When God Heals & Doesn't Heal - Part 2

The title is, A Study on Healing. Well, that's kind of funny because fasting heals, so tie it in there. A Study on Healing, When God Heals and Doesn't Heal, Part 2. And we're in the book of Acts, so we're going through the book of Acts methodically, verse by verse, but sometimes there's a point that I want to stay on for a while.

That, you know how you don't want to just rush through something and get to the next point, get to chapter 3 or chapter 4? And this is on healing, because it's so important, a topic right now. Especially, it depends, if you're in very conservative churches, you don't really talk about healing much anymore. I mean, you'll pray for it now and then, but God doesn't really do that much anymore.

But then you see, and I've seen some dangerous things. Sometimes I don't want to say things, just because I don't want you to feel I'm putting people down and groups down, but if it'll help us, I want to talk about it, as long as we don't do the same thing. And there's this side that's the other extreme.

They think if they have the gift of healing, that they are in command of, okay, I'm going to pray for you, you're going to be healed. It's more them and not God. Where I taught that the gift of healing is when God gives somebody that gift for a certain situation to pray for that person and they're healed.

It's a gift He gives. It's not a gift that you walk around with lightning bolts going out of your hands. And this group can get like they'll try to raise people from the dead, where God doesn't want to do that and it gets embarrassing.

And they'll start to fake things. And when you try to help the Holy Spirit, it's not pretty. Hamburger Helper might work for your ground beef, but we don't need that in the church.

And I've seen the abuses, as I'm sure many of you have. You know, can you feel anything yet? No, not yet. It's a little tingling and you start to, you know, you grab their hand harder and shake them a little bit.

You feel anything yet? And you come on God and you try to let God do what God does. Be open, but also cautious. Because as a church leadership team, and sometimes people don't quite understand this.

Myself, I see some of the elders here, we're not called to be gullible. You know, golly gee whiz, you have a word to say to the church, come on up. Go for it.

I don't know you. I don't know your character. What are you going to say? We have to actually steward what God is doing.

We have to guard people from things that might come in to try to hurt and discourage people. Or maybe question their faith, the different speakers that we have. We want to thoroughly vet them.

We want to know who they are. We want to check them out a little bit. We want to pray on it.

We have to guard the church. Funny story, I think I told you on Tuesday, if you're here. Four years ago, both Jack Hibbs and Rob McCoy said, hey, you've got to have this guy come out, his name's Charlie Kirk, and speak.

I'm like, oh, political activist, I don't know about that. I don't know this guy. Right? I don't know if you guys don't know him, but now it's like he's just Trump's right hand guy in regard to the younger generation and just how turning points exploded.

Not endorsing it. I'm just saying, you know, we didn't know anything about it. And so you want to guard the congregation.

And same thing with the gifts. You don't want to just be open, because where's the discernment? Because as we go through this, the Bible, you'll see, also says, discern the spirits. And that's not some mystical, shh, discerning the spirits.

In the context, it's like the person said, God said this or is doing this, what is their spirit? Is their spirit ulterior motives? Is it truly something God is wanting to do or wanting to say? You have to discern what is going on. Not to belabor this point, but the best way to discern something is going to a season of prayer and fasting. So when God heals and doesn't heal, the first verse I want you to consider, and I might have to go through this rather quickly, because there's a lot here, and I'm hoping to be done by next Sunday, but trust in the Lord.

On this topic of healing, maybe you need healing, you've prayed for healing, you've prayed with people who need to be healed, trust in the Lord with all your heart. And lean, anybody lean in the wrong direction sometimes? So as we're trusting in the Lord with all of our heart, we're leaning in the Lord's direction. I'm not going to lean on my own understanding, what I think.

I'm going to lean on God's understanding, His Word, and in all my ways, all your ways, acknowledge Him, submit to Him, and He will make your path straight, or another translation says smooth. So trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding. So that tells me what I see sometimes isn't what's happening.

From drones and UFOs to chemtrails and dirty bombs, trust in the Lord with all of your heart. Those who fear God often do not have a relationship. They don't know where they're going, so they're not in a hurry to get there.

So as we're trusting in the Lord with all of our heart, most of the world is not. They're living in fear, and that's why they'll respond to things differently than you. The bird flu, or the drones, and it's like they don't know where they're going, and so it's very unsettling.

It doesn't mean certain things aren't unsettling to Christians, but we have a stronger foundation. We know where we're going, we know who is in charge, and we know that we're to trust in Him and not all these other news sources. Are you aware that the news isn't always right? Okay, just double checking.

So a study on healing. Let's go through these quickly. Their final healing, maybe a reason people aren't healed.

Number one, maybe they're not healed because their final healing is when they come into glory. Their final healing is when they come into glory. I know a lot of us here prayed for a very important member of our church that went to be with the Lord just the day before Christmas or so.

And it's confusing sometimes. We're praying, I'm praying, prayer warriors are praying. Instead of leaving confused and bewildered and upset at God, we realize, hey, that could be a person's final breath, is God's calling them home.

Because think about that. Have you ever thought about this? Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. He still died later on.

And so that's my problem I have with the name it and claim it or the Word of Faith movement, all these, I can't even watch them, it's so sickening for me. It's because they act like a person's sick. God's will is to be healed.

God's will is to be healed. You should never be sick. We're going to die at some point.

And many times we get sick before we die. So a lot of that theology doesn't make sense. And they're always talking about their jet airplane and how much money they have.

And the arrogance and the pomp is disheartening to say the least. Some suffering is the result of the condition of the human body. 2 Corinthians 4, we are hard pressed.

This is you, believer. You're hard pressed on every side, but you're not crushed. You will be perplexed, but you're not in despair.

You will be persecuted, but you are not forsaken. And you'll be struck down, but not destroyed. Welcome to the Christian faith.

So get that idea that you're just going to have a wonderful, incredible life. God is going to bless your savings account abundantly. You are going to meet Mr. Right or Mrs. Right and you're going to walk in perfect health and victory all the days of your life.

The Bible says we are hard pressed. Hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed. Perplexed, I'm confused, but not in despair.

Persecuted, but not forsaken. And struck down, but not destroyed. That is the Christian life.

And I think sometimes we have a wrong view of suffering. And then two, why are people not healed? Why is healing such a controversial topic? And we have to talk about number two, a lack of faith can play a huge role. The Bible says Jesus did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.

And so that's why you've heard of the faith movement or what I just said, word of faith. They have a little bit of what the Bible says. And they make it the whole thing.

They don't put everything else in context. Faith and healing are both found in Acts 3.11. Now to go back where I left off, Acts 3. Peter's going to the temple. He looks down and he sees this man and he has faith to believe.

And I don't have any silver, I don't have any gold, but what I do give you, I give you in the name of Jesus Christ, get up and walk again. And so both healing and faith, the gift of healing and the exercising of faith both happened in Acts 3.11. I'm pretty sure if we're to see a legitimate healing, I've talked about some before, and you're praying and you're like, I know the Lord's not going to heal. This is ridiculous.

You know, you're kind of saying that, that unbelief comes in, that's like kryptonite to the supernatural. It's not that God can't, but it's like, oh, okay. Our unbelief can stop a lot of what God wants to do.

Mark 5, daughter, your faith has made you well. Mark 5 again, do not be afraid, only believe. Mark 6, he could not do many works there, what I just read earlier, because of their unbelief.

And then we have the wonderful verse in James 5.14, is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick and the Lord will raise him up. To date, 14 years ago, well, we probably began the prayer team about 12 years ago.

I don't know of anybody on the prayer team that's a negative Nelly or a critical Kathy. That just won't work on the prayer team. Can you imagine going over there for prayer? Wait, I'll pray for you, but I don't know, that's pretty, you know, that's, I guess we'll try.

But you know, my father-in-law had that and he died. It could really prevent some mighty moves of God's spirit because atmosphere matters. Atmosphere matters.

And we don't see the moving of God's spirit like we used to, but we also don't see the consecration we used to see in the church 50, 60 years ago. I mean, think about that. Let's just say, hypothetically, 90% of this congregation this morning is quenching and grieving the Spirit.

You don't think that will affect worship? You don't think that will affect our fellowship? Or what God can do among us? But for quenching and grieving the Spirit, you know, critical hearts, bitterness, anger, unforgiveness, besetting sins, addictions, I don't want to give up. We just keep in that sin and we come in and the Holy Spirit is quenched and grieved. It will definitely affect, definitely affect things.

That's why a lot of times we'll see at Red in the Heavens, it's a special night where people are coming together and the atmosphere is different. There's difference because, you know, if we had a Monday morning, 5 a.m. service, you're going to be hungry going to that. You want to be there.

It doesn't matter if it's cold and there's something, that atmosphere's different because there's a fervency, there's a fire, there's a desire for God to move. So atmosphere definitely matters. It makes a huge, and your homes too.

And your homes. What music do you have on when you walk in and when your kids are there? Is it kind of dark and demonic and lyrics that shouldn't be on there? YouTube, it's just weird stuff on YouTube all the time and atmosphere matters. But faith is not a button that gets results every time it's pushed.

Sometimes we think that, especially this side of the group. You know, that big red button. I'm exercising my faith.

Here's why, because I can exercise faith. God, I can believe You're going to do it, but it's not according to His will. How many of you thank God for unanswered prayers? And you exercise faith.

You named it and you claimed it. You knew God was going to do this. You just knew it.

But looking back, it didn't happen. It wasn't necessarily the faith. It was God knew what was best.

Thank God for that. Thank God that He knows what's best. Or many of us would be married to the wrong people right now.

You'd be sitting next to Mr. and Mrs. Wrong. If you're married and you think that it's too late now, you said, I do. You got to make it work.

So faith isn't a button that you push and you get results. It's an unwavering trust in God and believing in Him. The person is marked by joy.

They're not critical. They're marked by joy. For example, and maybe I'll share it in the future, I've said this before, but there are things I've been praying for for a long time and I have tremendous faith for it.

Sometimes I waver a little bit, but I have tremendous faith. I'm believing in God. Maybe He'll open the door and there's joy.

But knowing, you know what? He might not want to do that. That might not be according to His will, but I do pray, of course, but I do believe the more you're in the Word, the more you're fasting and praying, that your thoughts will actually become thoughts that God is honoring and that He plants certain thoughts in your heart. Did you know that? Commit your works to the Lord and your thoughts will be, actually the word, your thoughts will be established is in, I believe it's the Proverbs, which would be Hebrew.

It's your thoughts now have a strong foundation on which to build your life. So as I commit my works to the Lord, my thoughts, where He's directing me, the foundation now, might not have answers to everything. For example, when He called us to plant the church, we didn't know where, what, how, when, but that was the foundation.

And He planted the thought in my heart and Morgan's heart, because it's you or one on that. You can't say one wants to do it, the other doesn't. And so actually, He'll work in both of their hearts too sometimes.

We both have the same, I can give you different situations too. When we sold our house a little while back, kind of at the height of the market, we had no plan. I actually had a dry erase board calendar in my garage.

I had a 10 year plan to pay that puppy off. And then all of a sudden, within a day or two of each other, I'm like, you know, I've been thinking. And she's like, I have too.

And so see, God will often, as you're committing your works to Him, because how do you act on something? You have a thought about it. Hello? Nobody's acting on something they've never thought of. Why are you going to Nicaragua? I don't know.

We have a thought about it. Why are you going to have lunch afterwards? I don't know. I'm just like a robot to go have lunch.

No, you think about it. So the more we're in the Word, the more we're surrendered to God, Lord, you show me, you guide me, you lead me. There are thoughts that will be deposited into your heart.

The radio station that we bought, I was actually on Lake Elizabeth, I'm driving, and I just got the email that said, hey, the people who used to own it, we're stopping your radio program because we're selling it to a Mexican-Hispanic company. We're on escrow right now, so we're off the air. I'm like, oh, okay, well, man, that's it.

Oh, well. And so I'm driving, it's like this thought. Like, why doesn't the church buy it? I'm like, where did that come from? But you don't just run on it, right? You process it.

You're like, Lord, is that You? Because commit your works to the Lord and your thoughts are established. God will give you thoughts in order for you to do His will. You're not gonna do God's will if you don't know what it is.

There's certain things that God will deposit into your heart. But when it comes to this issue of faith, I've gotta talk about something difficult. Are you guys ready? This will prevent faith more than anything I've ever seen, especially as a pastor.

Signs of a hard heart that quench faith. And just so you know, I'm not preaching at you. I can slip into the hard heart category too.

Right, you're not in the Word as much anymore. You're busy. This is happening, that's happening.

You become a little cynical, a little critical, a little negative, and it slips in there. Like the hardening of the arteries. Everyone know what that is? Like the hardening of the arteries.

By the way, do you know what helps that? Okay. Just saying. It's called atherosclerosis, right? The buildup of that.

So, by the way, cholesterol's good. We'll get to that on the 11th. Just saying.

Every cell in your body needs it. You get a lot of rabbit trails this morning. So like the hardening of the arteries, sometimes we don't know until it's too late when it comes to this issue.

A family is ruined. A marriage destroyed. A life wasted because of a hard heart.

And I'm glad God woke me up. Not that I'm not a work in progress, but in the 1990s, He woke me up and crushed my hard heart. Often in order to change a hard heart, you're going to be crushed.

You're going to be disciplined by God. A hard heart knows the truth, but they force it down your throat. Truth overrides mercy.

Always remember this. That's why Jesus said, do what they say, but don't do what they do. Always remember this about a hard heart and humility, gentleness.

A hard heart knows the truth, but they force it down your throat. Where a humble, broken, contrite heart has the truth, but they come alongside of you and encourage you. Hey, here's the truth, but we love you enough to, how can we help you? See, there's the truth and mercy and love.

If you just only have truth, it's why they call it modern day Pharisee. There's no love. And no love in a family will hurt that family just as much as no truth in the family, I believe.

Because with no truth, you run and you go the opposite direction. But with no love, the family disintegrates. I've seen it, kids in families with no love rebel much easier.

They run from God. Because they haven't been shown the truth with the love. And that's a sign of a hard heart.

They know the truth, and they're angry about it. And they're forceful. See, you can still be forceful, yet gentle.

Correct? The smiling, the tone. You can still do it, you can love the truth, but here's what happens, they don't have the love in their own heart. A hard heart often has a good point, but they swallow a camel while straining at a gnat.

Have you ever swallowed a gnat? I did last year, bike riding. What was that little thing? But these guys, hard heart, they swallow a camel, yet they're trying to get rid of this little gnat. Jesus said that.

What that basically means is they make a big deal small and a small deal big. Big. They swallow a camel.

For example, sometimes I'll put up a verse and it just happens to be the NLT, New Living Translation. And here comes the Pharisees. I'm like, dude, spit out that camel.

You just swallowed a camel. You forgot everything I said because it says NLT? NLT is actually, it's a New Living Translation. It's a, what they call, dynamic equivalence translation of the Bible.

It's thought for thought, what the author of that translation thought the Bible saying. So we don't use it as a study Bible. We don't read from it necessarily, but it's like, hey, this is what one version says.

But see, they get caught up on all those little points. And have you ever seen those people? It's sad. It's sad.

Another one. Pastor Shane didn't even bring a Bible up there. Well, no, I've got 55 Scriptures in here.

You're swallowing a camel. You're totally, here's what they do. They totally discount what God is doing to focus on the one little thing they can find.

There's a little copyright, right? Let's see. That was a beautiful song, but did this person write it? Is that? Who is that? Is that Hillsong? Is that Bethel? Oh my goodness. Nevermind the fact the altar's full.

The prodigals are coming home. The wayward have been renewed, swallowing a camel. Here's the thing, I agree with them.

I don't agree with Hillsong and Bethel. I agree with them. But why do you make something small, so big, it's a hard, critical heart? It's the heart of a Pharisee.

How do I know? Because I've been there. I can go there again, real quick. You guys would not want to hear preaching from me when I'm in Pharisee mode.

Because I'll sin sniff like the best of them. Do you know what that is? Hey, stop sleeping, wake up. I know where you were Saturday.

I saw you at Don Cucco's. You thought you got away with it, that strawberry margarita with that extra shot of tequila. I saw it.

I saw you. I saw you last summer wearing those shorts that were way too short at the mall. I got you, I got your number.

Where's holiness in the church? You sinners. No love. No love.

You can speak like angels. You can have great faith. You can give everything to feed the poor.

But if you have not love, it profits you nothing. I just think how amazing that is. But isn't that amazing? And I've seen it over the years.

The modern day Pharisees say, yeah, but, no, no, no, but. You have no love, sir. Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God before He humbles you.

Where's the love? And it doesn't come naturally. It comes supernaturally by saying, Lord, I don't have that. I need that.

Let me be more gentle with my kids and with my spouse. God, let me love others. Let me pray for them.

Oh, God, please, would you get rid of this Pharisee heart? Oh, God, please. You have to fight for it. The hard heart syndrome.

And what about this? When you see a post or a comment or a text on your phone from someone you know who has a hard heart, you kind of tense up. Now, it happens sometimes when I text people. That's because I'm a pastor.

But sometimes, it's like, oh, Shane, what does he want? But you know the hard hearts, right? I can tell you right now. I hope they're watching, that's good. But on all social media, I see a name post a comment, I'm like, yep, it's gonna be negative.

Yeah, it's gonna be critical. I don't even read it. Because that's who they are.

Hard heart. I know there's some people in this church, I know when you post something on the family page, here we go, here we go. That's how you're characterized.

Oh, Shane, what'd I do? Do what I did, repent, repent. You guys wanna hear the story again? For those of you who knew, but in 2005, my mom came to me and she said, Shane, none of your family wants to be around you. What? Now this time, I'm reading Spurgeon's lectures to his students.

I'm reading Charles Hodge's Systematic Theology. I'm reading Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology all summer. I'm reading the Puritans.

I could quote John Knox from Scotland and John Owen. Oh, man. But nobody wants to be around a Pharisee.

Was I happy when she told me that? No, it's probably, they're just convicted. That's why they don't like me. See, the truth guys that don't wanna repent hide behind that statement.

Well, they're just convicted. Now sometimes that's true. I know people right now who don't wanna hang out with Shane because they're convicted.

There's nothing we can do. Nothing we can do about it at all. We can love them, we can be supportive, we can try to build a relationship.

So that's different. But the Pharisee, they make excuses. Oh, they're just compromising.

They're just carnal. And I'm calling them out. No wonder they don't wanna be around me.

See, they don't let that break them. They don't let that humble them. And there's even many men who rule their house with a rod of iron.

Machismo. No, no, no, no, no. That's not good.

That's not good, guys. We must repent. We must repent of hard hearts.

Hard hearts, I've seen it destroy families. How can you love the truth, but people not love you? Because you're arrogant and hard. They're always, oh, I'm sorry, hard hearts label people they don't agree with as false prophets and heretical.

I don't agree with you about that. Well, you're a heretical. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

You're a false prophet. They're so extreme. They're always looking for the crack in the armor and they're rarely optimistic.

Always fault finding. Is this hitting home yet? And it is hard because as truth people, most of you love the truth. Balcony love, truth lovers like me, I love the truth.

I can pick apart somebody's dress code. What's too short, what's too long? What's the thing, what it says in your room? Put, yeah, raise your hands, set your toes if anything shows, go change your clothes. Raise your hands, touch your toes.

If anything shows, go change your clothes. And boy, I can find them. I can find them.

Summertime or the men. Things that, you know, judgmental. The truth, because when you have the truth, you just see it.

There's nothing you can do about it. You know, hey, I brought my boyfriend to church. I'm like, are they living together? I wonder if they're living together.

Why are they here if they're living together? They must not know God. And then see that anybody have the Pharisee within? So it's hard. You have the truth.

You love the truth, but you constantly keep humble and broken. And Lord, help me with that. Help me with that.

Show me. And I'll ask my wife, is there things I need to work on? You better be ready to hear the answer though. Don't ask that when you're not in a good mood.

And so, ah, I gotta work on that. And you balance truth with grace and mercy. I think we saw that in the life of somebody in the New Testament.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we behold the only begotten Son of God full of grace and truth. Their disposition, the hard heart, their disposition is hard and they excuse it with phrases like, I'm a truth guy or I'm a passionate woman. I've heard that before too.

I'm just passionate. No, you're arrogant. Hello.

Hello. Stop it. Stop it.

Humble yourself. So what's missing? Again, love, love, love, love. If I could speak, they got the verse up there.

If I could speak all the language of the earth, I don't know this translation. I memorized it in the New King James. If I could speak all the languages of the earth and of angels but did not love others, I would only be a noising gong or a clanging cymbal.

In 1 Corinthians, oh, it's the NLT by the way. I did that on purpose. If I could speak all the languages of the earth and of angels, but I don't have love, I don't love others, it doesn't profit me anything.

See, a lot of Christians that love the truth or are into the truth or in the Word, knowledge puffs up. It just does. You do nothing and you'll be puffed up.

You have to humble yourself. Maybe take a lowly position. Let God promote you and get that love back in your heart.

Number three, in order to see healing, sometimes we must take action. We must take action. Faith exercises spiritual muscle.

You change your body composition, what do you do? You exercise. Because the strain put upon the muscle causes it to respond. But sometimes, often faith needs action.

If God calls you to do something, you've got to do it. Love your wife as Christ loved the church. Work on love.

Like I just said, you're going to have to take action. You're going to have to do things you don't want to do. Your flesh doesn't want to do it.

From repentance to changing your lifestyle. What we sow, we reap. What we sow, we reap.

Jesus would often ask, do you want to be made well? Do you really want to? And isn't that true? How many people are praying for healing? Let's just say in the United States. How many are praying for healing? And we know, we know that God can heal. Regardless of, I mean, just in our stupidity, in our being naive, and we don't take as good care of our body as we could.

And so we know in spite of all that, and He does, God still heals. But I truly believe that many healings that people are wanting could be achieved if they took action and reclaimed their health. Over the years, I prayed for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds, for example, of type 2 diabetes.

And I will continue to do so, and we'll believe in God, and we've seen people have some incredible results. But did you know that is lifestyle created? So if I'm in disobedience, and I'm doing things that are going to hurt me, hurt my health, but yet I'm praying for healing, but ignoring my responsibility, I might not see healing. There's not even a shadow of doubt on this.

We've seen healings here, I've talked about before, it's not like commonplace. Half a dozen, every service in this, we don't see it that much. But I've seen 10 times more healing in the body when people begin to steward their health correctly.

It's nine times out of 10. Nine times out of 10, you can reverse a lot of the things that are going on inside your body. That's just wisdom as well, is it not? There's a testimony I want to share with you.

I am an ER nurse, and I care for many people. You're right about how people love their sin and play the victim. Most of them don't want to change.

They don't believe in victory, and I'm including believers. You have to want to change. You have to want to change.

Sins of the flesh and of the heart such as unforgiveness and bitterness can lead to sickness and depression and despair. What about Psalm 31.10? My strength fails because of my iniquity. My strength fails because of my sin.

I have no strength basically to live. Have you ever been in that spot where it's hard to get out of bed? You're depressed. You're not too excited about life in general.

Not all the time. There's different reasons for that. But could it be because of sin and iniquity? That's in this case, Psalm 31.

Many cry for deliverance. Many cry for deliverance. And some things we can do nothing about, but at other times, we keep ourselves in bondage.

Always remember this repentance heals. Oh Lord, my God, I cried out to You and You healed me. You healed me.

However, as we all know, or maybe you don't know, but you will now, this is an approved text for anybody who cries out is healed the next day or that day. Many times in the Bible, especially in Proverbs, you'll see principles that apply. But again, as I talked about a couple weeks ago, we don't know what God is doing in our situation in His sovereignty.

So even though we might cry out to God, but Shane, it's in the Bible. Oh Lord, my God, I cried out to You and You healed me. But even if He doesn't heal you physically, He will heal you spiritually and you'll be closer to Him and have this incredible relationship with Him because you drew near to Him.

We're gonna play a clip, but we don't have time. I might do it some other time. I actually did it on a Wednesday night a few weeks ago.

But the bottom line is this, you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey. You become the slave of whatever you choose to obey. And I'll cover these three things real quick.

It was actually a clip. John Bevere, he basically said that one of his friends was a Christian. He could not stop smoking.

Anybody, if it's not smoking, you fill in the blank. You just can't stop, don't say it, but you know. So as he was praying and seeking God and asking God, this thought came to him, right? Commit your works to the Lord, your thoughts will be established.

Ask for wisdom, God will give it to you. He felt impressed with these thoughts that God said to him. I'm even careful saying that, but that's what he said.

It's because you still like them too much. If you still like your addiction, it's going to be hard to break it. You've got to reckon it to be dead.

You've got to say, I hate this. My flesh likes it, but Lord, I hate this. I don't want to do this anymore.

And that's why many people go back into the addiction. Number one, you have to reckon yourself to be dead to sin. And then number two, do not let sin reign in your body.

All this is from Romans. Do not obey its lusts. Do not let sin reign in your body.

It means reign and rule. There's a lust thing that goes on that do we follow the lust or do we follow God's Word? And then number three, do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin. So all these people that talk about, Shane, the Bible isn't a bunch of do's and don'ts.

It's more about relationship, which of course it is. There's also a lot of Scriptures commanding us to do certain things. Reckon yourself to be dead to sin.

That's an action word. Do not let sin reign, control you. Do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin.

Your members, your body, your hands, your eyes. Do not allow them to go and sin. So again, whatever you choose to obey becomes your master.

And then fourth, so important on this topic of healing, trust in God's timing. Trust in God's timing. As we all know, God often says, wait, wait.

God's sovereign plan, according to Romans 8.28, in case you're not familiar with this verse, it is life changing. And we all know, or we know, that all things work together for good. Praise God.

Can't you get a good night's sleep with that one? Can you imagine if it said the opposite? God's not sure how things are gonna work out. It could get really difficult for you. You could walk away and end up in hell.

No, it says we know that all things work together for good. It might not look good, our definition of good, but good in this sense means it's according to God's will. And that is good to those who love God.

Well, there's a key. You've gotta be a believer. You've gotta be loving God to those who are called according to His purpose.

So this is incredible. As you're following God, as you're seeking Him, and this is talking about things that probably are not good, you ever hit with a tragedy or something happens, but we know that all things work together for good for those who love God and who are called according to His purpose. But we can say, but Shane, I'm going through this right now.

This is not good. What's going on here? I thought all things work together for good. Well, if you change your heart, change your attitude and repent and begin seeking God profoundly and unconditionally, He can take that mess and make it for good.

But yeah, if you just continue in your rebellion and in your arrogance and you claim this verse, I think that's out of context. You've gotta be willing to work. He guides the teachable.

He guides the humble. And five, I could stay here a whole sermon. Be prepared for a demonic attack.

Many churches won't talk about this, but it's in the Bible. Healing could not be taking place or there could be sickness or something. I mean, look at how many people, the boy who would throw a fit and ended up in the fire or in the water or the woman that was bent over for so many years and Jesus said, save her.

Satan has bound her and he loosed her. Woman, thou art loosed from your infirmities. And other situations, how long has he been doing this? From his youth.

And we see that there are demonic attacks against believers from Job. Was that a demonic attack in Job? Anybody read the book of Job lately? That's a tough one for me. Once I get past through the tragedy, then I've got these friends that nobody wants.

And then I love the ending where God's like, listen to Me, now I'm going to speak to you. Where were you when I created the earth? Where were you when I told the Atlantic and the Pacific to keep their borders? It's just incredible spanking, but it was good. Job repented.

Job repented. It's actually, I just finished it last week and I was amazed at this. I've read it a lot, 25 times.

I think I'm through the Old Testament. And double that on the New. I try to go through like many of you every year, but I've never saw this before that God gave Job double after he prayed for his friends.

Check it, check it out. Check it out. I don't know.

I've never, I'm like, why did I miss that one? So, I don't want to go there, but what about if he didn't pray for his friends? It was bitter and upset and critical. Could he have been held in that position for a while? Wow, it's unbelievable. So Job, Job was even afflicted on his body.

Judas, we know that the devil filled his heart. What about Paul? What about Paul? In order to keep Paul humble, a thorn in his flesh remained. It's called a messenger of Satan.

So when it comes to the demonic, I've done talks on this a lot before, but the bottom line is you go to the Lord and I would pray, I would fast. And I believe God will reveal in His time if there is a demonic stronghold. And that's why this whole, do Christians need deliverance? Well, Christians can't be possessed.

We have the Holy Spirit. But can Satan still harass us? It appears so. Why am I supposed to put on the full armor of God if I'm not under attack? Why am I supposed to resist the devil? How do I resist the devil? How do I flee from him? They're saying, beware, your enemy goes about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.

So we cannot rule out because it's an uncomfortable topic and it's confusing for some people. We have to look at it. And there have been times when you'll pray and you'll seek God and you'll go, this is a demonic stronghold that's going on in my house with my kids.

We heard a testimony around the heavens from the deaf community, it was beautiful, where her son was about ready to jump off the stairs and there was this demonic presence in their home. And they needed people to pray over them and to have that released. So, we cannot rule this out.

I wouldn't automatically assume it's demonic, but I wouldn't say it's not. Lord, show me, what is this? What is going on? That's why you have to be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, walks about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. There's so much truth in this.

I might unpack it on a Wednesday night, but think about this. We have to be sober, which is alert. Not just dealing with alcohol, drugs, but be alert, discerning.

Not just gullible. But be alert, be vigilant. Vigilant in God's Word and spiritual things.

And walking closely with the Lord. I'm alert, I'm sober, I'm vigilant, I'm looking out, I'm not trusting everything. Trust but verify, Ronald Reagan.

And you're walking with the Lord and you're guarding. Parents are supposed to be watchmen too. And so as you're doing these things, if you don't do them, what happens? The devil, who's going about as a roaring lion, he's actually looking for people to devour.

And it could be he's watching. I don't know how this all works. The Bible's not real clear.

We know he's not omnipotent, all-powerful, all-knowing, he's not everywhere. The demonic realm, demons. But they're looking for that time where you're not vigilant.

Where you're not sober. Maybe you let your guard down. And that begins to, that's where he goes in and maybe he'll bring a person into your life.

You'll run into somebody. Maybe it's that thought again. Remember that addiction you forgot all about? And here's that thought again, that fiery dart.

But now you're not sober and vigilant. You've been weak. You've been out of God's Word.

You've been listening to the wrong counsel. You've been spending a lot more time on Netflix than Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. So now that thought comes, you're not strengthened to fight it.

You give in to it. And that roaring lion just devoured your testimony. Be prayed up in this area.

Be prayed up and press into His presence. Be prayed up and press into His presence. That's why we're starting the corporate fast.

Matthew 17, Jesus said that a certain evil spirit does not go out of a person except by prayer and fasting. Some manuscripts disagree on whether this verse should be included or not, but the principle is found throughout Scripture. Fasting applies pressure to the spiritual realm.

Here's why, I believe. We're gonna go and we're gonna pray for something. We're gonna pray for this demonic spirit, maybe, or for this person's house, or whatever.

And I'm prayed up, but the flesh, like before I go to this house, let's say the flesh wants me to eat like it's Thanksgiving. You know, oh, Thanksgiving, El Triptofan, right? Like, oh, man, I just fulfilled the flesh. Now when I go into this area, I'm not gonna be full of the Spirit.

Food's not wrong, maybe a little snack or something, but if you're feeding the flesh, and you go in to pray, try praying after Christmas dinner. Just try it. Try after a big lunch, go home, like, we're gonna pray.

Something happens because it's hard to fulfill the flesh and fulfill the needs of the Spirit. So something that is good is fine as long as it doesn't become idolatry in the focus of our lives. And so that's what he said.

This kind does not come out except by prayer and fasting. So fasting applies pressure to the spiritual realm. Arthur Wallace said often pressure has to be maintained before there is a breakthrough in heavenly warfare.

Oh, prayer warriors, how many of you know this? You go in, you go to pray for something, and do you see that happen within that day? Within a week? A year? Sometimes you're pressing in. It's amazing, in Daniel, the angel said, I heard your prayer 21 days ago. What took you so long? The demonic principality, they call it over the area of Persia, he withheld me.

I don't know exactly how, but we have the Scriptures to tell us that. And so sometimes, as you're praying for that prodigal, could it be that you need to go deeper? That you need to go into a season of prayer and fasting? Could it be that you need to just keep pressing in and pressing in and pressing in? Because you've seen it before that many times victories come one step at a time. Watch it in military battle.

How many of you like those World War I, World War II documentaries? I love watching those, or D-Day, and what happened in the Allied Forces. And they don't just land and they conquer. We won.

People are dying left and right. They're holding their ground, they're getting down, then they're coming up and they're shooting, and then they're making a little bit more effort, a little bit more effort, and we gotta take that hill. We gotta take that hill by next week or everything.

And it's step by step, more men die, more casualties, but they keep going forward. And I see that often in the spiritual realm. How many times have you had to fight for your kids on your knees? And it can take a long time.

Let's get real. How many of you have ever fought for your marriage? Oh, I know a lot more, but you're just not putting up your hands. That's okay.

But does it happen that next day? Hey, that was easy, man. I fought for it on Sunday, and by Monday we're good. No, often it's because they're watching you.

Have you really changed? Or you're pressing in and you're pushing in. It just appears that some demonic activity is not released until pressure is applied through prayer and fasting. And if we could go back to that Scripture, resist the devil and he will flee.

If you break down that word, it could almost be where you've gained a position, right? Your feet are anchored. You're holding this position, and you're actually resisting. It's not a one-time, it's like, oh, that was easy.

It's you're resisting the devil. You're resisting and there's time. And then he comes back at an opportune time.

And you're resisting again. So it's a continual effort. It takes time.

It takes time. I don't know how I was ever talked into this, but how many of you remember going to the fair in the 1990s? Back when I was lifting weights, and this guy put together, I was on the east side tug-of-war team. And they got some big farmers on the west side tug-of-war team.

So all of us from the gym, thinking we're gonna take these guys down. You're like Troy Green, remember those guys? Construction, 320 pounds. He was their anchor.

And we were laughing. We're gonna get these guys. And that rope did not move.

Like 10 farmers, 10 of us. And I'm watching it. Like I'm in the back.

I'm like, what's, and you're pulling. I mean, I actually had a heat stroke and got sick. And had to pass it.

I laid down in the dirt. And I don't think it was healthy where it coaches, sports bar and grill until midnight the night before, but. So, and it's just, it's like, that thing is just moving.

And you gotta go five feet. Five feet. And minutes went by.

A minute, two minutes, three minutes. And I'm just like, you know, everything's just done. But it's just little.

And they just, little. Because when they would pull, then they would anchor. They would pull together, together.

And they would just hold it. And we couldn't, you can't pull back. And so they would just slowly got us.

And we lost. To farmers and construction workers. So, very humbling.

It was good. But that's how it works. There's many things in life.

Even as you make your New Year's resolutions. You're not gonna reach your goal in 30 days. Realize that? Why don't you use the whole year and set a realistic goal? And set the whole year and make it a lifestyle.

That's how you succeed. You don't do, a temporary fix does not solve a long-term problem. Demonic, of course.

And then number six, the final point here. Could it be, could it be when you're praying for healing, it's not happening? Does God, is God trying to get you to reposition your heart closer to Him? Could it be that sickness is one of the best wake-up calls ever known to mankind? It actually is. How many of us have cried out when we're in desperate situations? We're in desperate situations.

In our sickness, or in our brokenness, we cry out to God for help, and therefore, it builds the relationship. Our relationship with God is actually built, not just on the highs. I would actually submit to you that it's built more on the lows.

Because I would read the Word, and I'm like, oh Lord, this is so great, I'm worshiping, I feel great today, things are going good. And then you go through the fire. And you have to apply the psalms you've been reading.

And it's in the application that I know God is my healer. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, oh, I just went through that! Oh my God, thank You! Though that the bones You have broken may rejoice in. My healer, my Redeemer, that's why they gave God all those names.

Jehovah Jireh, my Provider. Jehovah Nisi, Jehovah Sidkenu. Jehovah, my Banner, my Strength.

My God, my Lord, my Savior. My Rock, my Butler, my Shield. The angel army that goes before.

I know God in all these areas. Let me tell you about the God who brought me through death and destruction. Let me tell you about the God who brought me through almost certain divorce.

Let me tell you about the God who got me up out of that bed and gave me life again. Let me tell you about that God who came and stood before my enemies. Folks, you gotta go through it before you truly know Him.

Have you ever thought about this? David didn't need to know Goliath's strength. All he had to know was God's power. That's why there's so much power knowing God, trusting Him.

And he would say to this nine foot tall Philistine, you come with a javelin, with a spear and a shield, but I come to you in the name of the Lord God Almighty. That God will save me. That God will secure me.

That God will deliver me from my enemies. But folks, it goes back to trusting in God. What we began with, trust in the Lord with all your heart.

Lean not on your own understanding. It all goes back to this, doesn't it? Trust in the Lord with all your heart. And maybe there's some listening, you're here this morning, you haven't really trusted in God.

You've never repented. Repentance means I'm not right with God. My sin is dividing me.

I repent and I turn to You, God. I embrace the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross. I need that.

I repent of my sin. Or maybe you're a prodigal son or daughter and you're coming home. Maybe it's time.

How long are you going to fight God? Maybe you've got that hard heart I talked about, that critical spirit. I'll never forget, it was a hard, hard sermon that brought me home in 1999. Pride was crushed.

And I often wonder, what about if I became bitter and resentful? And I rejected that call. There's a choice. Maybe some of you need to make a choice this morning.

Even if you're a believer, guys, I see it all the time in believers. There's no love. They have not fully surrendered.

They're giving God about this much. And they want to control this much. No wonder there's no peace, there's no joy.

Parents, what kind of legacy do you want to leave your children? They'll know you're imperfect. They know you make mistakes, but they've got to know you love the Lord. And if they don't see that, they will reject God.

Tyrants might be good for kingdoms, but they're not good for our homes.