Sickness if of the devil
What is the Will of God concerning healing • Sermon • Submitted
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Sickness Is of the Devil
Sickness Is of the Devil
says, “So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.” Who did it? Satan did it.
Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.
Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.
The New Living Translation says, “Satan left the Lord’s presence, and he struck Job with a terrible case of boils from head to foot.” Who did it? Satan did it.
Now, just a few verses later, Job says, “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” It’s good that Job didn’t turn against the Lord or curse Him, but Job did not know that the devil did this to him. As you read scripture after scripture and chapter after chapter, you see that Job was completely oblivious to the devil.
Job was in the dark about who was doing this to him, but millions of Christians who are still accusing God of making them sick have no excuse. We have the Bible, right? If the Bible says the devil did it, why would you keep saying God is doing it?
Reason number six we are sure it’s God’s will for all to be healed is because sickness is a work of the devil.
The Bible says, “In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.” () In Job’s case, here’s one witness: Who does the Bible say made Job sick? It’s inescapable. According to , it is clear that the devil did it; he made Job sick.
In , what kind of disease is it talking about? Do you know of any scriptures that talk about good diseases? “An evil disease, say they, cleaveth fast unto him: and now that he lieth he shall rise up no more.” The New International Version calls it “a vile disease.” Sickness is vile.
“A wicked thing is poured out upon him,
That when he lies down, he will not rise up again.”
“A wicked thing is poured out upon him,
That when he lies down, he will not rise up again.”
I want you to see this verse in the Young’s Literal Translation because Young is the same author of Young’s Analytical Concordance. If you want a really good literal translation, look at that. It’s not easy to read, but it’s just like the original. He says, “A thing of Belial is poured out on him.” Who is Belial? Belial is a name for the devil, right? “A thing of the devil.” What is he talking about? He is talking about disease. So that makes two witnesses.
Did you see that phrase “evil disease”? God is not involved in anything evil, is He? Certainly not. Is disease evil? The psalm says it is. Is sickness evil? You’ll hear people saying, “Well, we just don’t really know what’s good and what’s evil. God knows, and we don’t know enough to know. I mean, maybe we think this disease is bad, but you know, it may be good, and we just don’t know it.” Have you ever heard people talking like this? Are we really to believe that God does not want us to know the difference between what’s good and what’s evil? Then how would we know if we have His will or we don’t, or whether we are doing His will or not?
If someone asks, “Are you doing good?” Do you answer, “I don’t know. I’m doing evil, but it might be good, because you just never know”?
Or, “This thing on your life—is it bad or good?” Do you say, “I don’t know. God is so high above us and beyond us, we just can’t understand His ways, and I know it feels bad, and I don’t like it, but it could be good.”
Then you are hopelessly confused as to whether you’re in the will of God or out of the will of God, or whether you should receive something or resist it.
People say, “I feel confused, but that’s just the way it is.”
No, that is not the way it is. Ephesians tells us not to be foolish or unwise, but to understand what the will of the Lord is. (5:17) That’s why He gave us the Bible. That’s why He gave us the Holy Spirit. He’s not trying to hide things from us. He wants us to know plainly and clearly. If it’s good, receive it. If it’s evil, resist it. If it’s good, do it. If it’s evil, stay away from it. He wants us to be crystal clear on what’s good and what’s evil.
Well, what do you need to convince you that sickness is bad? We have two witnesses already. What’s a witness in Job? The devil did it. Who made Job sick? The devil did it, as plain as you can read it.
The psalm says that disease is a thing of the devil, and it’s evil.
There are some more witnesses in the New Testament. In , a woman was bent over for 18 years and couldn’t straighten herself up.
Jesus spoke to her that she was loosed. He laid His hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and glorified God. Nothing is said about her glorifying God those 18 years that she was stooped over. But as soon as she was loosed and straightened up, it says that she glorified God.
In verse 14, it says, Hypocrite! They never had a healing day. They never had a day when they were going to lay hands on her and get her straight.
But the synagogue official, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, began saying to the crowd in response, “There are six days in which work should be done; so come during them and get healed, and not on the Sabbath day.”
But the synagogue official, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, began saying to the crowd in response, “There are six days in which work should be done; so come during them and get healed, and not on the Sabbath day.”
They had 18 years with her, and nothing happened. says, When Jesus calls you a hypocrite, you’re a hypocrite. “Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?”
But the Lord answered him and said, “You hypocrites, does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the stall and lead him away to water him?
Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him.
Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
So He told them this parable, saying,
“What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?
“When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
“And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’
“I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
“Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?
“When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!’
“In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
And He said, “A man had two sons.
“The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.’ So he divided his wealth between them.
“And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living.
“Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished.
“So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
“And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him.
“But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger!
‘I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight;
I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.” ’
“So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.
“And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
“But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet;
and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate;
for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ And they began to celebrate.
“Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing.
“And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things could be.
“And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.’
“But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him.
“But he answered and said to his father, ‘Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends;
but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’
“And he said to him, ‘Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours.
‘But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.’ ”
But the Lord answered him and said, “You hypocrites, does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the stall and lead him away to water him?
What was wrong with her? She was physically bent over. You’ve seen folks like that, who couldn’t straighten up. She was bent over. People might have called it “curvature of the spine,” or just arthritis. It was some kind of disease that had her bent over, and what did Jesus say it was? That it was His Father teaching her something? No. Where did this come from then? Who did that to this woman?
Some might say, “Well, now, it said in that specific instance that the devil did it. But, sometimes it’s the Lord working out...” “Sometimes it’s the devil, and sometimes it’s the Lord, and you just never know what God’s going to…”
Do you see how ignorant this is? Do God and the devil ever swap jobs? There are people who will try to tell you that sometimes the devil heals people, and there are a lot of people who will tell you that God makes people sick for numerous and varied reasons. They are just completely ignoring verse after verse of Scripture.
Here’s a third witness. It ought to be established by now, in the mouths of two or three witnesses. says that the devil made him sick. says that sickness is an evil thing, a thing of the devil. In , Jesus, the Head of the Church, Who knows what He’s talking about, calls this woman’s physical problem “satanic bondage.” Doesn’t he? I accept that.
Say this out loud: “Sickness is of the devil. It’s evil, satanic bondage.” We’re quoting the Bible.
We are sure, convinced, and persuaded that it’s God’s will—His perfect will—for all of us to be healed today. Why? Among other reasons, because sickness is a work of the devil.
How about another witness? says, “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good…”
“You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
“You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
Did He ever do any evil? Of course not. He only did good, and what was part of the good He was doing? “He went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with Him.” According to the Holy Spirit, speaking here through the Book of Acts, everyone to whom Jesus ministered healing was oppressed of the devil. It didn’t say He went about doing good and healing people who were oppressed of God, or that God put sickness on them to teach them something. No, everyone who Jesus healed, the Scripture says, was satanically oppressed. According to , sickness and disease are satanic oppression.
We could keep going, but are four witnesses enough? How many more do we need? In the mouths of two, it can be established from the Bible.
Let’s go over these again. says that the devil made him sick. It doesn’t say God did it. The devil did it. says that disease is evil, a thing of Belial, a thing of the devil. says that sickness is satanic bondage, and to the woman who was bound, Jesus said, “She ought to be free. She ought to be loosed from this satanic bondage.”
You never hear Him saying God was teaching her something, or that it wasn’t God’s timing for her to be healed yet. You hear that out of the mouths of preachers, or in seminaries, but you never hear it in the New Testament.
Jesus ministered to a lot of people. The Bible says that multitudes were healed in one day— multitudes being thousands. (; ) It says that as many as had this or that wrong with them, when they brought them to Jesus, again and again they were healed—every one of them; they were all healed. Not even one was told, “It’s not time. Sorry, not for you. No, not yet.” No, all were healed. It says all of them that were healed—and there were many—were all oppressed of the devil. The devil did it. It was a thing of the devil, satanic bondage, satanic oppression. Is that enough for us to believe that sickness is bad and that it is a work of the devil?
and large crowds followed Him, and He healed them there.
But Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. Many followed Him, and He healed them all,
and large crowds followed Him, and He healed them there.
But Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. Many followed Him, and He healed them all,
If you live a long, full life—to be 100 plus years old—you’re going to have to overcome a lot between now and then, because your body is mortal. Even if you never have a physical problem, somebody you know is going to need this. Somebody is going to need this sooner than later.
So you want to get this in you. It’s not an imaginary and fantastic theory. This is biblical reality. It will work for you. You can be healed. Your family can be healed. Your friends can be healed. Your coworkers can be healed, and you need to believe it so strongly that it just oozes out of your pores. People who don’t even believe it will hang around you for a bit and start believing it themselves. They will say, “Man! You really believe this stuff,” and you will say, “Yes, I do. I’ve seen it.”
In , the Israelites have been delivered from Egyptian bondage. They’ve come through the Red Sea, and they’ve gone a few days without finding water, so they’re all very thirsty. says, “And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah.” Marah means “bitter” or “bitterness.” “And the people murmured…” They did what?
When they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter; therefore it was named Marah.
“You shall not bear a false report; do not join your hand with a wicked man to be a malicious witness.
“You shall not follow the masses in doing evil, nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after a multitude in order to pervert justice;
nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his dispute.
“If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey wandering away, you shall surely return it to him.
“If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying helpless under its load, you shall refrain from leaving it to him, you shall surely release it with him.
“You shall not pervert the justice due to your needy brother in his dispute.
“Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent or the righteous, for I will not acquit the guilty.
“You shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of the just.
“You shall not oppress a stranger, since you yourselves know the feelings of a stranger, for you also were strangers in the land of Egypt.
“You shall sow your land for six years and gather in its yield,
but on the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, so that the needy of your people may eat; and whatever they leave the beast of the field may eat. You are to do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.
“Six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you shall cease from labor so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female slave, as well as your stranger, may refresh themselves.
“Now concerning everything which I have said to you, be on your guard; and do not mention the name of other gods, nor let them be heard from your mouth.
“Three times a year you shall celebrate a feast to Me.
“You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread; for seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the month Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. And none shall appear before Me empty-handed.
“Also you shall observe the Feast of the Harvest of the first fruits of your labors from what you sow in the field; also the Feast of the Ingathering at the end of the year when you gather in the fruit of your labors from the field.
“Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord God.
“You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread; nor is the fat of My feast to remain overnight until morning.
“You shall bring the choice first fruits of your soil into the house of the Lord your God.
“You are not to boil a young goat in the milk of its mother.
“Behold, I am going to send an angel before you to guard you along the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared.
“Be on your guard before him and obey his voice; do not be rebellious toward him, for he will not pardon your transgression, since My name is in him.
“But if you truly obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.
“For My angel will go before you and bring you in to the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites; and I will completely destroy them.
“You shall not worship their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their deeds; but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their sacred pillars in pieces.
“But you shall serve the Lord your God, and He will bless your bread and your water; and I will remove sickness from your midst.
“There shall be no one miscarrying or barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days.
“I will send My terror ahead of you, and throw into confusion all the people among whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you.
“I will send hornets ahead of you so that they will drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites before you.
“I will not drive them out before you in a single year, that the land may not become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you.
“I will drive them out before you little by little, until you become fruitful and take possession of the land.
“I will fix your boundary from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River Euphrates; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out before you.
“You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods.
“They shall not live in your land, because they will make you sin against Me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”
When they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter; therefore it was named Marah.
That’s different from believing God. Murmuring is the incorrect response to challenges and difficulty. If you want to go down and stay down, just gripe and fuss when you have problems.
That is what so many folks do. They don’t see a miracle, or they don’t get answers because they complain, they gripe, and they fuss. That is unbelief. You can’t gripe in faith. You can’t complain in faith. Faith doesn’t complain, it gives thanks.
This is a phrase that has helped me: “Doubt despairs, complains, and is sad. But faith rejoices, gives thanks, and is glad.” What if you meet somebody and they’re griping and sad? What do you know? They are not in faith. They can’t be. What does faith do? Faith rejoices, gives thanks, and is glad.
You might ask, “What do I have to be glad about? I was given an evil report. I feel terrible. What do I have to be glad about?”
If you believed the Bible, you’d have something to be glad about because the Bible tells you, “By His stripes, you’ve been healed,” () and “With long life He will satisfy you.”
and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.
and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.
()
“With a long life I will satisfy him
And let him see My salvation.”
“With a long life I will satisfy him
And let him see My salvation.”
If you’d believe that, you could be happy anyway. You could be glad in spite of your problems. If you believe you’re not perishing with this, then you’re coming out.
They complained, and they said to Moses, “What shall we drink?” They were putting pressure on him. “And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD showed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet.” Can the bitterness be made sweet? Sickness is a bitter pill. Can malignancy be made healthy? Can toxicity be made clean and normal? Yes!
How was it made sweet? He showed him a tree. Have you read any other scriptures about the tree? Oh, this is prophetic. This is pointing toward the future. The Bible says that Jesus was hung on a tree. () He became accursed when He hung on that tree.
Why? So that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. () Was what Jesus took and dealt with on the Cross bitter? Did He deal with the bitterness in our lives? It wasn’t for His sin, it was for our sin. It was the chastisement of our peace.
in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
The Bible says that He took our infirmities, He bore our sicknesses, and He carried our pains (), and when they threw that tree in there, the bitter changed. How did He do that? It took a miracle, right? Molecules changed. The bitter became sweet, and it just happened like that. Could bitterness in your life become sweet?
This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “He Himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases.”
This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “He Himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases.”
You might say, “Boy, I’ve got a bitter pill in my marriage. Oh, it’s bitter… I’ve got bitterness with my kids… I’ve got bitterness on my job…”
Do you know what they might have thought when they first went up and tried to drink the water? They might have thought, “We need a new waterhole. This waterhole is bad, and we need a new one. This one is bitter. It can’t be fixed. We need a new waterhole.” There are a lot of folks who think that. “My marriage is bad. I need a new wife…
I need a new husband… I need new kids; these are crazy… I need a new job. I need a new boss… This is terrible, this is bad. I just need a new one… That’s the only fix for this...” No, it’s not the only fix. We serve a God Who can make the bitter sweet. He did it. He does it.
Don’t be ready to throw things away. God put you in some of these situations. You might not have made the best of them. You might have made mistakes, and they might have made mistakes, but no matter how bitter and awful it is, you need to believe God that He can make it sweet. I’ve seen it again and again.
Now let’s keep looking at this. He did it, and the waters were made sweet, and, “There he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them.” Now this is covenant language. If you’ll study it, you’ll find that some of these words are used interchangeably with “covenant.” I’m going to show you other scriptures that actually use the word, but He established something.
Can you tell this is not a fleeting thing? It says that He established something, that He made a statute and an ordinance. Note the language. They’re all lapping up the sweet water. Their thirst is quenched, they’re satisfied, and they know they’re in the presence of the miraculous. This water was impossible to drink just seconds ago.
The Lord spoke to them 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.” ()
And He said, “If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the Lord, am your healer.”
And He said, “If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the Lord, am your healer.”
This is big. This is one of those great “I Am” statements in the Word of God. Remember when Jesus said, “I Am” when they came to take Him? He said, “Who are you looking for?” They said, “Jesus,” and when He said, “I Am,” they all fell back on the ground. ()
Remember when Moses at the burning bush said, “Who am I going to say sent me?” The Lord said, “You tell them ‘I Am’ sent you.” ()
“I Am” what? “I Am” too much to say. Actually, when He says, “I Am the Lord who heals you” (), the words make up one of those great compound Jehovah names. He said, “I am Jehovah-Rapha.” This is great! Do you believe God is great? Do you take His Name seriously? He said, “I am Jehovah.”
What does “Jehovah” mean? “Jehovah” means “The Self-Existent One.” “The Great I Am.” What does “I Am” mean? “I exist. I Am.” Do you know why you exist? Because He Is. Before you were, He Is. Do you know why the earth is? He Is. Do you know why the sun is? Why the universe is? Because He Is. Notice this: He didn’t say, “I was.” He didn’t say, “I will be.” He said, “I Am.” What about 10 million years ago? He Is, not He was. Time with God is not like it is with us. The Bible says there is a time coming when time will be no more. Time is something we’re experiencing temporally.
But God Is, and He is not dependent on anyone or anything for His existence. He is Jehovah, the Great I Am, the Self-Existent One Who is not dependent on any other power source. Everything is dependent on Him being. Take a breath. Did your heart beat again? Do you know why? Because He Is.
The reason this world turns around, and the reason the sun is still shining is because all things are upheld by the Word of His power, because “He Is.” That’s saying volumes that will fill the universe. When He says, “I Am,” fill in the blank. How would you say all that He is? Just say, “He Is.” He said, “I Am.”
This didn’t happen all of the time, but a handful of times, He takes another name, and He puts it with Jehovah. Oh, friend, this is important. He says, “I Am The Lord Who Heals You.” Now, when He says, “I Am The Lord Who Heals You,” who has the right to come along and say, “No, He changed. He used to be ‘The Lord
Who Heals You,’ but the ‘Great I Am’ was?” Nobody has a right to say such a thing. “I Am” is, and “The God Who Heals You” is still “The God Who Heals You,” and will always be. As long as He is, He is “The God Who Heals You.” This is covenant. He established something here—an ordinance, a statute. This is established. “I am The Lord Who Heals You. I Am Jehovah-Rapha, The Lord Who Heals You.” The word “Rapha” literally means “to heal,” “to mend,” “to restore to normal.”