Matthew Chapter 8

Matthew 8:1-4 ~ The Healing of the Leper

This is a very important phrase here in the leper's expression of submission: "If you should will."  You see what the leper is saying is, "Lord, if it is not Your will that you heal me of my leprosy, you are still my Lord."  He will accept it. He is in submission.  He will accept whatever the Lord wills to do.  That is very important for us as Christians.  How we approach the Lord, what our attitude is, what we expect from Him.  And many people get very angry at the Lord and demand that He do things our way.  When in reality it is our submission to Him.  He is the Lord not us.  So a heart of submission says, "If you should will."

Matthew 8:5-13 ~ The Healing of the Centurion’s Servant

Notice what faith does. Faith does not believe Jesus to do things the way we want Him to do. Faith is trust. Faith is trusting our selves, our lives into the Lord's hands, under His authority; knowing that whatever He says, whatever He decides to do, whatever His will is, He will do. It is up to me to follow along.

Matthew 8:14-17 ~ The Biblical Teaching on Healing

When Jesus went out to heal and perform miracles, it was not to provide a human blessing. It was a physical means to manifest the Lord's spiritual ministry. He has come to free people from Satan, deliver them to Christ, and heal their lives from the damage that Satan brings. But as far as preserving their human, the flesh, no. It has never happened in human history, ever, even with Jesus. So the healings and the miracles and the signs were physical manifestations of the Lord's spiritual ministry. Peter told us in I Peter 2 that when Jesus died on the cross and we were healed by His stripes, we were healed in that we were as sheep going astray and we have been returned to the Bishop and Overseer of our souls. We were saved. We were brought to Christ. The healing is spiritual. It is called salvation.

But there are some people that will continue to live for the human sin nature by trying to preserve it and keep it alive and keep it as healthy as possible even in the name of Jesus. That is serving the sin nature.

Many people quote the Scriptures and use Isaiah 53:4 to prove that God promises human physical healing for all people. We just have to keep striving for it, working for it, praying for it. We have to keep gathering meeting after meeting and lay hands on people, pray for people, try to get them humanly and physically healed, but it will not happen. It has not happened and it will not happen because God is not interested in preserving our human flesh that is governed by the human nature. Because of sin, physically, we will die. One day I will die in that my spirit will leave my human body, and my spirit will go be with Christ. But the physical body gets left behind to be buried. It has reached the end of its line. It has served its purpose. It has been, is, and always will be, affected by sin. The human fleshly body is not redeemed, just my soul.

Matthew 8:23-27 ~ Experiencing the Lord in the Storms of Life

Matthew is presenting the Jesus Christ of the Bible as the one who is in charge of our circumstances and who is with us wherever we go. As we face the issues and the circumstances of life - our normal response is to consider our own weaknesses. How I stand up to my circumstances; how I cannot deal with things; or how I am able to deal with things. I always consider myself first. But the presentation of Scripture is the real consideration is Christ. Considering His authority and His ability to keep me, to protect me, and to carry me through the storms of life.