Discovering Spiritual
Healing
John 8:31-41
Jim Davis
The school system in a large city had a
program to help children keep up with their school work during stays
in the city’s hospital. One day a teacher who was assigned to the
program received a routine call asking her to visit a particular
child. She took the child’s name and room number and talked briefly
with the child’s regular class teacher. “We’re studying nouns and
adverbs in his class now,” the regular teacher said, “and I’d be
grateful if you could help him understand them so he doesn’t fall
too far behind.”
The hospital program teacher went to see
the boy that afternoon. No one had mentioned to her that the boy had
been badly burned and was in great pain. Upset at the sight of the
boy, she stammered as she told him, “I’ve been sent by your school
to help you with nouns and adverbs.” When she left she felt she
hadn’t accomplished much.
But the next day, a nurse asked her,
“What did you do to that boy?” The teacher felt she must have done
something wrong and began to apologize. “No, no,” said the nurse.
“You don’t know what I mean. We’ve been worried about that little
boy, but ever since yesterday, his whole attitude has changed. He’s
fighting back, responding to treatment. It’s as though he’s decided
to live.”
Two weeks later the boy explained that he
had completely given up hope until the teacher arrived. Everything
changed when he came to a simple realization. He expressed it this
way: “They wouldn’t send a teacher to work on nouns and adverbs with
a dying boy, would they?”
Teachers, you are also working with
“dying boys and girls. What you share Sunday and Wednesday may
inspire them to live a whole different life from the one Satan has
planned for them. You certainly can help them know that God wants
them to live forever. He doesn’t just want them to live forever, but
he wants them to have a quality life now.
Our behavior is simply a reflection of
what we believe about ourselves.
Therefore, we must make absolutely sure we have a proper standard of
truth that reveals what we should believe and how we should behave.
Human reasoning cannot be trusted. Human reason down through history
has made many, many mistakes. Human reasoning once told us the earth
was flat, the earth was the center of the universe, that blacks were
subhuman, and Jews were dangerous and should be killed. These truths
evidence our need for a standard of spiritual truth.[1]
The Truth Shall Set You
Free
According to the Bible this world’s mess
began when Satan convinced Eve she could have a more significant life
without God. It has been a
downhill slide since Eden. Our insecurities without God have driven us
in feelings of arrogance, inadequacy, and despair as we value the
opinion of others more than the truth of God.[ii]
Since Eden we have been seeking to hide the
naked truth about ourselves.
Only the truth about ourselves can set us free. The Bible presents Jesus
as the source of truth for us today. His truth is found as we hold to
his teaching. I personally believe the Bible is the most psychologically
sound book we have. Its description of human nature is too accurate not
to be true. Its remedy for our problems is built upon sound reasoning
given by the one who created us. Our difficulties arise when we refuse
to face the truth about our enslavement to false standards.
Jesus met people throughout his ministry that
had difficulty facing the truth.
John 8:31-41
31 To the Jews who had
believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my
disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you
free."
33 They answered him, "We
are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can
you say that we shall be set free?"
34 Jesus replied, "I tell
you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has
no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So
if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know you are
Abraham's descendants. Yet you are ready to kill me, because you have no
room for my word. 38 I am telling you what I have seen in the Father's
presence, and you do what you have heard from your father."
39 "Abraham is our
father," they answered.
"If you were Abraham's
children," said Jesus, "then you would do the things Abraham did. 40 As
it is, you are determined to kill me, a man who has told you the truth
that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. 41 You are doing
the things your own father does."
"We are not illegitimate
children," they protested. "The only Father we have is God himself." NIV
Our modern world is very familiar with
the statement “The truth shall set you free.”
But rarely do those who make the statement know the source of truth of
which Jesus speaks. The religious folks to whom Jesus was speaking
thought they already had a good grasp of the truth. I think it is
important to note that John tells us Jesus was speaking to Jews who had
believed in him. In John chapter 6, John tells us of those who followed
Jesus but turned away. They began questioning what they were taught.
Jesus emphasizes is you must continue in my word to discover the truth.
They couldn’t see that they were enslaved to
a religious system that had lost its regard for truth. They merely
chanted, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been enslaved—the
only Father we have is God himself.” They had no need of Jesus’ truth.
The Jews took pride in being Abraham’s
descendants, and Jesus reaffirmed their genealogical claims. However,
Jesus tells them there real father is Satan, whom he calls the father of
lies.
John 8:44-46
4 You belong to your
father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He
was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there
is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he
is a liar and the father of lies. 45 Yet because I tell the truth, you
do not believe me! NIV
It is difficult to give up the identity
that religion or the world has stamped upon us.
It is important to understand the source of truth for our lives, but
truth is of little benefit if we are unwilling to be honest about our
own needs. It takes an honest person to discover the relevance of truth
to one’s personal life. The Jews weren’t honest.
Many of us are too superficial to face
the truth about ourselves. We
know we have problems, but we dismiss it by saying, “so does everyone.”
Spiritual healing is experienced through our willingness to understand
the depth of our need. A superficial world seeks superficial answers,
but really never addresses the real problems.
We rarely have the objectivity or the
courage to face reality. A
businessman asked, “Why do I not see much change in my life?” After
talking with him for awhile three issues surfaced which is common to
most of us: First, this gentleman had advanced significantly in his
profession by performing well and pleasing people. Although he had
received promotions, raises, prestige, and comfort, he still wasn’t
happy. Yet, it was difficult for him to consider living by a pattern of
behavior other than that which had seemingly brought him so far.[iii]
He was also afraid that if he responded
wholeheartedly to God’s grace, God might test his faith by making his
life miserable. He thought
life was miserable enough. He said, “My life is painful now, but at
least I’m used to it. If I surrender completely to God, my life might
get totally out of control.”[iv]
We Need Reaffirmation
“Scott grew up in a home without praise,
discouraged by his parents whenever he attempted anything new and
challenging. After twenty
years of hearing, “You’ll never be able to do anything, Scott, so don’t
even try,” he believed it himself. Neither Scott nor his parents could
later understand why he had flunked out of college and was continually
shuffling from one job to another, never able to achieve success.
Believing he was doing the best he could do, but suspecting he would
always fail, Scott consistently performed according to his
self-perception.”[v]
When we become separated from God we only
have our limited ability, and the opinions of others on which to base
our lives. It is sad when we
turn to those who have a perspective as limited and darkened as our own
to discover the truth about ourselves. We believe we are what they say
we are. We think we must discover our value in what they think about us.
The world persuades us to judge ourselves by
our behavior. If we behave a
certain way we begin to believe this is who we are. Yet, those who have
no real knowledge of truth have defined our behavior. Our behavior is a
mere reflection of what others want us to be, or think we are, but this
not who we really are. We allow our circumstances to control how we feel
about ourselves.
[vi]
The world is forever seeking to stamp
its image upon us. Have you
noticed how many are struggling with an identity crisis? Our transgender
world evidences today’s identity crisis. Most of the turmoil in the
world has to do with our identity crisis. We hate others because they
are not like us, but we aren’t exactly sure who we are. It is an age-old
battle.
The world has always sought to give us an
identity all its own.
Nebuchadnezzar sought to change Daniel’s identity.
Daniel 1:3-10
3 Then the king ordered
Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring in some of the
Israelites from the royal family and the nobility— 4 young men without
any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of
learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in
the king's palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of
the Babylonians. 5 The king assigned them a daily amount of food and
wine from the king's table. They were to be trained for three years, and
after that they were to enter the king's service.
6 Among these were some
from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. 7 The chief official
gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah,
Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.
8 But Daniel resolved not
to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief
official for permission not to defile himself this way. 9 Now God had
caused the official to show favor and sympathy to Daniel, 10 but the
official told Daniel, "I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned
your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other
young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you."
NIV
Daniel and his friends
received genuine heathen names in exchange for their own significant
names.
Daniel and his friend’s names were significant Hebrew names. The prefix
or suffix “el” in Hebrew was short for Elohim, which was the name of the
Hebrew’s God. You can begin to see why the names Daniel and Mishael were
significant. The names Nebuchadnezzar gave them were formed partly from
the names of Babylon’s idols, in order that thereby they might become
wholly naturalized, and become estranged at once from the religion and
the country of their fathers. Daniel was given the name Belteshazzar,
which was a derivation of the Bel the name of the chief god of the
Babylonians. Azariah was given the name Abednego a derivation of Nego,
which meant servant of Nebo the second god of the Babylonians.
They also changed their kosher diets to
that of the Babylonian. Calvin
says, "The design of the king was to lead these youths to adopt the
customs of the Chaldeans, that they might have nothing in common with
the chosen people." It was equivalent to what we call brainwashing. The
world hasn’t changed; it just has more sophisticated ways of
brainwashing.
Satan has this world totally invested
into stamping its image upon us.
Satan convinced Eve that her true identity
was all-wrong. Christ came to erase the work of Satan.
Jesus came proclaiming his truth would restore our original identity.
Satan was in control of those rejecting the truth Jesus taught. Think
about how much time and energy is invested in giving you a false image
of yourself.
In the opening of the lesson we spoke
of Scott who grew up in a home without praise and affirmation.
He was brainwashed into believing his parent’s negative impressions of
him were true. He had no knowledge of his true identity. His behavior
was shaped by their negative impressions, yet, they thought his identity
was wrapped up in his behavior. The world is shaped by this kind of
thinking more than we want to admit. We seek to identify people all
around us today according to our estimate of them. There are liberals,
conservatives, rednecks, blacks, whites, Hispanic, old people, young
people, the have and the have-nots, the sick and invalid, etc. We are
forever seeking to label one another with names we want them to be known
by. It is surprising how many seek to live up to the names we place upon
them.
Daniel and his friends refused to live
up to the names given them.
They chose to reaffirm their true identity found only in the one true
God. God doesn’t want to give you a new identity; he wants to reaffirm
the identity he gave each of us in creation. He desires to reaffirm the
reason you were born. Jesus came challenging the world’s estimate of us.
He challenged the religious worldview. He refused to label people. He
challenged the world’s attitude toward the sick, invalid, outcast,
sinners.
God can change the way we think about
ourselves. He can change what
the world has done to you. God can change anything about you. He can
change your mind. He can change your personality. He can change your
emotions. He can change your circumstances. He can change the way you
feel about yourself. All you have to do is one thing.
You will have to spend time in his
presence. You will have to
walk closely with him. All you have to do is answer his divine call. His
call is also his promise to provide everything you need to stand in the
place he has called you to fill. He will give you every single thing you
need to answer his call. There is only one thing he requires of you.
Trust in him.
How do I spend time in God’s presence?
It is simple. Continue in the words Jesus taught and his truth will set
you free from the limitations of worldly brainwashing.
Affirming Relationships for Spiritual Healing
We seldom have the courage to be honest
with ourselves without healthy affirmation from others.
We need the strength, love and honesty of other people to help heal
spiritually and emotionally. We need to discover people who reflect
godly characteristics into our life in a real way. We need people who
will be patient with us when we are progressing slowly—and who won’t
give us quick and easy solutions
It is absolutely essential that we
place ourselves into an environment conducive to growth.
An environment where honesty, affirming relationships, right thinking,
God and the Holy Spirit are prevalent. Places where others will give us
time to grow in patience and persistence.
Philippians 3:10-16
10 I want to know Christ
and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his
sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, to
attain to the resurrection from the dead.
12 Not that I have already
obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to
take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I
do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do:
Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press
on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me
heavenward in Christ Jesus.
15 All of us who are
mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think
differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16 Only let us live up
to what we have already attained. NIV
We need a place where we can face
ourselves as honestly as the great apostle Paul.
Paul admits he is in the process of becoming more like Christ. It was
something he had not already attained. Yet, he continued in his process
of growth. He was honest with himself and others about his need for
spiritual growth.
Change is inevitable, but growth is
optional. We may have flashes
of insight and spurts of growth as we study Scripture, but real
spiritual healing is usually a much slower process. There are times when
our thoughts are pleasant and joyful. Yet, there are times when God’s
word shines on an area of hurt where we experience nothing but pain and
anger. This is when we need a healthy environment characterized by
honesty, affirming relationships, right thinking, the Holy Spirit’s love
and power, and time.
Conclusion:
Jesus came to set us free. His truth seeks to
reaffirm our true identity. We grow up accepting what others believe
about us. We allow their thinking to shape our behavior, and then we
begin to believe our behavior defines who we are.
There was a man at the well of Bethesda who
had been crippled for 38 years. Jesus asked him “Do you want to get
well?” Today Jesus asks us the same question, “Do you want to get
well?”
[1] Robert S. McGee, The Search for
Significance, Rapha Publishing, Houston, TX. (This sermon relies
heavily upon this book to illustrate the biblical truths
taught.)
[vi] Ibid
Bible Study Questions
1.
How does what we believe about ourselves affect our
behavior?
2.
How does our behavior effect the way think about
ourselves?
3.
Why do people have such a limited view of themselves?
4.
How do we discover the truth about our real identity?
5.
How does this world go about stamping its image upon us?
How does Daniel life exemplify this truth?
6.
What is the key to changing the way we think about
ourselves?
7.
What part does Christian fellowship play in changing the
way we think about ourselves?
8.
What part does the word of God play in gaining an
understanding of ourselves?
9.
What was the apostle Paul’s attitude toward becoming all
God was calling him to be? (Philippians 3:10-16)
10.
What part does our desire play in discovering our true
identity?
