Text: I Corinthians 12:4, 9, 11

 4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.  

9 To another faith by the same Spirit;  to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;

11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.      

Monday, 15^th April 2024        

THE HOLY SPIRIT ENABLES HEALINGS

Text: I Corinthians 12:4, 9, 11

Memory verse: Acts 10: 38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.

What glorifies and distinguishes the children of God and unbelievers is that God dwells in the midst of them and reveals Himself to them in power. Under the New Covenant this dwelling of God in the believer is still more manifested than in former times. God sends the Holy Spirit to His Church, which is the Body of Christ, to act in her with power, and her life and her prosperity depend on Him. The Spirit must find in her unreserved, full liberty, that she may be recognized as the Church of Christ, the Lord’s Body. In every age the Church may look for manifestations of the Spirit, for they form our enduring unity; “one body and one Spirit” Ephesians 4:4. It is possible to be filled with the Spirit for one special work and not for another. There are also times in the history of the Church when certain gifts of the Spirit are given with power, while at the same time ignorance or unbelief may hinder other gifts. Wherever the Spirit is found more abundantly, we may expect Him to manifest all His gifts. The gift of healing is one of the most beautiful manifestations of the Spirit. It is recorded of Jesus, “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him”. The Holy Spirit in Him was a healing Spirit, and He was the same in the disciples after Pentecost. The abundant pouring out of the Spirit produced abundant healings. What a lesson for the Church in our days.

Divine healing is the work of the Holy Spirit. Christ’s redemption extends it, powerful working to the body, and the Holy Spirit is responsible both to transmit it and maintain it in us. Our body shares in the benefit of the redemption, and even now it can receive the covenant of it by divine healing. It is Jesus who heals, Jesus who anoints and baptizes with the Holy Spirit. Jesus, who baptized His disciples with the same Spirit, He who sends us the Holy Spirit here on earth, either to keep sickness away from us, or to restore us to health when sickness has taken hold on us.

Divine healing accompanies the sanctification by the Spirit. It is to make us holy that the Holy Spirit makes us partakers of Christ’s redemption. Hence His name “Holy.” Therefore, the healing which He works is a fundamental part of His divine mission, and He bestows it either to lead the sick one to be converted and to believe or to confirm his faith if he is already converted, He constrains him thus to renounce sin, and to consecrate himself entirely to God and to His service. Divine healing tends to glorify Jesus. It is God’s will that His Son should be glorified, and the Holy Spirit does this when He comes to show us what the redemption of Christ does for us. The redemption of the mortal body appears almost more marvelous than that of the immortal soul. In these two ways God’s will is to dwell in us through Christ, and thus to triumph over the flesh. As soon as our body becomes the temple of God through the Spirit, Jesus is glorified. Divine healing takes place wherever the Spirit of God works in power. Let us live in a holy expectation, praying to the Lord to accomplish them in us.

CGDS HYMN 28: SS&S 190: 

COME, HOLY SPIRIT, COME

1. Come, Holy Spirit, come;

Let Thy bright beams arise,

Dispel the darkness from our minds,

And open all our eyes.

2. Revive our drooping faith,

Our doubts and fears remove,

And kindle in our breasts the flame

Of never-dying love.

3. Convince us of our sin,

Then lead to Jesus' blood,

And to our wondering view reveal

The secret love of God.

4. ‘Tis Thine to cleanse the heart,

To sanctify the soul,

To pour fresh life in every part,

And new-create the whole.

5. Dwell therefore in our hearts,

Our minds from bondage free ;

Then we shall know, and praise, and love

The Father, Son, and Thee !  

   Prayers: 

1.  Lord Jesus, manifest Yourself in my mortal body by the Spirit.

2.  LORD God Almighty, let the same Spirit that brought my Lord Jesus from the grave also quicken and heal my mortal body and my immortal Soul in Jesus’ name. Amen.    

3.  Pray for others in this regard.