JESUS SENT THEM TO PREACH & HEAL!
by Pastor Max Solbrekken, D.D.
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Rev. George Goertzen
There were so many SICK people who needed healing that Jesus commissioned His Twelve disciples to do what He did: “He gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of disease.
And as you go preach, saying, The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.” (Matt.10: 1,7,8; Mark 6:7)
THE RESULTS: “And they went out, and preached that men should repent. And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them.” (Mark 6: 13).
As His Ministry increased, He appointed another SEVENTY disciples to preach the Gospel and heal the sick:
“After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before His face unto every city and place whither He Himself would come.
'And into whatsoever city ye shall enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you: and heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The Kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.” (Luke 10: 1, 8, 9)
THE RESULTS: “And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils (demons) are subject unto us through Thy name. And He said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from Heaven.
"Behold I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” (Luke 10:17-19)
Before ascending to Heaven, our Lord gave the Great Commission to all believers: "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
“And these signs shall follow them that believe. In MY name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
"They shall take up serpents (like St. Paul at Malta); and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them (Prison guards in USSR did this to Pentecostal preachers); they shall lay their hands on the sick, and they shall recover." (Mark 16: 15-18)
THE RESULTS: “And they went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the Word with SIGNS following.” (Mark 16: 20)
St. James wrote: "Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them PRAY over him, anointing him with OIL (symbol of the Holy Spirit) in the Name of the Lord:
"And the prayer of Faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he hath committed sins, they shall be forgiven him." (James 5: 14, 15)
We believe in God's promises because they are true and cannot fail! Jesus stated that even if heaven and earth were to vanish His WORDS would stand true:
“And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.” (Luke 16: 17); “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My Words shall not pass away.” (Matt. 24: 35)
Our God cannot change. It is impossible for Him to change. He cannot and will not change! (Mal. 3:5; Isa. 40:8; Psalm 119: 89; Heb.1:10-12; Rev.1:18)
Our God cannot lie. It is impossible for Him to lie. He cannot and will not lie! (Psalm 19: 7-9; Isaiah 45: 3; John 14:6; 17: 3,17; Heb.6:18)
Our God cannot fail. It is impossible for God to fail. He cannot and will not fail! (1 Kings 8: 56; Joshua 23: 14; Psalm 50:15; Psa. 91: 15)
Our God is available 24/7. He never slumbers nor sleeps. He is not too busy to hear our request or answer our prayer`. He never gets old or dies! (Psalm 121:1-8; Isa. 41:10; Heb.13: 5; Matt.28: 20; Matt. 11:28; Matt. 7: 7-8; Matt. 18: 18-20)
Here are two Scripture texts that have driven me to my knees in repentance and compassion to do more for Him and my fellowman:
“And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge and stand in the Gap before Me for the land, that I should Not destroy it: but I found none.” (Ezekiel 22: 30);
“And He saw that there was NO MAN and He WONDERED that there was no intercessor: therefore His arm brought salvation unto Him; and His righteousness, it sustained Him.” (Isa.59: 15, 16)
Almighty God Who made the worlds and created man in His own image wondered why no one cared about the plight of fallen man. He wondered why there was no intercessor!
And I believe that today, He still wonders why so few really care about the lost condition of mankind who have not yet heard about the Saviour Who shed His precious BLOOD for their eternal souls.
CHRIST`S MIRACLES PROVES GOD`S LOVE
Clearly, when people reject the miracles of God in His amazing creative work of giving and sustaining life, the perfect order of His universe and His graciousness of adopting us into His Family through the sacrifice of His Son, they have committed the gravest of all sins!
CHARLES DARWIN is a prime example of making a deliberate choice to turn from the greatness of Almighty God our Creator and give the praise and glory to something called Chance or Evolution.
Based on his faulty reasoning HE REJECTED THE MIRACLES OF CHRIST. Historical records show the following sad facts: “Having abandoned the Old Testament, Darwin then renounced the Gospels.
'This loss of belief was based on several factors, including HIS REJECTION OF MIRACLES: "The more we know of the fixed laws of nature, the more incredible do miracles become"; HIS REJECTION OF THE CREDIBILITY OF THE GOSPEL WRITERS:
"The men of that time were ignorant and credulous to a degree almost incomprehensible to us"; HIS REJECTION OF THE GOSPEL CHRONOLOGY: "The Gospels cannot be proved to have been written simultaneously with the events";
AND HIS REJECTION OF THE GOSPEL EVENTS; "They differ in many important details, far too important, as it seemed to me, to be admitted as the usual inaccuracies of eye-witnesses."
MANKIND'S DOWNWARD PLUNGE!
St. Paul outlines the downward spiral of the perverts he spoke of in his letter to the Roman Church. They began by KNOWING GOD and ended up worshiping inanimate objects and animals and having orgies of perverted sex!
“For the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath showed it unto them.
“For the invisible things of Him from the CREATION of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
Because that, when they KNEW GOD, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
“Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four footed beasts, and creeping things;
“Wherefore God also GAVE THEM UP to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves. Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
“For this cause GOD GAVE THEM UP unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
"And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their LUST one toward another; men working with men that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet.
“And even as they did not like to RETAIN GOD in their knowledge, GOD GAVE THEM OVER to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient, being filled with ALL unrighteousness ...” (Rom. 1:18-32)
MIRACLES TURN PEOPLE TO GOD!
The Miracles of God in Creation, the giving of life and the sustenance thereof to the human family and every living thing, the plant and animal kingdoms, the earth, sea and air and the perfection and orderliness of the planets, the vastness of outer space and the ever expanding cosmos, all point us heavenward in praise and worship to our Maker, Lord and Saviour!
There are many reasons why Jesus Christ - True God from eternity and true Man born of the Virgin Mary - performed miracles everywhere He went while on this terrestrial ball.
He performed miracles because of His great love for humanity.
He performed miracles because of His compassion toward the sick and suffering. He performed miracles to fulfill the Holy Scriptures concerning Himself.
He performed miracles to prove that He is God. He performed miracles because He had come to destroy Satan’s works and his kingdom.
One of the MAIN REASONS,however, why Jesus Christ performed miracles while here is because He wanted earthlings to repent of their sins and become a part of His Kingdom.
Miracles prove the goodness of God and the “goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance.” (Rom.2: 4)
Jesus was provoked over the sinfulness and hardness of hearts He witnessed among God’s Chosen People, the Jewish nation. He made it very clear that He expected that the miracles He did for them would cause men to repent of their sins and turn to God.
The very purpose of His great works was to show mankind His love and compassion!
After Jesus had performed great miracles of healing and deliverance among them, they still asked for a SIGN. Their hardness of heart is difficult for me to understand!
He answered that there would be no sign given except the Sign of the Prophet Jonah who had been three days and nights in the belly of that ‘great fish’, referring to His own death and resurrection (Mark 8:12).
In their hatred for Jesus of Nazareth, they said that He was healing the sick and casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub, the prince of demons! (Mark 3:22-30)
When God performed great miracles through the Apostles after Christ's resurrection, the religious leaders were upset and sought to destroy them!
When they could no longer deny the miracles, they said that Jesus was a sinner and that the healed person should give God the glory. (John 9:4).
Finally, they threatened and beat Jesus' followers and forbade them to speak or pray in His name: “And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.
But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves, saying, "What shall we do with these men, for that indeed a notable miracle hath been done by them is manifest to all that dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.
“But that it spread no further among the people, let us straightly threaten them that they speak henceforth to no man in this name. And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.” (Acts 4: 14-18)
HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF!
History repeats itself and we have seen some of the above in our ministry.
In our 1965 Gospel Tent Crusade in Winnipeg, a young man from the Evangelical Mennonite Church was instantly healed in his arm which had been broken and not set properly at 2 ½ half years old. When he shared with his Pastor the miracle that had happened, he was told that the devil did the miracle.
I demanded that his pastor come to the TENT and make that public statement in our crusade, and that he was on dangerous ground calling the Holy Spirit a devil (Mark 3:30).
When confronted, his pastor confessed that he had lied and that he had done so to keep him from leaving the Mennonite Church and attending a Pentecostal church.
The young man and his family eventually left that church for a Full Gospel Church where they would hear the truth of God’s Word declared! Rev. George Goertzen later became a powerful preacher of the Full Gospel!
One of the greatest proofs that Miracles of Healing and Deliverance are for today is found in Jesus’ words of judgment upon the people who had seen His miracles in Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum and had not repented.
Their hearts were so hardened, selfish and sinful that they would not repent. Miracles cause sinners to repent and believe the Gospel!
After I had been born again and baptized in the Holy Spirit, due to my work as a commercial Traveller, I encountered various Ministers from the cults as well as Evangelical and Mainline Protestant Churches.
Due to my upbringing in the Evangelical Lutheran Church (when it preached holiness) and my ongoing study of theology, I was constantly challenged about about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and the Gifts of the Spirit, like Divine Healing!
One young evangelical Minister said: “Miracles were given in the Early Church to prove that Jesus Christ rose from the dead, however, now that everyone knows that Jesus Christ rose from the dead, we don’t need miracles anymore!”
I thought, “How ignorant can one be. The world and our own nation is rushing toward an eternal Hell at breakneck speed, wickedness and ungodliness is all around us, the Church is lukewarm at best, false cults and demon powers are gaining ascendancy, and an Evangelical Pastor says that everyone knows that Jesus Christ arose from the dead!”
The Bible records: “Then began He to upbraid the cities wherein most of his Mightiest Works had been done because THEY REPENTED NOT: Woe unto thee Chorazin! Woe unto thee, Bethsaida!
"For if the Mighty Works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre or Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you.
“And thou Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shall be brought down to hell: for if the Mighty Works that which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.
But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of Judgment, than for thee.” (Matt 11: 20-24)
EVEN HOMOSEXUAL PERVERTS!
Jesus declared that if the perverts in Sodom would have seen the Great Miracles that Christ performed in Capernaum, they would have repented! Imagine, hardened perverts being converted by the powerful manifestation of Christ's Miracles!!!
Why wouldn't every sincere Preacher of the Gospel want to see God's miracles so that sinners everywhere would repent and believe on Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour?
My prayer is that every Minister of the Gospel gets filled with the blessed Holy Spirit and begins to preach the Gospel with great unction, compassion and love, reaching out to the sick and suffering with the promises of God to hear and answer prayer!
And now, may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father, and the fellowship and the communion of the Holy Spirit be and abide with us all, until Jesus comes. (2 Cor.13:14)
“The Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make His face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee and give thee peace, in Jesus’ name, Amen.” (Num.6: 24-26)
“Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that worketh in us. Unto Him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20,21)
Max Solbrekken World Mission Box 44220 RP0 Garside Edmonton, AB T5V 1N6 Email:[email protected]; comehometojesus.ca; Blog: MSWM; Youtube; FaceBook. Donations can be made by e-Transfer. Make donation to [email protected]. God bless you.
