atonement that is made for us and how it works in our lives. These people have sinned, atonement is made for them. And because of their sin, sickness has come. All this is told to us so that we can understand the story of redemption. Because of what they did,sickness has come, plague has come, 15,000 people have died, Moses says quick get in among the people, make atonement for them, and stand between the dead and the living so that no more people die. And Aaron goes and stands between the people, having made atonement for the people and the plague stopped. That means the plague was not able to go across from where Aaron was standing, to the living people. The plague was unable to cross that line. He stood up as high priest, having made atonement and the plague that had already killed people and was advancing, couldn’t get through him to the other people. The plague couldn’t get through the high priest. That plague couldn’t get through the atoning sacrifice. The plague stopped in its track; it was stayed. Now, that’s a tremendous picture of Jesus and the atonement that He has made. And in this,the role of the high priest is very important. What Aaron did as the high priest of the people is a perfect picture of what Jesus did for us. Aaron as high priest and the Bible says that Jesus also is our High Priest. In fact, Aaron is only a type of Jesus, serves as the type of Jesus but Jesus is the reality. Jesus is the High Priest about whom all those high priests were pictures of. They depicted this High Priest that we have today in Jesus.
 
Now, in Hebrews, chapter 4, we learn about this High Priest. If we understand this, we’ll understand what happened there better what Aaron did by making atonement, and then, coming with the incense and stopping the plague, getting in between the people and the plague, so that the plague couldn’t get over him and touch the people. That disease was stopped, the plague was stopped, it was stayed. There’s a tremendous picture of what happens in the making of the atonement for us through Jesus, and how God deals with our sickness problem, even today, through our High Priest,Jesus.Let me read to you, Hebrews, chapter 4, verse 14 on wards. Listen to this:“Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. ”Now,in the book of Hebrews, the whole point of the book of Hebrews is to compare the old with the new,the Old Covenant with the New Covenant. And in comparing, one of the things that they compare is,they compare the Old Testament high priests with this perfect High Priest, this exalted High Priest, Jesus Christ. All the other high priests were only a picture of this High Priest. This High Priest is incomparable High Priest, about Whom they were pictures. So, look at how this High Priest is described, our High Priests, today.Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who pass through the heavens.What did the high priest do in those days? He made atonement for people. When the people came to the tabernacle, he did what needed to be done by offering sacrifices, shedding the blood and so on. And sprinkling the blood upon the mercy seat for the people. He did his duty as a high priest for the people. He functioned in that role. He was in charge of killing the animals,shedding the blood,taking the blood, and going into the Holy of Holies, the very presence of God and sprinkling that in the mercy seat, so that people will have mercy from God. It was all a picture;dramatic enactment of what salvation or redemption is like.
 
In the Old Testament, they kept on doing it, every day, they did it. Now, we come to the New Testament. Now, the book of Hebrews is comparing Jesus, our High Priest with Aaron the old high priest, the original number one man, that’s where the high priestly ministry started comparing with Aaron. He says, “Our High Priest is one who passed through heavens, Jesus, the Son of God. ”What a description. That Aaron only killed an animal, took the blood went into the Holy of Holies. That in itself was a big deal. He could go in there only once a year, after having made atonement for himself first and then for the people,then only could go there only once a year. It was such a privileged thing. Our High Priest is not going into some tabernacle, some Holy of Holies in the backroom of the tabernacle. He’s not someone who just killed an animal and shed its blood and taking that blood into the Holy of Holies. He is the Son of God, Who has come down from heaven, as the Lamb of God. He’s the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world. And He offers Himself as the sacrifice for our sins,makes atonement for our sin son the Cross of Calvary. And then,rises from the dead, takes His own blood, and doesn’t go into the Solomon’s temple or the tabernacle of Moses. He goes into the place of which these things were depicting Solomon’s temple, the Holy of Holies, which was hidden by a curtain and mercy seat was inside there. It was a picture of God’s presence. In the tabernacle, it was same. Nobody can enter there, the high priest, only once a year. But our High Priest didn’t go in there,into an earthly tabernacle or temple. He went right into the heavens because He came from Heaven. He is the Son of God. He goes right through the heavens into the very presence of God, right where God dwells, and presents His own blood. After having died and risen again from the dead. He presents His own blood as the propitiation for our sins. That’s how He atoned for us. That’s what he’s saying in that.
 
So,we have such a fantastic, far superior High Priest in the redemption. What we read in Numbers is only a picture of this. It’s only a faint shadow of what the reality is all about.So, He’s Jesus, the Son of God. He passes right into the heavens, goes right through to the presence of God. How many think that he can do a better job for us than Aaron? With Aaron you don’t know whether he did the job rightly or not. You’re not ever sure whether what he did worked but with what Jesus does, you’re sure it worked because He had no sin to deal with. He was not sinful. Aaron was sinful. He had to take care of his sin, then only he can atone for people’s sin and he had all kinds of issues with himself. But here Jesus, the perfect person,the Son of God, Himself, comes down, offers Himself as sacrifice and goes into the very presence of God. I tell you;He can do 1000 times better job than any Aaron could do. And He has done it. That’s what the Bible is saying. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses. Look at our High Priest because He’s come as a man. He’s not a person who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.Oh, this High Priest is tremendous. Just like Aaron stood there, between the plague and the people, and stayed the plague and stopped the plague and the plague couldn’t get over Aaron and get over to the people. Here,our High Priests today, having offered Himself as sacrifice,stands between your sickness and you,so that your sickness does not kill you, so that your sickness does not overcome you. He’s the one that is standing between sicknesses and you, so that the Bible says, “Plague shall not come nigh your dwelling.”
 
Look at chapter 3; look at Hebrews, chapter 3:“Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus”.The older translations say“profession. ”This is a little newer, so it says, “confession. ”The High Priest is called the High Priest of our confession. Even in chapter four, verse 14 is called the High Priest of our confession. Because it says, He has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God. Let us hold fast our confession.What is this holding fast our confession all about? What does it mean, when it says, “consider the High Priest of our confession”? What does it mean to say hold fast to your confession or consider the High Priest of your confession? It is simply saying, look, when you got saved, you confessed Him as your Lord and Saviour. You confessed that His blood washes your sins away. You confessed that He died for your sins, that He is your Saviour, He is your Lord. That’s how you got saved. He’s the High Priest of your confession. Hold fast to it. In the time of sickness, you need to hold fast to that confession that He is the One that remedied yours in problem. He is the One that took care of that atonement. He is the One that atoned for your sins and because He atoned for your sins, it has an impact upon your body also.Hold fast to that confession!Confess Him as your Lord, confess Him as your Saviour. That’s exactly what it’s told us in chapter 3, verse 1 also: consider. Here it says, “Hold fast, ”in chapter 4, verse 14. In chapter 3,verse 1, it says “consider”. That means, stop, and think about taking to account this High Priest of our confession.
 
Oh, you know, when we are sick, we we’re battling with sickness, which is when even our mind doesn’t work very well. We fail to consider, we fail to hold fast to our confession of what Jesus has done, the finished work of Christ on the Cross of Calvary. We begin to consider all kinds of things. We’re only interested in what the doctor has said, what the hospital has said. You know, in the hospital bed, I’ve laid in the hospital bed, sometimes. In the hospital bed, there is a pad that hangs at your feet. I know why it hang sat your feet because the doctor doesn’t want you to see it. Otherwise, it’ll be hanging next to your head, where you can reach and take it out. It’s hanging at your feet because they don’t want to see it and he comes there and he write son it. And God only knows what he wrote on it because he write sin a way that nobody can read it. I think that’s also deliberate. He doesn’t want anybody reading that. Only a few people in there, knows what he’s written in it. But have you noticed the patients,including me, we were interested in reading that only? Everyone that comes around says, take that and give it to me, I think he wrote something there. I wanted it. Everybody says don’t worry about it. Take that and give it to me and we try to figure it out. We can’t understand that thing that’s written there. We look at it this way, that way and we’re in the bed and we’re already mind is only half working, trying to figure out what in the world he has written. Has he written that I’ve got only six months? We look at everybody, everything looks suspicious. You know, they’re all hiding something from you, it looks like. So, you want to know for yourself, what’s happening. What’s happening to me?
 
So,you’re considering all these things and you’re talking about all these things, you’re busy talking about all these things. Plus, on top of that, they turn the TV on, that stupid thing. I don’t know why they have it in front of the bed. They turn that on and some dance is going on there for a Tamil cinema song. That’s the most important thing that you need when you’re dying, you know.So,you can happily see it and smile and close your eyes, you know. Amazing what people do, you know. They turn that on and you know, this man is half-dead already.  And he’s watching that and he’s going away from his life,watching that. When I was in the hospital, I decided to do something.I decided to take my Bible. I decided no, I’m not going to be looking at what he has written, what the doctor has written. The doctor only knows what he’s written. Fine. I’m going to read what the Bible says, plus even reading is not so convenient there. I took a lot of cassette tapes, you know, and a tape recorder and a good earphone and played these tapes on healing. A lot of messages, preaching from some of the greatest preachers on healing. I’m hearing that all the time. Some people are asking what is he hearing all the time? What is he got in this? Well, I got to go home and I can’t stay here forever. And I don’t want to go to the grave also. I want to go home quick. I want to be delivered from this. I want to get up from here and get going. I don’t want to stay here! If I’m watching those movies there, I’m a gone case. I don’t want to do that. I want to go home safe and well,so I started listening to that and I was home pretty soon. The doctor was wondering what happened to me. I know what happened to me. When the Lord showed Moses the tree,he cut the tree and put it in the waters of Marah and it became sweet. Bitter waters became sweet. And in that story,as soon as that happened the very next verse says,the Lord enacted an ordinance right there. Ordinance is an order. It’s an order. Our government comes up with ordinances,right. It’s an order, government order like. God’s order;God is enacting an ordinance. What is that ordinance? Listen to this. Have you read that,right after the Marah story?I’m going to pay special attention to that one of the one of these days when I preach. I’m going to preach only on that. That ordinance was,“From this day I am the Lord that heals you.”What an ordinance;what an order. The heavenly government has passed an order.
 
The man said all the water is bitter we can’t even put our mouth in it and He showed a tree and the tree was cut and put in there and the water became sweet. And God says look, this is not just for one day. This is not a temporary arrangement. I will be your permanent doctor. I will be your doctor. Hereafter, I am your doctor! This is the order of Heaven. I am your doctor! I like that. This is God’s order, my friend. Not a Bible verse. A law, an ordinance. God has said, “I am your doctor.I declare Myself as your doctor.I will be your doctor. I think we need to put it up somewhere in our house. Jesus is my doctor by order of Heaven. He has made this order that from this day, every day, all the time. He is my doctor. So, you need to hold fast to that confession. Which confession? That Jesus is your doctor, that He is the Lord that heals you. That doctor says, “I will bless your bread and water,remove sickness from your midst. You will fulfil the days of your life. You will live your full life out. You will fulfil the days of your life. ”Thank God for that heavenly ordained doctor. Appointed to be my doctor. He says,“I’ll bless your bread and water,remove sickness from your midst. You will fulfil the days of your life.”If we think about it as an ordinance from God,an order from God,I think we’ll put it up before our eyes all the time. We won’t be looking at everything else. We will not be considering this and that but we will be considering this. That God is our doctor,that He is our healer.
 
Now, I’ve seen some of the best doctors in this world will tell you,believe in God, He’s the healer. Don’t believe in me. They know what they can do and they know what God can do. A lot of those people I’ve seen, they believe in God. They open their mouth and tell you in so many words, only God has helped you. Only God has healed you. We’ve done a few things, but only God has done this for you. So, God is our healer. You see, our cooperation is very important. That’s what this whole thing tells me about Aaron and his high priestly work there .Atonement has been made but he had to take it, stand between the sickness and the people, stop the plaque. He has to stand in between so that it cannot cross over. It cannot touch them. He had to do a job. Our cooperation is very important. Now,it says we have a High Priest; He’s the High Priest of our confession. Now, another name for our High Priest and what He does is described by the word “advocate.” In 1 John, chapter 2 , you remember, if anybody sins, you have an advocate with the Father. The very word “advocate” is used in many translations. If anyone has sinned, you have an advocate with the Father. In the presence of God, there is an advocate. Now,when you have an advocate, what is he trying to do? Why do you have an advocate? Because you want to prove that you didn’t do the killing,you know.You want somebody that can talk really well and make his arguments very clear before the judge and show that you didn’t do the killing or you didn’t do whatever the crime that is charged against you. That’s why you’ve got an advocate. And have you noticed, those advocates train you before you go there and stand on the stand and give answers because they know some of you will answer exactly the opposite?The advocate will be arguing the whole time that you didn’t do the killing and the judge may call you and ask you what you think or what do you have to say and you say, “Sir, tell you the truth, I’m a real bad man, myself. I’m capable of such things.” You’ll be talking some nonsense, you know. Some people, except answering the question, they’ll talk all kinds of things.
 
You know, in our village, we always walk around with this big knife and the judge will look at you like this. Oh, then you’re capable of killing. That is why the lawyers have a training session. One of the things they train you with is,never say anything beyond the answer. Just, yes, or no, don’t know. Yes, no. Or just give the answer, that’s it. Don’t talk about how you got on the bus and you got angry and don’t tell stories, you know. If you open your mouth and talk anything extra, you will be finished. Such a great truth that is, spiritual life is like that. If you open your mouth and talk all kinds of nonsense, my friend, you won’t be getting out of the bed and going home. Because whatever you say is what is going to happen. Therefore, you need to cooperate very much. You need to cooperate with your advocate. You have a heavenly advocate,at the very presence of God. The devil is out there, charging you with all kinds of crime,all the time. 24 hours of the day,night,and day,he’s accusing you in the presence of God. That is why we have an advocate, Who never sleeps nor slumbers. 24 hours, He is present before God,talking on behalf of us,speaking for us. So,you better cooperate with Him when He says,“You’re forgiven. ”When He says, “Before God, he is forgiven. He is washed by the blood of the Lamb.” You say, “Yes,I am. I am forgiven. I’m washed.”You don’t say, “I’m a poor little sinner.”No. You say, “I’m forgiven. ”When He says, “He’s healed by the stripes. ” You say,“Amen. I’m healed by the stripes.” When He says, “He’s blessed.”You say, “I’m blessed. ”When He says, “He’s righteous. ”You say, “Yes, I’m righteous because of Jesus.”So important.
 
 
The Bible says, in 1 Timothy 2:5, For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus. Someone Who stands between God and us, perfect Mediator. He is One Who can competently talk with God because He is God, Himself. He’s the second Person of the Trinity. He can talk to God better than anybody can. He can talk about man, most confidently because He became man.He is not One Who’s not touched with the feelings of our infirmity. He knows everything that you’re going through, so He can talk like an expert about you. He can talk like an expert with God. He is the perfect Mediator, standing between God and man, bringing the two together. You’ve got all the help that you can have. You’ve got a High Priest, Who has offered the sacrifice, Who Himself has become a sacrifice, a perfect sacrifice, Who rose again, and He never dies. And He’s at the right hand of the Father as your High Priest, interceding for you, speaking on your behalf as your advocate.
 
Now, go with me to one more passage in Job. You know, Job is an old book. They say, Job probably lived long before our patriarchs, like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and so on. So,he’s a very ancient man, really. So, considering how ancient Job is, that he lived before Abraham and those patriarchs, look at the revelation he brings out in the book that has Job’s words. Look at the revelation that comes out of his mouth. Let me read to you for some sample, chapter 19,verse 23 on wards. Look at the revelation that this man has in those ancient times. Verse 23: “Oh, that my words were written! Oh, that they were inscribed in a book! That they were engraved on a rock with an iron pen and lead, or ever! ”He wishes that his words were engraved somewhere. He didn’t know that they were going to write it and keep it forever. Then he says,“For I know that my Redeemer lives. ”This is what he wanted to be engraved. “I know that my Redeemer lives. ”In other words, he knows that he has a Redeemer. He knows that his Redeemer it seems like,by the way, he says that He lives. It seems like He means that He died and He arose and He’s a living Redeemer, Who never dies. He says,“For I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth. ”Now, he’s talking about the Second Coming of Jesus, where He will come and His feet will rest upon the earth. He’s talking in those ancient times about that.And then he says, “And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God.”
 
Now, he’s having tremendous problems, he’shaving boils from head to toe,suffering physically. He says, “Even if I die and my skin is destroyed. This I know, that in my flesh, I shall see God. ”In other words, he believes not only that Jesus is risen again and He lives, he believes that he will also rise again like Jesus and live in a body like Jesus’s body. He believes in his resurrection, that resurrection of the body, back then. And then, “Whom I shall see for myself, ”verse 27, “Whom I shall see for myself, And my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me! ”I’ll see Him for myself. My eyes will behold and not another. Not someone else’s eyes.My eyes, the see yes shall see him. In other words, he believes in immortality of the body. The body will again be given back to him. He will live in his body with these eyes, with his undying body, he will live and he will see Jesus.
 
Look at chapter 16. Another sample, look at chapter 16, verse 21, “Oh, that one might plead for a man with God, As a man pleads for his neighbour! ”Just like when people have an issue, they take a man, someone who can talk on their behalf in a court of law or in some panjar, or something, somebody that can effectively present their case. He says, “Oh, I wish there was someone that can stand before God and talk on my behalf.Someone that can plead for me,who can talk with God. I have some issues. I want to go to God and talk. But who is there for me, to talk on my behalf? ”he says. Look, all his dreams come true. He’s like a prophet. He’s talking about these things. These concepts of a Mediator, advocate all of these things he covers, the Redeemer and his redemption, and all of these things. Chapter 9, verse 32, and 33 says, “For He is not a man, as I am, that I may answer Him”. He’s talking about God. He says, “He’s not a man like me,that I must answer Him, that we should go to court together. ”Me and God cannot go to court together and fight our case. He says, “I can’t take God to court; I can’t sue God for what’s happening to me,”he says. Nor is there any mediator between us. Again, he’s talking about a need and the necessity of a mediator. He’s missing a mediator, saying, “Oh, I wish you have a mediator! Nor is there any mediator between us, Who may lay his hand on us both.
 
Ah,a mediator must be a person who is able to talk to both sides, equally well. There’s only one Mediator like that, that’s Jesus. Because He’s Godson, He can talk to God, lay His hands on God, and talk to Him,and plead your case. And because He was a Man, born just like you and I, of a woman and lived in this world, gone through all the issues that we go through, He can talk about us and on our behalf. A Man who can lay His hands on both God and man and bring them together and bring an understanding between the two.
 
And now, finally, let me read to you, Job 33, verse 24, which is what I wanted to read, but I just wanted you to see how Job was so familiar with these great truths. Job 33,and let me read to you, verse 24: Then He is gracious to him, and says, “Deliver him from going down to the Pit; I have found a ransom.”One of Job’s friends is talking here. He says “If there is a mediator, one among 1000 to show man his uprightness, then he’s gracious to him. Talks about what a great mediator might do. He says, “He’ll be gracious to him and he will say, deliver him from going down to the Pit; I found a ransom.”A mediator will say, “I found a ransom. Hey, I’ve got a ransom. ”You know what a ransom is? Ransom again is an old word. In Tamil, they’ve come up with a beautiful word, Mīṭkumpur. That means,that which redeems-the Lamb of God. The Redeemer,the perfect sacrifice, that’s what he’s referring to. He says, “I have found a ransom;I have found somebody Who fixed the sin-problem. I have found somebody that will die for him. I have found somebody that has given His life for him. I have found somebody that will suffer the penalty of his sin. I have found a ransom. I have found somebody Who will die in his place and take his curse upon Himself. I have found a ransom!” And what happens when you find a ransom? His flesh shall be young like a child’s. He shall return to the days of his youth.What does finding a ransom for our sins, someone to die for our sins and take our place as our substitute and suffer the punishment for our sins. What does that have to do with our flesh becoming young like a child’s and us returning to the days of our youth? What does it have to do with this body and what happens to this body? What does it have to do with me turning youthful again, you turning youthful again? There is the connection between sin and the body and the healing for the body because the ransom is found. Now, you can say your flesh shall be like a young child’s and you shall return to the days of your youth. Amen.
 
Did you read the paper recently?The problem with news paper,you have to learn to read the newspaper in a certain way. All the good news comes inside in some pages,in a small column. All good news is put in small corner but nobody reads. All the bad news is headlines, you know. This place was bombed,so many died. This happened,that happened, so many people got robbed and killed and whatever. All of that comes in headlines. I leave all the headlines and read all the small stuff. That’s where the good news is. The good news says,“Now,the old age has gone up. You’re only old if you’re 80 and above.”So,I said, “Praise God! I’ve got a long way to go,man. That means I’m young;I’m not old. Long, long way to go.Oh, I’m very young.”If 80 is old, oh, I’m very, very young and some of you are very, very young. You better go home rejoicing today. Tell everybody you found out that you’re young, not old but more than that, because you have a ransom, Somebody that took away your sin, Somebody that washed you from your sins, a Redeemer Who died in your place and took your curse of sin away.Therefore, the sickness also is a problem that is solved through that. And therefore, you shall be like a child, youthful, like a child and return to the days of your youth. Amen.The two are connected: ransom for sins, returning to your youthfulness. Your body becoming like a child’s body, youthful. That’s why,in Psalm 103, how beautifully the psalmist puts it in Psalm 103. He links the two together says“Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all that is within me,bless His holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities,Who heals all your diseases” — it’s a package — forgives all your iniquities, heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies, Who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. Amen.
 
Do you believe that? Your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. Ransom has been found. Therefore, in this fallen world,in this mortal body, where everybody gets old and one day we will die. We have some help, to strengthen us, help us. The Life of Jesus Christ can be made manifest in our mortal flesh, so that we may live for God in good health and strength, these days, in our life, here on this earth. Amen.
 
Shall we all stand together? Let’s lift up our hands and give thanks to God.
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