Joseph Prince - Bible Promises for Health and Healing
This is a good book. You know, there’s a phrase in the Bible from Hebrews 6 that says, «And tasted the good Word of God». This book has inherent goodness. It will do you good. And when you feed on it, it’s nothing but good. Sometimes you eat some food, right? And then in between, you read cholesterol this amount, sugar this amount. Those are bad… trans fat this amount. Those things are not good, right? Oh, you all don’t care. «Hey, Pastor Prince, you know, I give thanks and I just eat it, all right»? Yeah, but I’m just saying that it’s hard to find in the world something that’s so pure. But here, you find it, amen? There are millions of books in the world. There are millions and millions down through the years.
If you put all the libraries and all the books in the world together, there’d be millions. But of all the books, God says this book is the glory of all books. This book has a feature that other books do not have. There is something about a book when you read a novel, for example, when you finish the novel, that’s it, it’s done. You can put it on one side or you sell it off to a secondhand bookstore, you know? It’s over and done with. Seldom do you read it twice or three times. I know people do that but after that, twice at the most, that’s it, amen. You know the story. But this book keeps on speaking and speaking and speaking, amen. The deeper you go, the more treasures you know.
Today, we are people that are hungry for a lot of things but we don’t know what we are hungry for. We are thirsting for objects with things that we believe can satisfy us but we don’t really know what we are hungry for. Jesus said, «Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word of God». Remember that? Do we really believe what he said? «Man does not live». You cannot live. In other words, you cannot be healthy. You cannot have life without the Word of God. «Man does not live by bread». That’s your staple diet: you can put bread there, you can put rice there. «Man does not live by rice or bread alone but by every word of God».
Do we believe that? This book will do you good in your mind. This book will do you good in your soul. This book will do you good physically as well. And one of the things that’s neglected, you know, I feel that more people should share, is the benefits that you get from just reading the Bible. The physical recuperation on your body. I remember George Mueller, one of my heroes of faith, right? He’s no longer alive but in his lifetime, literally, he prayed in millions of dollars to take care of orphans and build orphanages. And he lived to a ripe good old age of 90-plus. And when asked for his secret also, he said this: «The recuperative power of God’s Word on my physical being». Are you listening, people, amen?
Just reading the Bible gives you that life. «Man does not live by bread only, but by every word of God,» amen. Look at Psalms. Not Psalms. Proverbs chapter 4. Proverbs chapter 4, verse 10: «Hear, my son,» God is talking to you. Your Father is talking to you. «Hear, my son, receive my sayings, And the years of your life will be many». Now it’s one thing for you to read Charles Dickens or Jane Austen, that kind of thing, right? But receiving those words will not give you a long life. But God is saying literally, the Father who cannot lie says, «When you receive my sayings, you receive my Word,» as you are reading even his Word, you are receiving life, «and the years of your life will be many».
And there are people who don’t believe that God wants us to have long life, but you see, which is more beneficial, even for the kingdom of heaven, for you to live life, a short life here and then go back to be with him in heaven. God in a sense, why does God need you there? You are more needed here, amen? Are you listening? If you grow older, the wealth of experience, the amount of wisdom you have accumulated down through the years is needed by the next generation. We need you around, amen. Yes, unless you’re called to be a martyr and some people lay down their lives for the Lord, there are people like this. But this is not the norm. We thank God for all these precious martyrs. They are great heroes of faith, but it’s not the norm. The norm is not laying down your life. The norm is to live long.
In fact, it’s covered at the cross. Jesus died at the age of 33, young man at the cross, that you might live long. Have you received your inheritance, amen. So there’s something there. «Receive my sayings and the years of your life shall be many». If God is religious, like some religious people teach us, right? It will say, «The years of your life shall be short, and then you will join me in heaven». No, no, no, God wants you here, amen. Have you heard the saying, «You are so heavenly minded, you are no earthly good»? I don’t know who started that saying, but let me tell you this, okay? You are of amazing and tremendous good if you are heavenly minded. If you are heavenly minded, you are of tremendous good on earth, amen. Jesus spent time with his Father. That’s being heavenly minded, amen.
And then he went out, cleansed the lepers, cast out demons, unstopped deaf ears, opened the eyes of the blind, and raised the dead, hallelujah. How about that? Was he any earthly good? Yes, amen. I think what they mean is that if you are legalistic minded, you are no earthly good. I agree. But heavenly minded, that’s where you live, man, amen. We live in the heavenlies, praise the Lord. We are seated with Christ at the Father’s right hand. Now church, look at this, a land of wheat. But you drop down here. It says here, even more. No, drop down to Proverbs 4. Drop down from verse 10 just now, «The years of your life will be many». Here it says, «My son, give attention to my words».
Again, he’s talking to you like a son. «My son, my daughter, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart; For they are,» what? They are what? They are what? Shout it out. Don’t say «life» in a dead way, y’all, come on. They are what? For everyone? You missed it. They are life for everyone? All your colleagues? Your relatives? For whom? «Those that find them». Those that open up their inheritance, amen. God’s words are life to you, amen. And it’s not just that. It goes on to say, «And health to all their flesh,» amen. Health to all their flesh. This is an amazing benefit that I see in reading the Bible.
I know times when I’m not feeling well and all that and I’ll just read and read. I like to read the Gospels when I’m not feeling well. Just read the miracles of Jesus. Just by reading. Sometimes I don’t even find time to pray, rather. I was lost in it. I got healed. I got well. I got better, amen. There’s something about God’s Word. The word «health» here is the Hebrew word, «marpeh,» which is from the word «rapha,» all right? Marpeh is used today even in Israel as medicine. Marpeh to all your flesh. The only difference between this marpeh and the world’s marpeh, the world’s medicine, and we thank God for doctors like Pastor Mark and me have been sharing. They are all on the same side with us against sickness, against disease. Am I right, amen?
But the medicine of the world still cannot excel this medicine. Because the medicine of the world will tell you this will heal your stomach, your gastritis and all that. But of course, you know, in America, they will sell this kind of medicine and then you will hear the advertisement on the radio. «And this will cure you of this problem». Then after that, «The side effects are…» Like speaking in tongues, you know? Real fast. So technically, they have said it. You heard it or not is your problem. So legally, they put it out there, you know what I’m saying? And many a time, they’ll tell you, «This thing will help clear your eyes, okay? But it will give you diarrhea». So it all depends. Are you going out or not? It depends.
You know, it’s like, there’s always side effects. But this is one medicine that has no side effect. Have you noticed that word «all»? «Health to all their flesh». God’s Word is health to all your flesh. In other words, you may have a problem in your body you don’t even know of. Health to all your flesh covers it, man. There’s no side effects, amen. It’s all good. The good Word of God is a very, very good book, amen. And when you read it, the health-giving power of God’s Word is amazing. It’s health to your kidneys. It’s health to your heart. It is healing to your lungs. It’s healing to your scalp, your hair, your eyes, your teeth, your gums. All your flesh. All your flesh! All your flesh, amen.
I know a story of a man who, he’s actually a well-known business person and high up there somewhere, all right, you know, heading over some group of business people and all that. And at the point this thing happened to him, when this thing happened to him, I’m about to share with you, he wasn’t a Christian. He met Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, who is the late Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, the author of the book, «The Power of Positive Thinking». He’s the pastor of Marble Collegiate Church in New York. And Dr. Peale shared that he was sitting not in a church conference. It wasn’t a Christian conference. It was a business conference he was invited to attend.
And it was all business people and the head of the business associations, this guy who is a high flyer, all right, he came over and sat in front of him. And he says, «Dr. Peale, I’ve been wanting to meet up with you and there’s been something I want to share with you and ask your opinion on it». He said, «Sure». «You know,» he said that, «do you believe in divine healing»? So Dr. Peale says, «Yes, of course. I’ve seen God heal people». «You know, there’s something that happened to me kind of strange many years ago,» he said. He wasn’t a Christian then. And he was like driving, you know, just going up the ladder of success, getting as much as he can, all right? And just not thinking about his health. Until one day that he came down with a condition, the doctor says it’s tumor of the jaw.
And the doctor has only bleak prognostication for that condition. It will get worse and worse. And he was so sad, felt depressed and went home. And he said, «I had a very funny feeling, Dr. Peale». He says that «all of a sudden I had a feeling to read the Bible. I knew my wife had a Bible somewhere in the house. So I asked her for a Bible and she brought me a Bible and I began reading the Bible. I didn’t know where to start». Remember, he’s not a believer. He didn’t know where to start. So he just opened up the Bible and started reading. He read and read.
He said, «First of all, I didn’t know much about what I was reading. But I just felt like reading. So I read. But the more I read, the more peace I felt. So I kept on reading. And I kept on reading until what I read gave me joy. I got more joyful inside. And the days that followed, my little reading became protracted reading. And I read more and more and the more I read, the more joyful I became on the inside. So much so, I did not care about my physical condition anymore. I just kept on reading until one day, I felt inside me that something, like, telling me, 'You are healed.'. So I went back to the doctor and the doctor examined me. And the doctor says, 'The condition is no more. You are free from it.'. But I don’t know when it happened. All I knew is that I kept on reading and reading the Bible. So Dr. Peale, I just want to ask you. By the way, the doctor said this to me. The doctor said to me that, 'Oh, these kind of things, it might come back.'»
And Dr. Peale asked him, «How long ago was that»? He said, «More than 20 years. And I’m still well». Jesus says, «If any man thirsts, let him come to me and drink». Many a times I’ll pray. When I open the Bible, I say, «Lord Jesus, I come to you in your Word. I come to you in your Word». If I come to him, what do I do? It’s for my own drinking. Drinking is personal consumption. You just drink for yourself, for your own pleasure. Drink, drink, drink. And Jesus says, «Out of your belly shall flow rivers of living water».
Now, those rivers are for others. It blesses others. But drinking is for yourself. But when you keep on drinking, keep on drinking, you’ll have rivers flowing out of you. You are refreshing everywhere you go. People love to be around you because you refresh them. It’s like when they leave you, they feel like they had a bath. They feel refreshed. They feel clean. They feel good, amen. I pray that it’s true every time you leave the church service as well. Like Jesus told his disciples, «Now you are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you». And I can tell when people are in the Word of God. You can tell by their faces. I know it’s half, I can tell halfway now, all right? Usually I can tell halfway now. But you can tell by the eyes that sparkle, the face. You can tell by someone’s face, I learned this many, many years ago. You can tell by people’s face whether they are in the Word of God.
There’s a shine. And this shine is talked about—there’s a radiance. It’s talked about in the Word of God, in Ecclesiastes. «Who is like the wise? And who knows the interpretation of a thing? A man’s wisdom makes his face shine». A man’s wisdom makes his face shine. I think Abraham Lincoln was right when he said that every person is responsible for their face above the age of 40. If you’ve got a grumpy face, it’s because you’re a grumpy person, amen? So the Bible says that a man’s wisdom makes his face to shine «and the hardness of his face is changed».
So you don’t like your face, spend time in the Word of God, amen? It’s a light that comes into you, amen. It causes you to live a radiant life. So it’s not just for your body, health, your mind, wisdom, amen. But internally, your soul, you are satisfied. There’s a thirst-quenching draft in God’s Word, hallelujah. So drink deeply, beloved, amen. Can I have a good «Amen,» amen. Do you know the Bible says that God’s Word is so sweet? In Psalms 119:103, it says this: «How sweet are Your words to my taste, Sweeter than honey to my mouth,» amen. What is sweeter than honey? Have you tasted honey? God’s Word is sweeter than honey. I pray you come to the place where you find God’s Word is sweeter than honey to your mouth.
«Pastor Prince, I find it very hard to start. I don’t know where to start and all that». Start somewhere! «You mean I can just open anyhow»? Yes! «And just read»? Yes, amen! «Pastor Prince, this sounds so…» Now, I’m not saying that this is a norm. If you can, all right? How can you build a relationship with someone always on the go? You need to find time to sit down somewhere, relax, and chit chat. Am I right, right? You cannot just be on the go and build a relationship. Yes, we are all aware of that. But sometimes this emphasized so much that people think that «I gotta have all the tools of the Bible. I must know what kind of commentaries to help. What kind of study books to have».
They don’t even get started, amen. God is talking to you. He wants to talk to you more than you want to receive, amen. So just take that chance. Don’t run to your text messages. Don’t run to your social media and all that. Speak to God. Let God speak to you. This book is about God speaking to you. Can I have a good «Amen»? Are you all learning? So there are times I just love reading the stories. Will I get health out of it? Yes. Please don’t think, it doesn’t say that my Son attend to the healing words only. It says, «Attend to my words». Just reading any part of the Bible yields all the benefits that God promised. Are you listening, people, amen? But there are times you want to dig deep.
Oh yeah, there’s something here. I know there’s something here. I want to dig deep into this portion. I’ll give you an example real quick, okay? Are you ready, amen? If you love God’s Word, you know there’s something more to the surface. Okay, for example, the story of Caleb. Remember the story of Caleb? Joshua and Caleb, the two spies that went into the land. Moses sent them. They are the only two that came back with all the other spies. And the other spies, the other ten says, «We cannot take the land». They are the only two that says, «We can take the land. Let us go up at once and possess it, for God has given us the land,» right? Now he’s 85 years old, all right?
And he stands before Joshua. And he says, «Joshua, remember, 45 years ago, when I was 40 years old, the Lord promised that he will keep me alive,» amen, because of his faith. And you know how old he was then? Eighty-five? And he said this: «I’m as strong today as I was the day Moses sent me». He’s as strong at 85 as he was when he was 40. Now he’s not a liar. This is a man of God here, amen? He’s saying, «I’m as strong this day for war, for coming in, for going out,» it’s a idiom for everyday life, «and for warfare». And to prove the point, you know what he said? They just entered the land and there’s one land, one area of Hebron, there’s a mountain there.
In fact, you go to Machpelah where they buried Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. You look opposite, there’s the Mount Hebron. And Mount Hebron at that time was inhabited by the sons of Anak, which is the giants, the Anakims, of which Goliath is one of them, all right? Anakims. They are like the Philistine giants or the Anakim giants. They’re all giants, okay? And you know what Caleb says at 85 years old? He told Joshua, «Give me this mountain».
And you know what he did? He went to the mountain. He killed the leaders of the giants, the sons of Anak, and drove them all out. And that became his possession at 85 years old. Let me tell you this. There’s something that God’s Word did for him. Look at the number of times he told Joshua, «as God said,» «as God said,» «as God said,» «as God said». He depends on God’s Word. And this man is alive at 85 years old. Some people are dead when they are 40 years old already, you know? I mean, there’s life in God’s Word. Life and health to all their flesh. Praise the Lord, amen.