Good morning, everyone. I hope that if you've been traveling this week with Fall Break that you've had a great time to spend with your family. And so glad to see you this morning. I also want to thank some special guests today. We have a couple of our members of our Toccoa Police Department.

This weekend has been an event called Faith in Blue. And they it's an initiative of kind of breaking down walls with community. And so there's a few of them among us. This morning we had some Stevens county officers in the first service, but thank you for being here. And if you see any of them church, let them know.

Thank you. Let them know how much we appreciate them being with us today. And so I want to ask you to turn in your bibles to Exodus 15. Exodus 15. And I just, I got to confess to you, this one was hard for me, this message.

Preparation was difficult. I mean, each week, you know, you labor. And when you study, when you're studying, anytime, you know, you're digging in and trying to find. But the reason this one is hard is because of the question that has to be posed when we see the name of God that we're going to study this week. It's something that affects every single one of us, has affected us, and in some cases, to an extreme end.

And that's this question, why is it that God heals some and doesn't heal others?

Why is it that we know if we've been around scripture and the Bible or lived a life of any kind, why is it that there are some people that are still sick and some that are miraculously healed? It's a tension that. I'll be honest with you, when I was praying about this Thursday, I felt like the Lord spoke to me and said, it's not your job to go defend me.

It's not. It's not my job to defend. Why or why not God has or has not healed. What it is is that we would exalt a God who provides ultimate healing for our lives. And so as we study this today, what I hope is that regardless of what you have come in here carrying today, that you will hear about a God who will be with you no matter what you're going through, that has provided by his son, Jesus Christ, the ultimate healing.

That someday when we lay down this life of corruption, which is the Bible calls it, this life that is sinful, this body, when we lay it down someday in death, I know when Jesus comes back, he will raise me from the dead and give me a body that is Incorruptible. And so I can have hope in that day. It's not a question of whether or not you're going to be sick because of the fall, because of the curse of death. Sickness is a reality. I wish it wasn't that that way.

But I can guarantee you if you came in here today and you have a pimple, you're not well. Sorry. Teenagers. I looked down a few minutes ago and I used my hand sanitizer. You know the quickest way to find a cut is to use hand sanitizer.

I got a cut on my finger. Guess what? I'm not well.

If you came in here and you have a headache today, guess what? You're not well. Are you with me? In Christ, we can be whole and not well. Do you know that today?

Do you believe that today? Because that is the foundation of the abundant life that Jesus said, our good shepherd, we talked about last week, has come to give us life and have it more abundantly. But there's a big difference between having a scratch on your hand and losing a limb. There's a major difference in having a common cold and severe flu. And there is no comparison.

This morning, if you have strep throat and Someone has stage 4 cancer, and does that mean that the person who gets over the cold and doesn't get over the cancer, does that mean they're more righteous than the one who dies? You see, we're all messed up in our head. We've got to have something that drives us higher than that. In fact, I want to assure you of a couple of things. Number one, God is big enough to handle your questions.

Because when you get sick, what's one of the first questions you ask? Especially if it's bad? Why? Why God? Why me?

Why this? Why now? There's two reasons why we ask why. Number one, we want to fix the problem. We want to fix the problem.

Last night I reached in my dash because my hand was tingling a little bit. I'm like, man, my neck's hurting. And I didn't have any Motrin. So guess where I stopped on the way home? The drugstore.

And I got Motrin. Guess what? My neck still hurt after I got home. Because medicine doesn't fix your problem.

Surgery may alleviate your pain, but it doesn't fix your problem. The moment we came into this world, we were destined to our end. Hebrews 9:27 says, it's appointed unto man once to. And guess what? Every person who has died died from an infirmity.

They either died because of a sickness. They either died because they aged or they died because their life was taken.

So if Christianity is about this idea of naming and claiming my healing so I can be whole, I've missed the point. I can be whole in my soul and not be well. And that right there should drive the joy that I have in my life. That right there should drive the hope that I have. Now, wait a minute, let me balance that for a moment, because I don't want you to hear me say something.

I want you to hear me say this very loud and clear. So I'm going to channel my inner Levi Skipper. I want you to look at me eyeball to eyeball. I don't know if he's watching or not, but I'll text him later, say, hey, I channeled you today. God can heal and God wants you to ask him to heal you.

So if you hear from this message, me saying that God won't heal you, that's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is we have to put physical, temporal healing in its right place. And I've got to be okay and still trust God and obey God, even if he doesn't bring healing the way I think that he should. The reality is that sickness and death is common because man fell in the garden. And because man fell in the garden, he looked at Adam and said, you know, you've been cherry picking my property.

But from this point on, the ground that was producing fruit for you will now produce thorns and thistles. And by the sweat of your brow you will reap of it. Because from dust you came and to dust you will return. All of creation has been subjected to the curse of death and by implication to sickness. We will never be rid of sickness.

How was it years ago when Covid hit? You could take somebody who got Covid and they just have a sniffle and someone who'd never been in the hospital died from a disease.

It doesn't make sense.

When we realize Jesus Christ came and died to heal our soul, then I've got something that will carry me through, even if God chooses not to heal my infirmity. Consider Jesus in Mark 2, 16, 17, when he said, it's not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. But the tax collectors and the sinners didn't come to him for medicine, did they, guys? Their soul was sick and yours is too. And the only way we can receive healing for that is to put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, repent of our sins, so that he can make me whole.

Because I mean, honest. Let's be honest. Some of you did come in here today with a headache, a little bit of a stomach cramp. Maybe your ankle's hurting a little bit. Are you well on that definition?

Are you completely whole? No. But your soul can be. God is our healer. Not because everyone is healed when they want to be healed, not because someone remains in a state that is void of sickness, but because he has provided our ultimate healing now.

And I am freed from this body of sickness and death, this body of corruption, this body that's on a course to death. It is my doorway. Death is actually the doorway to my eternity. Unless Jesus comes back before I die.

That gives me hope. God is our Yahweh Rapha. That is spelled Y, H, A, W, E, H, and Rapha is spelled R, A, P, H, A. He is our Yahweh Rapha. He is the Lord who heals.

But can he still be the Lord who heals, even if you still have a sickness? And the truth is, yes. So I want you to look with me in Exodus, chapter 15. In fact, I want you to turn back for a moment because I think we need to know where we are. There's a sad reality to the story we're going to study today and to call God our Yahweh Rapha, the Lord our healer, to say that we've got to understand exactly what is he talking about in context.

Because you probably have heard some TV preachers go on there saying, well, God is your healer, therefore he can always heal you. Well, you can't use that verse to. To say that what we're about to read, you can't rip that out of its context. I'm going to add it to my class on Wednesday night. It's one of my honorable mentions.

Because I have heard TV preachers say before, if you'll send me your money, I'll send you X, Y, or Z and you will be healed in Jesus name. That is not how that works. Jesus was asked one time, lord, if you're willing, would you make me whole? And he said, yes, I am willing to. It's up to God.

And I may not like that, but again, that's why I feel like God wanted us to hear. He doesn't need to be defended today. He needs to be exalted. See, here's the sad reality. The Israelites have been enslaved for 400 years.

Moses is raised up, and he goes and he tells the Pharaoh to let him go. And through a series of 10 supernatural plagues, he breaks the Egyptians to the point that he releases them. And so they leave. And upon leaving, God said, I'm going to send a cloud before you in the day and a pillar of fire in the night. In other words, keep moving.

You've just been free. Don't sit down. Keep moving and it will lead you to where you are going. Well, they're on their way. The Egyptians have a change of heart and they raise up all of their military and they go after them.

And so the Israelites, as they're walking and, and heading, following the cloud, they start hearing the chariots and the horses coming after them, and they freak out and they get over the rise and they see the Red Sea. And they can't go into it. If they go to the right, the Egyptians will get them. If they go to the left, the Egyptians, they're trapped. And they cry out, what are we going to do?

And Moses says, stand back and see the salvation of the Lord. And he raises his staff upon God's word and the sea is split in half. And the Bible says, they walked on dry ground, and God miraculously saves them. And they get on the other side. When we get to the end of chapter 14 and God tells Moses, now raise your hand back again.

And it closes up on the Egyptians, and it said, no one survived. In fact, if you look at 14, he says, but the sons of Israel walked on dry ground and there was no one left.

Verse 30. Then the Lord saved Israel that day from the hands of the Egyptians, and they saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Listen, let me ask you a question. Do you think if you. How many of you have ever prayed this prayer where you said, well, God, if you will blank, I will blank.

I'm going to tell you something. Just seeing a miracle is not going to make you believe more. In fact, it has the exact opposite effect. You then expect the pizazz and the wonder. So that when you get in these valleys of despair and suffering, you then go, God, where are you?

Like you split seas, where's my sea? Listen to what it said at the end of 14. When Israel saw the great power which the Lord had used against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses. Great, wonderful. Could have cut the book off right there.

But then Moses sings a song. He sings a song. Why? Because they're free. They've been freed.

Bondage for centuries, and they're free. Some of you, I don't think, still realize that you've been set free from Your sin.

You've been freed from the curse of death and sin because Jesus Christ died and was raised again. Hallelujah. He's alive. And he sits at the right hand of God in full power, reigning from the heavens. And so listen to what they saying.

He says, I will sing to the Lord for he is highly exalted. This God who just did 10 plagues. This God who just split the sea open. This powerful God who had just said Israel trusted and believed. Verse number 11. Who is like you among the gods, O Lord, who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in praises, working wonders.

And even by the end of this song, his sister Miriam says the same thing. She said in verse 21, Sing to the Lord for He is highly exalted. But then this is where it gets negative. I mean you're just a snap of the finger and the whole narrative changes. So would you stand as I read a few verses to you starting in verse number 22.

Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea. Now how did he know which way to go? What's in front of them? There's a cloud. So who's really leading them?

Keep that in the back of your mind. And they went out into the wilderness of Shur and they went three days in the wilderness and found no water.

It's a little bit anti climactic that the God who just rescued them From Egypt with 10 plagues and split the sea open. They're worried about water.

God turned water into blood and they forgot it in three days time and they came to Marah. They could not drink the waters of Marah for they were bitter. Therefore it was named Marah. Marah literally means bitterness. So the people, was it saying your Bible?

This is more than just complaining. They bit back. The same ones that said that they trusted and believed because they saw now don't believe at all. What shall we drink? Then he, Moses cried out to the Lord and the Lord showed him a tree and he threw it into the water and the water became sweet.

Now check this out there. Where? At Marah, the place of bitterness. He made for them a statute and a regulation and he tested them 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 his statutes. That's a parallel going on there.

I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians. So what's the problem? What's the problem in the text? If they will obey God, he won't bring the plagues on them and they should fear. Remember it said they feared him so.

If you fear me, then you need to fear that the same things I did the Egyptians I'll do to you. He said, for I, the Lord, am your healer.

Where in that text did it say God was obligated to take my cold away?

Father, before I chase too many rabbits, I pray that you would be in this message, that you would be in our hearts, and that your word would speak louder than anything else that I could say. Lord, at the same time that we recognize that, Lord, we can't take this verse, name it, and claim it, and say that you'll get rid of my cold. We do know that you are our healer and that you invite us to cry out to you in those times of weakness and sickness. Because, God, you are our healer. So, Lord, I pray that we can learn to be faithful and trusting even when things don't turn out exactly the way that I want them.

In Jesus name, Amen. All right, so you should have in your study guide already written down the word Yahweh, Rapha, the Lord heals.

And I don't know if you see it the way that I'm seeing it right now, but the truth is, is there are only three days now. Three days from now will be the middle of the week. You're not even thinking about what's going to happen on, let's see, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. You're not even thinking about Wednesday yet, are you? Maybe you are.

Maybe some of you ladies are sitting down and planning out your meals and all that stuff. There are only three days from seeing God destroy the Egyptian army. They're only three days from walking across dry ground. And the truth is, they were exactly where God wanted them to be. God led them to a place of bitterness to test and see if they would trust him.

So let me go ahead and just give you this little nugget. God is more concerned about whether you trust him before he's concerned about your healing.

Because he said it right there. He led them there to test them. And so here they are. They came to the Red Sea, they saw all these miracles, and they're free. In fact, if you want to do a little bit of extra study, go to Deuteronomy, chapter 8, and you'll find that Moses, before they're about to enter the promised land and they're making the covenant he refers back to not just this time, but all these different times where God was consistently testing them over and over and over.

Will you trust me? Even when you can't see the solution? Will you trust me no matter what? And that word, Mara, it means bitterness. But what really turned bitter when they got there?

See, God didn't heal them. God healed the water.

But what it revealed was it wasn't the water that was bitter. It was their heart.

Your biggest problem is not the cut on your hand. Your biggest problem isn't the diagnosis you receive. Your biggest problem is your heart. And God wants your heart. And he took them there to test them so that they would see that their hearts were hard and to see whether they would trust him in all.

And the truth is, that generation, did they trust him? No. What happens to them in a few chapters, in a few books? They don't go into the promised land because they fail to trust him. And I wonder how many of us are missing the blessing.

Because when we read verse 27, I left that off before I prayed. Just a few miles down the road is this place called elim, which has 12 springs. Like there was water. But he needed to lead them to a place of bitterness to appreciate the place of blessing. And a lot of us, we've never embraced the place of bitterness so that we can appreciate what it is that God wants to do in our life.

And it may not look what we. I mean, they didn't kind of dream up a place with all these date palms and all these springs.

Thomas Constable observes this, and I want you to hear this. This failure to depend on God should prove that miracles do not result in great faith. In other words, if you see a miracle that happens, it's not going to turn the volume up on your faith. It turns up your expectation. And when you begin to put expectations on God that God did not promise, when those things don't happen, you are disappointed and you lose faith.

And when you lose faith, you lose commitment. And when you lose commitment, you lose hope. You and I have to be very, very careful about. Thus says the Lord when we begin to claim promises out of context that God never spoke that verse. The Lord our healer never was an obligation for God to take away every sniffle that I have.

You know why? Because you think, well, then why won't God just take sickness away? He did when he sent his son Jesus to die on the cross. Because the result of our sin is what? So somebody has to die because you're a sinner and every one of us is a sinner because we're all Adam's kids and he sent his son to solve your sin problem.

And because he solved my sin problem. I can be whole. Are you whole today? Have you come to that place where you recognize all of those disappointments that's created bitterness in us and in you is just a wall that keeps you from trusting in Jesus Christ so that he can save you. Now let me balance that for a moment.

Does that mean that God's not big enough to handle my problems? Does that mean God can't handle my complaining? Well, yeah, he can. But see, God came to heal our faith. You remember the story of the man who, right at the transfiguration, when Jesus goes up on the mountain, he comes back, a man has brought his demon possessed son to him.

And I love how scholars try to make it sound like he's epileptic. No, he was possessed by a demon.

And the man is sitting there and says, I brought my son to you. But your disciples couldn't heal him. Why? Because they don't have the power to heal. Y' all know that, right?

The disciples didn't fail. They just failed to show who was the true healer. And he says, well, if you can, you could heal my son. And he goes, whoa, whoa, whoa. If I can?

Oh, I can. If you believe. And what did the man say back to him? Do you remember? He says, I believe, but help my unbelief, guys, on your best day.

Here's what I know. In this room today, some of you came in here and you're carrying guilt because you lost a loved one. My heart breaks for you. Cause you're sitting there going, if I'd have prayed the 16th time, they might not have died. If I'd have taken them to another doctor, they may not have died.

Can I tell you today, Jesus wants to heal you of that guilt because he is sovereign over sickness. Your medicine, your doctors, they don't do the healing God does. Hebrews 1:3 says that by the words of his mouth, he holds all things together. If your loved one has passed away, it's because God let them pass away. And there's nothing that you could have done to stop it.

The Egyptians couldn't stop the plagues or the sea being split. Do you think you can stop it? Because the other way that you can look at that. Is that you think you're responsible for somebody's health.

Can I change your thinking today? That you would put yourself under God's mighty hand and trust that even though I may go through places of bitterness, God's letting me experience the bitterness to show me what his blessings going to be. And that's the journey that they took. So let me give you. Let me give you three principles that comes out of this text, because I want us to really be able to, you know, take something that applies to us properly from this text, and then I'm going to balance it.

I'm telling you, my biggest struggle when I was praying Thursday was God. I don't want to tell them that you can't heal because you can. I just want to make sure that they don't walk away thinking, well, you're obligated to do whatever we tell you to do. Y' all know you can't twist God's arm, right? Like, praying a little bit more is gonna make him do what you want him to do.

God is enthroned above heaven. He is El Shaddai, God Almighty. He is El Elyon. He is our most high God. If that's him, then how are we.

How can we make him do anything?

I could preach two hours today. Somebody said, oh, no, I won't keep you from lunch. I promise. Three principles. First one is this.

God knows the problem. Even when our perception warps our actual need, you know what happens to us? We get some bad news. I don't know if you did. I did this when I ruptured the disc in my neck.

You know what the first thing I did that I shouldn't have done is I got online and I went, okay, what can I do to fix my neck?

I'll be honest with you. I didn't suffer well through that.

I started going, how can I fix this? Is there a pill? Is there a surgery? I even started looking at all the different surgeries to fix a ruptured disc. Oh, I can do a microdiscectomy.

Then I realized, no, you can't do that with cervical fusion because it just won't work. There's too much bone back there, and there's too many blood vessels. And our fear begins to warp our perception. They got thirsty. We're in the middle of the desert.

How are we going to drink anything? Hmm? The same God that just split the waters open will give me water. You know when you are in those moments and your perception, your emotions are causing you to see a situation in a different way? Can we take a pause for a moment and step back and go, but, God, I don't like this.

I don't like the news I just received. This is hard for me. But, God, I'm going to declare I will trust you. Because I know if you don't fix it and you don't Take me out of it. You will be with me through it.

Remember last week we talked about the valley of the shadow of death? You may be in the shadow, but there's a light at the end of the ravine. Will you trust God to get you to the light? See, our perception sometimes makes it even worse than it should be. Sometimes our perception drives us into such despair, we get sick over the being despaired.

But can I tell you to trust God to divorce yourself and fire that voice in your heart that's telling you that things are the way you see it and not the way that he sees it?

Jesus was direct in Matthew 6, 8. See, we think. Here I am. Oh, gosh, I gotta solve this problem. There's gotta be a fix.

There's gotta be a pill. There's gotta be a surgery. Can I encourage you, starting today, the next time you're sick, no matter if it's just a minor cut or a cold or the flu or you lose a limb or whatever it is, whatever it is, could I ask you to stop right then and say, God, I don't know. Help me as I journey through this valley that I don't understand.

Help me. Hold me with your right hand. Give me the strength to make this journey. He doesn't want you to be alone. And that's the second thing you know.

In James, chapter 5, verse 14 and 15, it says, is there any sick among you? Is there any sick among you? He says to call the elders of the church together. Why the elders of the church? To keep it theologically right.

We need to fire some of our TV evangelists. I'm sorry, I'm preaching online. Y' all need to hear this online. You need to fire some of these health, wealth, prosperity preachers because they're leading you to a place of no faith. You need to trust that God, whether he chooses to heal you or doesn't choose to heal you, that he's still good and he's still God and he's still on the throne and he still has the power to do whatever he wills.

And here's another caveat about that. Just because you may be extremely sick doesn't mean you're an extreme sinner.

We buy into some of these Eastern philosophies and don't even realize it. We think that because I'm uber sick, sick unto death, that I must have been a really bad sinner or that person is. You know what that's called? It's called judgmentalism. Stop it.

When you see somebody sick, you ought to pour out Grace and love and. And mercy. Jesus said when he was speaking to the sheep and the goat, what was one of the things he said? When I was sick, you visited me. And he didn't say that just for the pastors and the deacons.

Y' all know that, right? There are people all in this room, even now, elderly people and sick people and struggling people and crippled people, that they just need you to care a moment, to say, how you doing? And don't walk away when they start telling you how bad it is.

Sit there and hold their hands. You can't solve the problem. But if we let our perception warp it, we'll actually think we can solve it. It's a lie. Point number two, God knows our solution to our need, even if we don't realize it.

Don't you love that about God? Some people don't because you want to control the situation. But you know, there's something freeing about trusting God, even when I don't see how it's going to lay out. Lord is a lamp unto our feet, a light unto our path. I may not see what next year is going to hold some of you in this room.

You're going to get bad news from now until next year. What are you going to do? What are you going to do if God doesn't solve that problem for you that way? Does that mean he's not God? Does that mean he's not good?

Does that mean he doesn't love you? Does that mean that I'm not good enough, Lord? I'm not good enough? I probably deserve. That's called Eeyore Syndrome, you know.

Well, I probably don't deserve to be healed.

When you're sick, ask God to heal you in Jesus name and God, if he doesn't, if you don't heal me, I still will worship you. When Job in chapter one found out that his kids and his everything he owned was gone, he fell to the ground. But then immediately he said he got up. And that's when he said, the Lord gives and the Lord takes away. But blessed be the name of the Lord.

Do you have that conviction today that no matter what may come against you and in the next chapter, then God allows Satan to take his health? You see, there's a lot of reasons why you may be sick today. Don't dismiss the fact that your sin may be making you sick. You can just. That's the passage.

They were promised to be sick. If they didn't do what God told them to do, they would receive the plagues that came on The Egyptians, if they didn't. And so in your life and my life, there are sicknesses that are a result of our sin. So what do I do? I repent.

God may not take my sickness away. I hate that there are some sicknesses that are a result of Satan, just like with Job. But regardless of whether it was sin, regardless of whether it was Satan, or whether it's because of the fall of humanity, God is still our healer. Because our greatest need is our soul. Do you believe that?

Because if we do, then we know God has a solution. I remember when I was. When I came out of my surgery, I remember two things that happened. Number one, because I had been where some people had been, I was able to help them go through the same. I remember this guy who called me.

He's like, man, my hand's tingling. Is that normal? Yep, that's normal. But somebody that had never been through that surgery didn't know what that was like.

And then I began to realize how that impacted other people around me. Guys, you don't know. You don't know what your journey's going to do for somebody else and what God can do to use it. That you actually may become wounded healer.

What if that's true for you? You know, Moses messed up. Y' all know that, right? Like this happened. But the Israelites didn't stop complaining.

Two chapters later, after God sent manna because they were hungry, they were thirsty. They were hungry. Then they get thirsty again. And God says, strike the rock at Rephidim and water will come out. And he did exactly what God said, and they were watered.

That's a lot of people. Y' all know that, right? Like a million people. That's like 40 times the size of Stevens county or walking around in the wilderness. That's a lot of water that they need when you get to numbers.

After years of dealing with those people, I think Moses was getting a little tired of them. And they complained again. What are we going to drink? We're going to die. And they're in Kadesh.

And Moses takes God upon himself. It worked before. I'll do it again. He strikes the rock. But God didn't tell him to.

And Moses was judged. God wouldn't let him enter the promised land. God has a solution to our problem. We've got to trust him in that journey. And in that trusting, in that journey, we have to obey.

Last point of that first section says, obedience aligns us in God's provision. Even as sickness in life remains a reality.

Moses took things into his own hands. And made it worse. But what they didn't realize is just around the corner, just around the corner, there were springs of water, Springs of water. And you know what? In the Bible, in the Pentateuch, in the first five books of the Bible, they'll make a journey back tomorrow again, and they'll come back around to that.

And it's interesting. And the reason I mention that is because God allows us to remember those times of testing to keep us humble and keep us dependent. You see, if your sickness remains today, God can give you grace and strength to endure it. And that's a plus. If God heals your sickness, what a great relief and blessing.

Amen. If that sickness leads to death and I'm in Christ, then I receive my ultimate healing. You with me, because I'll be present with the Lord. In Second Corinthians, chapter 5, Paul talks about this body of corruption. And that's what it is.

It's like a tent. And we're living in this. But this isn't our. This isn't it. It's just temporary.

And he says, well, you know what? Whether I'm here or with the Lord, you know, we quote that verse, another one of those verses taken out of context. He said, whether I'm here or I go on to be with the Lord, my life is to please God. And I can't please God unless I believe God. And I can't believe if I believe God, then I will obey God.

Just kind of looking for the next pizzazz. That God's going to poof and work does not build my faith. What builds my faith is trusting God. Even when I can't see the solution, even when the pain and the sorrow gets deep and despairing, I know that I can cry out in that and God will love me no matter how low I get. God will come and pick me up out of that.

Why? Because he loves you. The truth here is that God is the one who heals. He has power over our bodies, and we can have hope in him because he first provides ultimate healing for us. And when we leave this world, I'll get the promise that I'll have a new body free of corruption, free of sickness, free of death.

Be in a place where there'll be no more tears and no more sorrow. He'll wipe every tear from our eye, and God is the one who heals. Meaning that we can come to the Lord and ask him. Y' all heard me say that right eyeball to eyeball. You can and should ask God to heal you.

You should do that first and trust that he will act according to his good and his will. And that whether I'm well or I sick, he invites me to trust and obey him and be in a journey that will lead me to a place of deeper trust. Because I can be whole even if I'm not well. Now, I've got a present for you.

This is the other half of my notes.

I'm going to tell you. My email address is jamiesmithbenezerbaptist.com because in this, I kind of broke down. I knew I wouldn't have enough time. This is actually enough to do another message. But I want you to hear me say a couple of things.

Number one, because sickness is real and pervasive because of the Fall, I know it's going to be with me. Some sickness is the result of personal sin, but not all. It's not. And when I'm sick. Yes.

Pray. If I'm sick. Yes. Call the elders of the church. Pray.

Because God is sovereign over sickness and healing. But God is the one who chooses to heal. Aren't y' all glad I'm going through this quicker? Here's something I need you to hear. Health and righteousness don't correlate.

Paul had a thorn in the flesh. And God said to him, in my weakness, you're made strong. Timothy had a stomach problem. Epaphroditus almost died. According to the book of Philippians, these were righteous, holy men, right?

And they were sick because they could be whole even if they were not well. I love this. See, because here's the thing. God listens when we ask, and we should ask God. Y' all remember Naaman?

Y' all remember the story of Naaman in Second Kings, chapter five? He wasn't even a Jewish, and he had heard about God and heard about healing. And so he goes and God or Elisha tells him, we'll go dip in the Jordan river seven times. The Jordan river is like Lake Lanier. It's nasty.

The worst sinus infection I ever got was wiping out wakeboarding on Lake Lanier. And it jetted water up in my sinuses, and I was sick for a week. That's some nasty water. Well, the Jordan's even worse. And Naaman's like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

There's better water than that. But again, hear me, his perception was warping reality. He wasn't trusting God for the solution, which means he wasn't obeying.

All physical healing, unfortunately, is temporary. You may be healed today of whatever is your ailing. Wake up tomorrow with a Stomach bug. I hate stomach bugs. Do you hate stomach bugs as much as I do?

I mean, there's nothing worse than sitting over a toilet doing that kind of number. I hate it. I just made somebody get nauseous.

I'll mimic that one day for you. But here's the truth, and this is what I want you. Salvation is our ultimate healing. Salvation is our ultimate. Look at that last blank there.

Let me wrap this up. We are made whole in the Gospel, no matter our situation. First Peter 2, verse 24 says, and he himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. And then he quotes Isaiah 53. For by his stripes we are healed.

Yes, we have healing in Christ, but the ultimate healing is his forgiveness. Then I love this verse because it goes back to last week, for you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and the guardian of your souls. We have hope because God does heal. Now, can I coach you before we get ready to pray for our present suffering is not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed in us. That's out of Romans 8.

Someday Jesus is going to come back, and your loved ones that have gone on before you, that have trusted in Jesus Christ, will get their bodies back. Hallelujah. But they're going to get back a better body. I don't know how that's going to work. People will say, well, how does he take dust and make our body back?

Well, he did it with Adam, and we'll see it again. God may not heal you right now, and it may not turn out exactly how you want it to, but I can trust that God is holy God, good God, righteous God, and acts on my behalf. I heard that you guys years ago had David Ring come and preach. Y' all know David Ring? David Ring has cerebral palsy.

I got to hear him one time, and he got up on stage and it takes a little while to get used to the way he talks, but he says, my name is David Ring. I have cerebral palsy. What's your problem?

Y' all know David Ring is whole. Come on. Even if he's not well.

And we long, all of us, our bodies groan. Even though we have the Holy Spirit, we groan. But for the redemption of the sons of God. This is good, but it's only going to be so much better. Do you believe that Romans 15:1 says this?

Now, those who are strong ought to bear the infirmities and the weaknesses of those who are without strength, who are sick you have a great opportunity of ministry to those around you to be the hands and feet of Jesus. We're called to them. We can't heal anybody. But by golly, we sure can walk with them through it, can't we? If we're willing, if we make ourselves available, that's the ministry that the Lord's called us to do.

When I was sick, you visited me. So let me tell you how that looks. Some of you in this room, you've lost a spouse, you've lost a loved one, and you're carrying grief because you feel like if you could have done one more thing, they'd be here. Can I give you permission today, instead of balling up your fist to heaven and blaming God, that you open it up and say, lord, I want to release that guilt in Jesus name. Please heal me of that guilt.

In fact, let's take it another step. Some of you in this room, you feel guilty because you're relieved that your loved one is no longer suffering. Can I ask you to do the same? It's okay for you to be okay that they're not here and they're well now, but you're carrying this. You're carrying this guilt because you're like, why would I feel comforted that they're gone?

I want them here. You know what? I want them here, too. I've lost loved ones that I wish were here. I wish I could call Tom Bennett up my grandfather, say, pop, I need help.

Because my pilot is clicking in the left. That's where I would call, and he's gone, and I can't call him for that. I would call Laura's mom and say, tell me one more time how to do those biscuits. She made the best biscuits, didn't she? She made the best biscuits.

But I can't call her.

I'm okay that they're where they are now. And I want you to be okay. If you're still grieving over a loved one, it's okay. But can you today, ask the Lord, Lord, I'm releasing any guilt that I feel over their loss so that I can find renewed hope, freedom.

And lastly, hey, it is okay to ask God to heal you kids. I want you to hear me. Because kids, sometimes they put things in perspective. Like, they'll be like, hey, I got a tummy ache. Let's pray they'll be quicker to pray for anybody else.

The next time you're sick, I want you to do two things. Number one, I want you to immediately say, lord, what do I do? Give me the Strength to endure this. And then I want you to find and call a pastor or somebody else. Because it said, if there's any sick among you, call the elders of the church.

Well, I mean that literally. Call them and tell them, I need you to pray for me. I've had this head cold for three days, and it's not going away. Why would we not. Why would we call the doctor first and not call the physician?

Let's talk to him. And in a few minutes we're going to open up this altar. I don't want. Your need is today. I don't know if you need a mental healing, heart healing, or physical healing, but we don't have.

Because we don't ask and we don't get and receive because we ask with evil emotives. I don't think there's anything evil about asking God. God, I just don't want this infirmity anymore. But like Paul, he said, I asked three times, and he said, my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness. Rather than saying, like, I can't be a good person unless I'm whole physically, what if we just said, lord, make me whole in my spirit so I can live to glorify you.

I'm telling you guys, I could go on with this for hours. But I want you to hear me say this. Yes, you can ask God to heal you, but getting healed physically doesn't make you whole. Seeing God's miracles doesn't increase your faith. I'm choosing to believe.

Let's pray like this. Jesus kneeling down in the garden that night, and he said, lord, if it's your will, let this cup pass from me, but not my will, but yours be done. And let's release the tension that we're holding toward God because we're mad that he made me sick or that we're mad that he took my loved one away. Let's trust, as the Old Testament teaches, He gives life and he gives death. But I can't receive the comfort of God if I can't trust him.

Father, as we come to this time of decision, this is a heavy thing to process. But, Lord, we know that you're good. We know that you love us. We know that you want us well. You sent your son to make us whole.

So, Lord, let us experience the freedom of having eternal life in you. And no matter what may come against me physically. I mean, even Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego said, no matter what happens to us, we will not bend the knee. Lord, let us even look at sickness that way, no matter what may come against me. Lord, maybe you could use someone's sickness in this room as a testimony that gives somebody else hope on how to trust in Christ, even if the sickness doesn't leave.

But Lord, at the same time, I know there's people in this room who are struggling with deep sicknesses now that are struggling with cancers and they're struggling with other things. God, I want them to have comfort and hope in you. I want them to be able to know your strength as they're walking through this season. It may lead to physical healing, and it may not. But either way, God, I know that you will carry them through this.

So, Lord, love on us, lead us, direct us, that we may cry out, Lord, you are our healer. In Jesus name, Amen.