Many Christians go into ministry and stand on a principle of what they call “the authority of the believer”. What this means is that they apply certain New Testament scriptures that gives them authority to lay hands on the sick, cast out demons etc. What I want to show here is that believers who simply put scripture in action, are missing one big component to their ministry, relationship with the Lord.
In the days of Adam, God was determining everything that was good for Adam. Furthermore, throughout the old testament, every true prophet of the Lord received instruction from the Lord before doing something. The bible says in John 1:1-3 and in Colossians 1:16-17 that all things were created by Jesus and for the Glory of Jesus. On the contrary, things that are done without the Glory of Christ in mind, or without the premeditation of the Lord will are not done to the Glory of Christ, but to the glory of another. In John 15:5-6 the bible goes so far as to say any work outside of Christ is a dead work and shall be unfruitful.
Believers who pray for the sick will often quote scriptures like “Matthew 10:8, or Mark 16:17-18” to validate that there actions are in accordance with scripture. They’ll say things like “I’ve been given authority to pray for the sick in Jesus name”. While this is true, and acting upon The Word of God produces fruit ( Luke 6:47-48) relationship cannot be neglected. In Luke 4:18-19 Jesus said “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord”. The question becomes, why didn’t Jesus quote this verse when praying for the sick or while being questioned by the Pharisees? We see here that Jesus was given a similar mandate to us (Matthew 10:8, Mark 16:17-18) yet His approach to ministry was not “I’ve been given authority to do this, or this is what I was called to do”. We’ll see that Jesus had a very different approach to the way He both acted in ministry and the way He justified what He was doing.
He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.
Darby Bible Translation
He sendeth his word, and healeth them, and delivereth them from their destructions.
World English Bible
He sends his word, and heals them, and delivers them from their graves.
Young's Literal Translation
He sendeth His word and healeth them, And delivereth from their destructions.
Psalm 107:20 Parallel
{h} He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their {i} destructions.
He sendeth his word, and healeth them, and delivereth them from their destructions. 'He That Healeth Thee' is a Christian prayerbook filled with scripture-based affirmations that address the emotions one experiences while processing the transition from brokenness to healing, wholeness and well-being. These prayers of affirmation will enable you to:-Change what you think, say and do in any circumstance. And he said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his eyes, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases upon thee, which I have put upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee. Good News Translation He said, 'If you. And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.
(h) By healing them he declares his good will toward them.
(i) Meaning their diseases, which had almost brought them to the grave and corruption.Psalm 107:20 Parallel Commentaries
God's great Deliverance of His People.--Ps. cvii. part I.--The Wilderness. part II.--From Captivity. part III. From Malignant Disease. part IV. Perils on the Deep. Thank and praise Jehovah's name For his mercies firm and sure, From eternity the same, To eternity endure. Let the ransom'd thus rejoice, Gather'd out of every land; As the people of his choice, Pluck'd from the destroyer's hand. In the wilderness astray, Hither, thither, while they roam, Hungry, fainting by the way, Far from refuge, …
James Montgomery—Sacred Poems and Hymns
Thankfulness for Mercies Received, a Necessary Duty
Numberless marks does man bear in his soul, that he is fallen and estranged from God; but nothing gives a greater proof thereof, than that backwardness, which every one finds within himself, to the duty of praise and thanksgiving. When God placed the first man in paradise, his soul no doubt was so filled with a sense of the riches of the divine love, that he was continually employing that breath of life, which the Almighty had not long before breathed into him, in blessing and magnifying that all-bountiful, …
George Whitefield—Selected Sermons of George Whitefield
He Accuses Abaelard for Preferring his Own Opinions and Even Fancies to the Unanimous Consent of the Fathers, Especially Where He Declares that Christ did Not
He accuses Abaelard for preferring his own opinions and even fancies to the unanimous consent of the Fathers, especially where he declares that Christ did not become incarnate in order to save man from the power of the devil. 11. I find in a book of his sentences, and also in an exposition of his of the Epistle to the Romans, that this rash inquirer into the Divine Majesty attacks the mystery of our Redemption. He admits in the very beginning of his disputation that there has never been but one conclusion …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux
Exposition of Chap. Iii. (ii. 28-32. )
Ver. 1. 'And it shall come to pass, afterwards, I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.' The communication of the Spirit of God was the constant prerogative of the Covenant-people. Indeed, the very idea of such a people necessarily requires it. For the Spirit of God is the only inward bond betwixt Him and that which is created; a Covenant-people, therefore, without such an inward …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament
I Am He That Healeth Thee
Concerning the Lord's Supper
There are two passages which treat in the clearest manner of this subject, and at which we shall look,--the statements in the Gospels respecting the Lord's Supper, and the words of Paul. (1 Cor. xi.) Matthew, Mark, and Luke agree that Christ gave the whole sacrament to all His disciples; and that Paul taught both parts of it is so certain, that no one has yet been shameless enough to assert the contrary. Add to this, that according to the relation of Matthew, Christ did not say concerning the bread, …
Martin Luther—First Principles of the Reformation
Effects of Messiah's Appearance
The eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped: Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing. H ow beautiful and magnificent is the imagery, by which the Prophet, in this chapter, represents the effects of MESSIAH'S appearance! The scene, proposed to our view, is a barren and desolate wilderness. But when He, who in the beginning said, Let there be light, and there was light, condescends to visit this wilderness, the face of nature is …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1
Concerning Christian Liberty
CHRISTIAN faith has appeared to many an easy thing; nay, not a few even reckon it among the social virtues, as it were; and this they do, because they have not made proof of it experimentally, and have never tasted of what efficacy it is. For it is not possible for any man to write well about it, or to understand well what is rightly written, who has not at some time tasted of its spirit, under the pressure of tribulation. While he who has tasted of it, even to a very small extent, can never write, …
Martin Luther—First Principles of the Reformation
Memoir of John Bunyan
THE FIRST PERIOD. THIS GREAT MAN DESCENDED FROM IGNOBLE PARENTS--BORN IN POVERTY--HIS EDUCATION AND EVIL HABITS--FOLLOWS HIS FATHER'S BUSINESS AS A BRAZIER--ENLISTS FOR A SOLDIER--RETURNS FROM THE WARS AND OBTAINS AN AMIABLE, RELIGIOUS WIFE--HER DOWER. 'We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.'--2 Cor 4:7 'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.'--Isaiah 55:8. 'Though ye have lien among the …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3
Concerning Christian Liberty
Christian faith has appeared to many an easy thing; nay, not a few even reckon it among the social virtues, as it were; and this they do because they have not made proof of it experimentally, and have never tasted of what efficacy it is. For it is not possible for any man to write well about it, or to understand well what is rightly written, who has not at some time tasted of its spirit, under the pressure of tribulation; while he who has tasted of it, even to a very small extent, can never write, …
Martin Luther—Concerning Christian Liberty
He Is Jehovah The God That Healeth Thee
'Nineveh, that Great City'
Among the cities of the ancient world in the days of divided Israel one of the greatest was Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian realm. Founded on the fertile bank of the Tigris, soon after the dispersion from the tower of Babel, it had flourished through the centuries until it had become 'an exceeding great city of three days' journey.' Jonah 3:3. In the time of its temporal prosperity Nineveh was a center of crime and wickedness. Inspiration has characterized it as 'the bloody city, . . . full …
Ellen Gould White—The Story of Prophets and Kings