Joseph Prince - God Wants You Healed More than You Know
Whenever you hear a testimony being shared, there is a purpose. The Bible says that they overcame Satan by the blood of the Lamb, number one, and by the word of their testimony. You know when you testify of what the Lord has done, you overcome the enemy, amen. By the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. So, the testimony is, of course, the Jesus has of what Jesus has done. It’s always what Jesus has done at the cross that will cause people to be saved. It’s what Jesus has done for us at the cross that cause our bodies to be healed. It’s what the Lord Jesus has done at the cross that cause us to have peace of mind and find deliverance from panic attacks and anxiety disorders.
It’s what Jesus has done at the cross in that he was crucified, totally destitute of all earthly clothing. One of the last things he saw were the soldiers gambling for his clothes. And the Bible says, «You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich,» how many can say amen? And yet, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Just because we have faith does not mean that straight away, we have the answers, the materialization, rather, the manifestation of what we are believing God for. The manifestation is God’s part and our part is to believe that God has this provision for us. We believe God for it, but the manifestation is not your part. It can manifest 30-fold, like your healing. If it’s 30-fold manifestation, guess what? You still have 70-fold not yet manifested. You still have the pain in your body but it’s lesser by 30%, right? And then, Jesus says 30-fold, 60-fold.
Now you’ve got more manifestation and less of that condition left, 40% of that condition. Now, then Jesus says what? Thirty-fold, sixty-fold and hundred-fold. What is 100-fold? The full manifestation. So our part is not to worry about the full manifestation. Our part is to just believe that we receive and thank God for it. Amen, thank God. That spirit of faith is what God is looking for. Can I have a good amen? Praise the name of Jesus. Oh man, you all look alive. Praise the Lord, hallelujah. Good to have an alive crowd in the morning, amen? Now let’s go right now to Luke chapter 4. Jesus is back in his hometown. And what is his hometown? Nazareth, amen.
And the Bible says that Jesus said these words: «No prophet is accepted in his own country». Another place he says: «A prophet is not without honor». In other words, a prophet has honor, except in his own country. And then he said this: «I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land; but to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath, in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow».
Now, this area, Tyre and Sidon, that was built by Alexander the Great. These are very famous cities of the Gentiles. In fact, one time, Tyre was actually all the way in the ocean and Sidon was over here, you have to cross it, it’s a special causeway and all that. It’s now destroyed, you’ll find remnants of it. But Alexander the Great built it and it became a big bustling city but it’s not Israel. It’s the north of Israel, it is a place of the Gentiles. And that’s where Elijah, Israel’s prophet, was told to go to.
Now, the Bible says there were many widows in the days of Elijah. Yet, who received the benefits of this prophet’s ministry? Who was the one that received the provisions pronounced through his mouth, amen? He told the widow of Zarephath, who is not even an Israeli, he said to her that: «Behold, the jar of meal, your jar of meal in your house will not run out. And the cruse of oil that you have,» amen? «That cruse of oil will become famous and become a star named Tom». Okay, never mind, it’s okay. Sorry, I just want to see whether you pay attention. And the cruse of oil, all right, will not fail. «So the barrel of meal will not run dry and your cruse of oil will not fail».
Let me just tell you this, that is provision for a household. Imagine you have flour to make bread and you have oil, the anointing oil and they use oil for the lamp. It is their electricity. It’s not just that, it’s for their food, amen, olive oil, which I recommend to cook with olive oil. It’s healthy oil, amen. Praise the Lord, amen. And who received the benefit? This widow of Zarephath. And she’s not even a Jew. She’s a Gentile. So first of all, we have the miracle of provision. Say, «Provision». Amen, the next one. «And many lepers», now Jesus’s response… what was Jesus doing? They were telling him, you know, he’s a carpenter’s son and they were talking among themselves. They were murmuring about him. And then he brought up this whole thing about the Gentiles. He brought up two miracles and only two miracles. And I just want to show you the reaction first, okay?
Drop down. «So all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath». Let’s ask ourselves the question, why were they angry with these two illustrations? You know, when he opened up the Scriptures, he was in his hometown synagogue and he stood up to read. They were not angry with him for standing up to read. And then he said: «The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He has anointed me to heal the broken heart, to open the doors to those who are bound, the prison doors to those who are bound, to proclaim liberty to the captives, to heal the broken heart, to preach the,» dektos in the Greek, «the acceptable year of the Lord».
Dektos is a year where God’s favors and goodness profusely abound. And then the day of vengeance of our God, he never quoted that. Isaiah’s portion, he was reading Isaiah’s portion, and in Isaiah, he didn’t just say: «To preach the acceptable year of the Lord,» comma, «the day of vengeance of our God». But Jesus closed the book at the acceptable year of the Lord, why? His First Coming is to bring God’s favor and goodness. And then he closed the book. And where he closed the book, we must close the book. He knew how to rightly divide the Word. Even then, they were not angry with him. But the Bible says all their eyes were fastened on him. When you are anointed, all the eyes are fastened on you.
And then he says this: «Today, this Scripture is fulfilled in your ears». And the Bible says, they were still not angry, they were, that’s when they started murmuring among themselves, you know? Show them the part where they were murmuring. Go back, okay, go back before that, okay. «He closed the book and the eyes of all them were fixed on Him. Then He began to say, 'Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.'» Look at their response: «All bore witness to Him and marveled at the gracious words».
God calls it the gracious words. When you preach about how the Lord wants to do things for you, that’s grace. Law is about what you need to do for God. Law is about you shall not, you shall not, you shall not. Mount Sinai, the message of Mount Sinai was you shall not, you shall not, you shall not. What day was that? Pentecost, amen? But in the New Testament, the day of Pentecost was come. It was not the works of man. You shall not, you shall not, you shall, you shall not. It was the works of God, they began to speak in tongues. The wonderful works of God, what God will do for you. That’s grace. So when we are under grace, we are conscious of what God is doing for us, what God has done for us first at the cross, in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, what God is doing for us, what God is doing in us, and what God is doing through us.
So we’re always conscious of God’s work, God’s present activity, and God’s future activity, amen? But we’re not conscious of our activity. It’s not about what I’ve done. It’s not about what I’m doing, or what I can do, or what I’ll do, that’s the law. Can I have a good amen? And again, they were not angry. They were murmuring but they were not angry. «And they said, 'Is this not Joseph’s son? '» Okay, so we drop down now to the second illustration. The first one was what? Jesus talked about provision. And the provision was actually granted. God blessed who, the Gentiles or a Jew?
Now, the Jews were God’s chosen people, amen? Yet God sent the Jewish prophet to a Gentile woman. And yet Jesus says there were many widows in the days of Elijah. But to none of them was Elijah sent. God sent to the widow of Zarephath, a Gentile, in a Gentile town. Now we look at another miracle, the miracle of healing, amen. So here Jesus says, «Many lepers»! Say, «Many lepers». Not a few, there were many lepers, where? In Israel, there were many lepers in the days of Elisha the prophet. So in the time of Elisha the prophet, there were many, many lepers. Just like there were many widows in the days of Elijah. There were many lepers in the days of Elisha. Many lepers, lepers need what? Healing, cleansing. «And none of them was cleansed,» none of them in Israel was cleansed, «except Naaman the Syrian».
And that’s why when Jesus touched the leper, it was a brand-new thing. Under the law, you touch the leper, the unclean make you the clean, unclean. Under grace, Jesus the clean made the unclean, clean. Grace has come, amen? And they knew back then, leprosy and blindness can only be cured by the Messiah. And that’s why after Jesus cleansed the leper, and the Bible tells us right after that, all the doctors of the law, all the Pharisees, all the who’s who in the Jerusalem temple, it doesn’t rhyme, but they came to Capernaum. They came to Galilee, why? To check him out, to check his credentials because finally, a leper got cleansed. And what did Jesus tell the leper? «Go offer the sacrifice as a testimony to them».
What testimony? The Messiah has come 'cause lepers have never been cleansed. So here we go. The only leper that was cleansed, we know of, is Naaman the Syrian, and he’s not a Jew, right? And yet the way Elisha did it is not by touching him, he cannot. The servant is not greater than the master, amen? So, no lepers were cleansed in Israel waiting for the Messiah to come. And the only miracle that happened, a cleansing of leprosy, was actually done to a Gentile from God directly. And even Elisha didn’t touch him. Elisha didn’t even meet him. Elisha says, when Elisha heard the news from Naaman the Syrian, the Syrian captain, that he wants to receive healing, right? Naaman says… what does Elisha say? Go dip yourself in the river Jordan seven times and you’ll be clean.
He cannot go out and touch him because that glory is reserved for another who is greater. Amen? Jesus doesn’t need the river. His word, his touch alone is enough. But Elisha is not the master, he’s the servant. So he says, «Go to the river Jordan». And he dipped himself seven times. What happened? His flesh came clean like a baby. I’m believing God for that. Every time I read that, I say, «Lord, you can do it for Naaman the Syrian who is probably an older man, you can do it for me,» amen? I’m a Gentile, praise God, amen? I don’t know how many times I’ve dipped myself in the swimming pool but I’m telling you, one of these days, why you all laugh? At least 30-fold, no 30-fold manifestations? God bless you all. Amen, it cannot happen to your pastor, it will not happen to you, you know. Because I’m your, like, I’m the under-shepherd, right, right?
So Jesus blessed, the Bible says, the oil comes on the body. No, the oil comes on the beard. The beard are the elders. Then it comes on the body. No oil on the beard, no oil on the body. Pray that your leaders get blessed first. Because once you see your leaders blessed, you are saying, «I’m next». It always comes like this. God never bypassed right here, amen, never, never. It comes like this. The anointing comes like that. It’s the way he has made it, all right? But we are just under-shepherds. All the elders in the church are just under-shepherds. We are here, we don’t believe we are over you. We believe we are under you, pushing you up to Jesus, amen?
So here we go, this is a miracle of, say what? Healing or provision? Healing, good. «So all those in the synagogue», now, this is when they got mad. «So all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath». They were angry! You know what’s filled? It’s one thing to be angry. It’s another thing to be filled with wrath. Now you are possessed. You are very angry. It shows in your eyeballs, your teeth gritting. And they look at Jesus and they want to kill him. And that’s what they plan to do. «And so they rose up and thrust Him out of the city, and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built».
And I’ve been there where the city of Nazareth goes all the way like this and there’s a plunge, there’s a drop, a huge drop. So they plan to throw him over. Why were they so mad? Why were they so mad? Let’s see what happened by the way. Let me just relieve your tension. It was just thrown down. Look at how he went through it all. How? The Bible says: «That they might throw Him down the cliff. Then passing through the midst of them, He went His way». They pushed him all the way, the crowd, imagine a crowd. There’s no way he can resist the crowd. They pushed him all the way to the edge and then he did this… and he walked through it.
And like the Red Sea, I thought he’s the one that opened the Red Sea and it opened up and he walked right through and no one could touch him. And you know what? Of all the anointing he had to heal everyone that was sick in that city, he just moved on to the next city. He didn’t fight them. He didn’t curse them. He just moved on. That’s what grace does. You don’t want it, it will not force itself on you. It will just move on to somebody who wants to receive it. I love it, I love the way he walked right through them. Can I have a good amen? Do you know how you receive it? When you don’t deserve it. It’s given by grace. It is given by grace.
Provision is given by grace to people who don’t deserve it, amen? Naaman didn’t deserve it, he’s a Gentile. He has no title to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He has no claims on the covenant of Israel. He has no claims whatsoever. He depends on the mercy and the grace of God. It is not the goodness of Naaman that got him healed. It was not the goodness of that widow woman of Zarephath that got the provision. It was the goodness of the Lord, amen? It is Jesus that provided all these things. And he’s now in person in Nazareth. And they could receive provision. They could receive healing because the one who healed them and provided for them is now in their midst. And they missed it. They missed it. We all have our challenges.
There are things that we cannot understand, you know, we believe God, we seem to, but we don’t seem to have the manifestation. Does that mean we stop preaching the truth of Isaiah 53, what he did for us? Does that mean that we forget 3 John 2? A lot of people are angry at people who preach on healing because they have lost a loved one, all right? Or they have lost someone and they don’t want to accept. But it’s not that matter, my friend, it’s not that. Just because we failed, does not mean the truth of God’s Word need to be compromised. Maybe there will come a time, a special anointing where all of us can receive easily. Until then, we are learning, but we cannot let go of the fact that healing is provided for us in the atoning work of Jesus. It’s not just when God feels like he wants to heal people, but you need to know in your own personal life, you can receive through Communion. You can receive your faith.
Just believe God, you know, and have a time of fellowship with God and when you receive it, you mark that time in your diary, you know, put that in your smartphone: «On this date, on this time, I receive my healing». From then on, the devil cannot deter you from that. Just go back to your note and say, «No, this was the day I received». When the pain comes back, «No, this is the day I received». There’ll be counter attacks, amen, but you go back to what you have received. Can I have a good amen? So are we to compromise because the people say, «Well, you know, in the healing meeting, not everybody got healed».
It’s the same thing, you go to a Billy Graham rally and the whole purpose of the rally is to get everyone saved, every sinner saved if possible. But again, in every rally, even a great man like Billy Graham will have people walking out unsaved. But thank God for those who are saved. The thing is this, if you preach healing, many people will start to rise, more people will get healed. But if you don’t preach it at all because of your experience, then guess what? People all stay at this level.
So don’t penalize the church that preaches healing. Don’t be angry with the church that preach healing. In fact, you might be next, and thank God for the church that believes in healing. But we don’t believe because we choose to believe. We believe because it’s in the work of Jesus at the cross. Do you know that in all the sacrifice that we know of, the animal is brought to the tabernacle, the temple, and then they’ll find a vein here where a very sharp blade, knife, the priest will just slice it or the offeror will have to do it. Sometimes the priest does it, the offeror does it, depending on what kind of offering it is. And he will expose that vein, and then we have a quick stroke. Painless.
The animal loses consciousness and dies and then it’s offered there. It’s a picture of Jesus on the cross, right? Am I right? But Jesus wasn’t painless. All the sacrifices that Israel offered, they offered in a merciful way. Even the Jewish tell you which vein to choose. Even a big bullock, they have a special vein here. They make them unconscious before they kill them or offer them on the altar of burnt offering. But Jesus was scourged. Most likely, 40 minus 1, which is 39 times.
Do you know what that does to your back? When the leather thongs of metal and crushed glass and hooks and spikes, just one lash wraps around your body. It’s not like you hit with the rattan, you know, we call it the cane. It is something that wraps around your body and then they jerk and flesh will fly out. That’s one stroke. All the animal sacrifices were never tortured before they are killed. Jesus was. He’s the only one who was tortured before he was put on the cross. Why? I never saw this until I saw the love of God. Because with his stripes, you are healed.
And there is something beyond the sacrifices they offered in the temple. It was straight, killing the animal and then putting on the altar a burnt offering. Jesus went through scourging. It wasn’t a mistake on the part of Pilate. It was a sovereign will of God. As sure as that stripe fell on his back, just as sure, your cancer died. That disease has lost its hold over you, amen? People are being healed even right now in Jesus’s name. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Just receive it in Jesus’s name. Everyone that’s watching this right now, receive it in Jesus’s name.