Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
This podcast is a production of Watermark Community Church in Dallas, Texas, USA. Watermark exists to be and make more fully devoted followers of Christ, looking to God's Word as our only authority, conscience and guide.
Good morning, Watermark. Happy Mother's Day. I hope you are all well. I do want to say hello to the people sitting in overflow in the Chapel. While we're in two different rooms, we are one church family. Thank you for joining us today. I am so excited for us to jump into the Word of God today.
Before we do, let me give you a moment to pray and ask God to speak to you. So, would you just pray that really quickly for yourself? Would you just say, "God, would you speak to me this morning?" Then, would you pray for the people around you and ask God to speak to them as well? Then, would you pray for me and ask God to speak through me to you?
Lord, I pray this would be a defining moment for so many people, that you would do something in the time we have together that is so remarkable, so miraculous, that people would leave here full of joy and that joy would ripple out through the rest of their week. Lord, I pray you would give us eyes to see Christ clearly. I pray your voice would be clear in our lives today. Holy Spirit, would you lead and guide us into all truth? We come expectant now. For those who are asleep, would you wake them up? Would you just do something really sweet in our lives today, I pray. In Jesus' name, amen.
Well, a while back, one of our toilets stopped filling up once you would flush it. I don't know if you've had that experience…you probably have…where it'll still flush, but after you flush the toilet, the tank doesn't fill back up, so you have to take the top off and pull this little thing. Some of y'all know what the name of that thing is. I personally do not, but you pull that thing, and then it starts filling back up.
This is where it's probably helpful for you to know I'm not a handy person. I'm just not. Usually, if I try to fix it, I make it worse before things turn toward the better. Because of that, I just decided, "Let's leave it like it is." So, I just accepted a new reality. "This is a toilet that now the rhythm is you flush it, take the top off, pull the thing up, it fills back up, and you put the top back on." That went on for a couple of months.
Just every day, flush it… "Okay. This is what you do. Take the top off, pull that thing up, put the top back on. There you go. This is our toilet. This is how this toilet works. If you want to use that toilet, you just need to know this is how that toilet operates." I think the reason I didn't want to take the time to fix it was, first, I just didn't want to take the time to do it. In my mind, I was like, "This is going to take more time than I want to give to it." Secondly, "This is going to be harder than I think it's going to be. It's just going to be hard." So, I just left it as it was.
Finally, I got to a point where it was like, "Okay. It's time. I've pulled that thing enough. Let's get this fixed." Then I went to the store. I got the thing. It didn't take as long as I thought it was going to take, and it was fixed. Then, when I flushed the toilet and it filled back up, I felt joy. Isn't that weird? Like, I was proud. I wanted to show it off and be like, "Have you seen how this toilet flushes? Have you seen how the tank fills back up? Isn't that phenomenal?"
Now, some of you hear that, and you probably die a little bit inside, because you're like, "That feels so unnecessary. That type of laziness, that unwillingness to address the problem, to get fixed what is broken, and for you to wait that long to experience the joy of flushing a toilet normally… I don't understand it." The reality is this is so many of our stories when it comes to things that are broken in our lives that are totally fixable. Not because of what _we_ can do or who we are but because we know Jesus Christ, who is in the business of healing that which is broken.
It's crazy that there are things in this room that are broken spiritually. Some of you came this morning, and your relationship with God is broken. Others of us have sin lingering in our lives where we're continuing to live in brokenness. Others of us have broken relationships with other people. I just want to speak in and tell you it doesn't have to be that way. There's actually joy waiting for you, and it's found in knowing Jesus Christ as healer. So, today I just want to talk about the healing power of Jesus Christ.
If you have a Bible, would you turn with me to Acts, chapter 9? If you're new to Watermark, we've been journeying through the book of Acts all year. We actually have a daily reading plan that tracks along with the passage I'm teaching today. If you've given up on that reading plan, I would encourage you to reengage with it, because I assure you, if you'll do the work during the week going along with Join the Journey, it's going to develop muscles in you. It's going to strengthen you in ways you didn't even know you needed.
The book of Acts is about the explosion of the first-century church and the spread of the gospel. That's what the book of Acts is about. We've identified Acts 1:8 as the summary verse of the entire book. Acts 1:8 tells us the gospel would start in Jerusalem, spread to Judea and Samaria, and then go to the end of the earth.
Now, I want to remind you where things left off in the passage last week. This is important. Acts 9:31 tells us, **"So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied."** As we're stepping in to talk about healing, what you need to understand is where we're at in the book of Acts is a very important moment. We've seen the gospel has left Jerusalem, and that was because of the martyrdom of Stephen.
Now what we find out is the gospel has spread to all of Judea and Samaria, and the church is flourishing. It's being built up, and two things mark the church. I hope you saw it. They're marked by a fear of the Lord and comfort in the Holy Spirit. I would love for those two things to define Watermark, that the people of Watermark are marked by a fear of the Lord and a comfort in the Holy Spirit. Amazing things happen when that is true.
I want you to see how the verse ended. It says, "And it multiplied." So, the church in the first century is exploding. It's multiplying. What does this have to do with healing? Well, as we step back into the book of Acts, we're going to look at two different stories that are stories of physical healing, and it is through healing that the church multiplies. The gospel actually spreads and wins through healing. Let me show this to you. Look with me. Let me just read you the two stories back to back. Here's what it says. Acts, chapter 9, starting in verse 32:
**"Now as Peter went here and there among them all, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda. There he found a man named Aeneas, bedridden for eight years, who was paralyzed. And Peter said to him, 'Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; rise and make your bed.' And immediately he rose. And all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord."** That's multiplication. They see healing, and they turn to the Lord because of this.
**"Now there was in Joppa…"** That was 12 miles away. **"…a disciple named Tabitha, which, translated, means Dorcas."** There was a woman named Dorcas. **"She was full of good works and acts of charity. In those days she became ill and died, and when they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room.**
**Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him, urging him, 'Please come to us without delay.' So Peter rose and went with them. And when he arrived, they took him to the upper room. All the widows stood beside him weeping and showing tunics and other garments that Dorcas made while she was with them.**
**But Peter put them all outside, and knelt down and prayed; and turning to the body he said, 'Tabitha, arise.' And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. And he gave her his hand and raised her up. Then, calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive. And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord."** There's multiplication. **"And he stayed in Joppa for many days with one Simon, a tanner."**
Do you see what's happening? This is multiplication through healing. There are two points I want to highlight from these stories today. They're very simple, but they're very important for our church. Here are the two points. I'm going to give them to you right now. The first we're going to unpack from this story is _Jesus is healer_. It's plain and simple. Jesus Christ is healer. The second thing I want you to see from this story is _Jesus' healing in you will lead to healing in others_.
1\. _Jesus as healer_. My hope is every single person in this room will know Jesus Christ as healer. If you've never known Jesus Christ as healer, my hope is today would be the day. I say "Jesus as healer," but if you look at the story, this story was actually about Peter healing. Why would I say "_Jesus_ as healer"? Well, if you're familiar with your Bible, then you might have already made connections from _these_ stories of healing to stories of _Jesus_ healing.
Peter looked at Aeneas and told him to rise and make his bed. Jesus spoke to a paralytic in Capernaum, and what did he tell him? He said, "Rise, pick up your mat, and go home." Very similar stories. Peter finds himself with Dorcas. He walks in, and it's this very noisy situation where there are these widows weeping, making a lot of noise, and what does Peter do? He puts them all out, kneels down, takes her by the hand, and raises her up. Jesus did the same exact thing in the same exact situation with Jairus' daughter.
The language they use is actually identical except for one letter. When Jesus raised Jairus' daughter, the words he spoke were _talitha koum_, which meant something like, "Young girl, rise up." What does Peter say to Dorcas? He says, "_Tabitha koum_." The only difference is one letter. The point I'm making is Peter is carrying on Jesus' ministry by the power of the Holy Spirit, but it's actually Jesus doing the healing.
What were Peter's words to Aeneas? Verse 34: **"And Peter said to him, 'Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you…'"** This story is declaring to us that Jesus Christ is healer. This also is telling us who and what Jesus can heal. The answer is anyone and anything. That's what Jesus is in the business of doing. He is in the business of healing anyone or anything. He is able to do the impossible. Things that are dead come to life with Jesus.
Now, when you look in the Scriptures and see a story about physical healing, it's always important. We're going to talk about physical healing in a bit, because this is a story about physical healing, but any story in the Bible about physical healing is always meant to point to an even greater reality and an even greater need for healing. It's the need for healing for each one of us in our relationships with God. Everyone apart from Jesus has a broken relationship with God due to a sinful heart.
So, when you think about these two stories, the impossibility of Aeneas walking and the impossibility of Dorcas breathing are meant to remind us of the impossibility of us being right with God apart from Jesus. The helplessness of Aeneas in bed and the helplessness of the mourning guests to save Dorcas is our helplessness. The finality of Dorcas' death is meant to remind us of the finality of our eternity in hell apart from Jesus.
Our sinful hearts that result in thoughts, attitudes, and actions that are not honoring to God leave us dead in our sins, separated from God and paralyzed to be able to do anything about it. That's what this story points us to. It points us to our greater need for healing. If we're not careful in our world today, one of the things that will hinder us from finding that healing is the access we have to options. Let me explain it this way.
Kat and I got away for a few days this past week. We just went and sat on a beach for a few days. For fun, I was reading a book about growing up in the 80s and 90s. I'm a very nostalgic person. I loved growing up in the 80s and 90s. I personally think they were the best decades to grow up in, and that's what this book is about. This book walks you through the movies of the 80s and 90s, the music of the 80s and 90s, and the video games of the 80s and 90s.
One of the things this book talks about is that something has been lost because of options. In the 80s and 90s, if you wanted to watch a movie, the only way to watch that movie was to get up and go to Blockbuster Video. You had to hope all of those tiles of cartridges actually had a cartridge behind it. If it didn't, that was game over for your weekend. The only thing you could do was go and check the recently returned row of things that hadn't been restocked yet, and you could just hope it was in there, but if it wasn't, you were not watching that movie.
His point was today, though… Man! You have all of these different streaming platforms. You don't have to go anywhere to find it. You have options. His point is something has been lost there. Some beauty has been lost. The reason I tell you that is it's not that _something_ is lost; _everything_ is lost when we believe there are different options for healing in our world.
There is this belief that you just need to find what works for you to heal what is broken in your life, whether it's becoming a more spiritual person, meditating more, cleaning up your life, listening to podcasts, reading books, attending church, or going on a psychedelic retreat. What you need to understand is all of these are like a water gun in a forest fire. They will not fix the problem.
Jesus came to heal our spiritual paralysis. He has come to raise our dead hearts. Jesus coming, living, dying, and rising was all for our healing. Let me just say this. If you're here right now and your life feels empty, meaningless, or broken, let me tell you what's happening. Your life is broken because your relationship with God is broken. Jesus Christ has come to heal what is broken, to heal your relationship with God.
Maybe, for some of you today, you sense the reason God had you come today is because Jesus is reaching into your life, saying, "Rise and walk. Rise and live." Charles Spurgeon essentially said, "God does not help those who help themselves; he helps those who _cannot_ help themselves." You cannot heal yourself. You cannot heal your broken relationship with God. Jesus can.
Now, for every Christian in the room, maybe your relationship with God has already been healed, but here is your reality and my reality: there are still things we allow to linger in our lives that are broken. So, I just want to invite you to answer this question…_Where do you still need Jesus' healing in your life?_ In what ways are you still paralyzed by sin?
Maybe it's through an intense battle with pornography. Maybe it is a consistent giving yourself over to drinking too much or yelling at loved ones or it's compulsive spending or compulsive eating or people-pleasing or lying or cheating or stealing. Maybe it's a hate toward someone who hurt you. What in your life seems dead and incapable of life? Maybe your marriage feels like it's dead, and you've decided divorce is just better, that there's more life in divorce than there is in marriage.
I just want to invite you to think. What is it for you? If you're a Christian, here's the reality: we all have something. Everyone has something in their life that needs the healing power of Jesus Christ. _Everyone_. It's not a matter of _if_; it's a question of _what_. Then, let me just say this. I don't care what is broken in your life. In light of who Jesus is, it would be crazy to let it stay broken. Whatever is broken in your life, it would be crazy to let it stay broken because of who Jesus is.
This past week, I'd been having this pain that was radiating all down my arm. Like, through my tricep, through my elbow, and down into my fingers. So, I went and saw this person. When I walked in… I was just standing at the receptionist's desk, and the receptionist was like, "What am I seeing you here today for?" _She's_ not seeing me, but I guess she wanted involved in my situation. I said, "Well, I've just had this pain that's radiating through my arm."
The woman I _am_ seeing walks up, and she just hears that. I'm just standing at the reception desk, and when she hears that, she's like, "Oh, it's your neck." She just knew. She hasn't even seen me yet. I'm standing at the reception desk. She's like, "Yep, I know what it is." She's like, "I'll check things out, but that's it." So, she takes me back in the room. Sure enough, she looks at me. She's like, "This is what's going on. Here's what you need to do." I loved that. I loved that type of confidence. "I know exactly what's going on, and it can be fixed."
That's Jesus Christ. It doesn't matter what it is. It doesn't matter how severe or intense or hopeless it seems. Jesus Christ has the confidence. Why? Because he conquered sin and death. There is nothing he doesn't have authority over. He is preeminent. He is supreme. There is nothing that challenges his power or authority. He looks at you and says, "I know exactly what's going on, and I can fix it. You _can't_. I _can_."
Some of you might hear this, and you already feel defeated, because you're like, "Well, I've tried everything." Well, try it again, and keep trying it. This is less about "Just do better. Try harder." Maybe the ingredients that will be helpful for you and me are the ingredients that were present in the first-century church. There was a fear of the Lord and a comfort in the Holy Spirit.
What does the fear of the Lord look like? Maybe you feel like you've tried everything, but the one thing you haven't tried is fixing your view of God. Maybe you just need to renew yourself with a new fear of the Lord. What does that fear look like? It is a confidence and an expectation that Jesus Christ truly is powerful enough to heal, that Jesus Christ truly is supreme and authoritative over anything in your life. If he conquered the grave, he can conquer whatever is tripping you up or enslaving you right now.
What does a comfort of the Holy Spirit look like? A comfort of the Holy Spirit is knowing that God himself actually lives inside of you, and the same power that raised Christ from the dead actually is available to you every moment of every day. So, if you feel like you've tried everything, try it again. But don't just _do_.
Your view of God determines your response to him. So, maybe the best thing you can do is all throughout the day, every 30 minutes, you set a timer to go off where you remind yourself of just how capable Jesus Christ is and that the Holy Spirit is in you, and you ask the Holy Spirit to unleash resurrection power in your life.
We're still in our first point. We're just talking about Jesus as healer. Before we move on to the second point, I want to acknowledge this is a story about physical healing, and one of the things I appreciate about this story is it actually shows us that God's people often suffer physically. That's what this story shows us. If you think about it, Aeneas had been bedridden for eight years. Some of you can identify with that. Just think. This is a real person who was unable to work, unable to travel, unable to go out with friends, and unable to walk or exercise.
Dorcas was a Christian whose life was full of good works and acts of charity. That means she was one of the good ones. She was one of the very faithful women in the church who was a blessing to so many people, and she got so sick it ended up killing her. God's people often suffer physically. This is many of your stories, whether it's infertility, autism, mental illness, chronic pain, autoimmune disease, Lyme disease, cancer, ALS, paralysis, or chronic fatigue syndrome. I'm barely scratching the surface of the amount of physical suffering that members here at Watermark face.
For some of you, what I just mentioned might be what makes Mother's Day so tough for you today. The reason this message might be difficult for you is we're talking about Jesus as healer, yet Jesus hasn't healed _you_. That's difficult, and there's disappointment in that for you. I want to say something that I don't think is going to magically make you feel better and take all of your cares away, but I'm going to say this just to be one more voice of truth into your life to ground you, so at least theologically you are synced up with God's Word, and I'll give you more encouragement before the end of the message.
Here's what I want to remind you of. If that is you, if you know Jesus Christ, it's not a question of _if_ he will heal you; it's a question of _when_ he will heal you. You _will_ be healed physically. You _will_. If you know Jesus Christ, you will be healed physically. He's either going to heal you immediately by miracle, gradually through medical care, or permanently by taking you home to be with him where sin and death can't touch you ever again. I want you to be confident a day is coming for you when your body will be one of the greatest testimonies to the fact that Jesus Christ is healer. That's good news. Let's move on to our second point.
2\. _Jesus' healing in you will lead to healing in others_. Here's why I say that. You have to remember these two stories of healing are actually stories of the church multiplying. Physical healing in Aeneas and Dorcas led to spiritual healing in many others. Just listen to the result again. This is what was true of Aeneas being healed. Verse 35: **"And all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord."** Isn't that incredible?
Here's a guy who has been bedridden for eight years. Peter says, "Arise, walk," and what's the result? It's at least the sense that everyone in Lydda and Sharon turned to the Lord because they were so amazed. What was the result of Dorcas being healed? Verse 42: **"And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord."** The point is the healing work of Jesus has a compounding effect because it's captivating and compelling. Jesus' healing in you will lead to healing in others.
This is where I want to make sure we're all synced up as a church. We are a missional church. What that means is we are on mission with Jesus. We understand our responsibility to go and make disciples of all nations. We are a church that longs to see the dead raised to life. We long to see those who are lost be found. We have a light display over the doors you're going to walk out that says "Jesus is Lord." Each of those lit-up light bulbs indicates a person, over the last few months, who has put their trust in Jesus Christ.
We have that display because we value people who are lost being found by Jesus Christ, and we want to play our part in the lost being found, those who are dead being raised to spiritual life. So, let me give you three things you can do to play your part. It has everything to do with healing because, remember, Jesus will use the healing in _your_ life to breed healing in other people's lives.
A. _Share your stories of healing_. Share your stories of healing with unbelievers. We've been talking for a while now about our 15-second testimonies. We've talked about this on Sundays. It has been in Join the Journey, inviting you to practice your 15-second testimony. The reason we've promoted 15-second testimonies is because if you do the work and share your 15-second testimony, do you know what you're doing? You're testifying to how Jesus Christ has brought healing into your own life, and you're opening the door for someone to contemplate if they might want similar healing.
Let me share a few of my 15-second testimonies with you and what this has looked like. It would be for me to tell you something like this: "There was a time in my life when I wasn't a child of God; I was his enemy. But Jesus Christ rescued me. He reached into my life and rescued me, and now I'm filled with joy and peace, belonging to his family. Do you have a story like that?"
Do you see what I'm doing? I'm testifying to the fact that Jesus Christ has brought healing. "My relationship with God was broken, and Jesus Christ is the one who healed it." Then I'm inviting people to evaluate if they've experienced that type of healing in their own life. "Do you have a story like that?"
Here's another one of my 15-second testimonies: "There was a time in my life when I was addicted to pornography, but Jesus Christ rescued me, and now I know and enjoy freedom from addiction and the joy of life with Jesus Christ. Do you have a story like that?" Or, "I've battled anxiety a lot in my life. Why? Because I like control. But Jesus has reached into my life, and he's leading me to peace that comes from knowing I don't have to be in control because he already is. Do you have a story like that?"
Or, "There was a time in our marriage when things were strained. We were struggling to love and like each other. But Jesus reached in and rescued us. He brought healing where there was hurt and bitterness, and now our marriage is flourishing, all because of Jesus. Do you have a story like that?" Do you see what we're communicating? We're communicating "Jesus Christ is healer for me. Has he been healer for you?"
I want to speak for a moment to the people in the room who battle fear when it comes to sharing your faith. I get it. I can battle fear off and on. If that's something you battle… If you hear from the stage, "Hey, get out there and share your faith this week," and something in you is like, "Oh, God, please no," here's what I want to encourage you to do.
I want to invite a shift in your mentality. Here's the shift. I think so many people get jammed up with fear because they're focusing on all of the things they need to do to be successful in sharing their faith instead of just focusing on what has been done to them. Let me unpack what I'm talking about.
When you focus on all of the things you need to do, here's what that can look like: "Well, how am I going to start a spiritual conversation? How am I going to turn the conversation from just talking about nothing to talking about Jesus? How's that even going to happen? And if I'm able to turn the conversation, then what are all of the things I need to say so I don't sound like an idiot, to actually be able to communicate the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ so they can understand it and respond to it?"
That can feel overwhelming. That's focusing on what you need to do. Let me invite you to shift and just focus on what has been done to you by Jesus Christ. Just look for opportunities to share what Jesus Christ has done in your life. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you eyes to see and ears to hear opportunities to just share what has been done to you.
In the middle of conversation, if someone is talking about what's stressing them out, it's fitting for me to say, "You know what? I've battled anxiety a lot in my life because I like to be in control. But you know what? Jesus has reached into my life. He's leading me to peace that comes from knowing I don't have to be in control because he already is. Do you have a story like that?"
Just try it this week. Just focus on what has been done to you by Jesus. Just listen for small opportunities to speak to what has been done to you. Stop focusing on all of the things you need to do to be successful in sharing your faith.
B. _Take ground in the areas you still need healing_. Just remember, Jesus' healing in you will lead to healing in others, so take ground in the areas you still need healing. A Barna study found that among people distancing themselves from Christianity, the hypocrisy of religious people was one of the top causes of doubt. Research from Lifeway found that among young adults who left church, 32 percent said church members seemed judgmental or hypocritical.
Another study on Gen Z reported that 23 percent stopped attending church because Christians were hypocrites. So, I'm talking about us dealing with the hypocrisy in our lives. Brennan Manning famously said, "The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, walk out the door, and deny him by their lifestyle. This is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable." D.L. Moody said, "Out of 100 men, one will read the Bible; the other 99 will read the Christian."
So, let me encourage us. Here's what you have to remember. When you say you're a Christian, what you're saying is "Jesus Christ is my healer." That's really what you're saying, because you're saying, "I was dead, and now I'm alive because of Jesus. My relationship with God was broken, but my relationship with God has been healed because of Jesus." You're saying, "Jesus Christ is healer," that you've been healed because of Jesus.
We have to remember it is confusing to people when we say Jesus is healer and then live in and rationalize brokenness. It's confusing to our children. It's confusing to our neighbors. It's confusing to our coworkers. It's confusing to our extended family. Look. The Spirit of God wants to lead us to healing and wholeness. There's joy waiting for us this week.
So, let me encourage you to evaluate what in your life is in need of the healing power of Jesus Christ. Whatever comes to mind, let me encourage you, from one on the journey to another: Take a step. Take a step this week. Maybe you need to be at re:gen tomorrow night right in this room at 6:30. It is for anyone and everyone who wants to take steps toward healing and freedom. Maybe it's time to drop your pride and just come.
Or, maybe it's time to finally be honest with your Community Group, to say, "Look. Let me stop speaking generally or vaguely. Let me just be specific. Here's what's going on in my life." If your marriage is burning to the ground right now, maybe you need to be at re|engage this Wednesday night at 6:30.
Let me just say this. For people who are married whose marriage is burning to the ground… When there is a refusal from one person in the marriage to get help, that is toxic and unhealthy, and it is an arrogance and a pride that you need to repent of. Let me invite you even right now, if that has been you… If you've been digging in your heels, telling your spouse who has said, "Hey, let's go to re|engage. Let's go to counseling…"
If you've told them, "I don't want to go to re|engage. I don't want to go to counseling," let me beg you to repent, because all you're missing out on is joy and wholeness. That's all you're missing out on…joy and wholeness and healing. Jesus Christ can do a miraculous and wonderful work in your life, but it's going to require you to get low before Jesus Christ, to humble yourself before him and before your spouse and to pursue healing. Take a step. Take ground in the areas you still need healing.
C. _Let your pain be purposeful on the way to healing_. This is for the people in the room who are suffering physically, who long for physical healing. Let your pain be purposeful on the way to healing. We've already established that physical healing is certain. The good news for you is today you are one day closer to complete healing than you were yesterday. It isn't a question of _if_; it's a question of _when_. Until healing comes, let your pain be purposeful.
Let me encourage you with 2 Corinthians 4. Let me roll through this passage really quickly, and I hope it's an encouragement to you. Then we'll finish up. Paul says this in 2 Corinthians, chapter 4, starting in verse 7: **"But we have this treasure in jars of clay…"** What's the treasure? The gospel. What are the jars of clay? Our bodies. Paul is comparing our bodies to breakable pottery…weak, fragile, breakable bodies.
**"…to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us."** What's his point? God displays his power even through your broken body. Verse 8: **"We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed…"**
That idea of being struck down is like a boxer getting knocked down. Some of you are like, "That's me. I feel like cancer or chronic pain just keeps knocking me down." Some of you are experiencing such physical pain and brokenness in your body it would make sense to an unbelieving world if you _did_ despair to the point of even ending your life or having your faith destroyed. When you aren't, it communicates something to people.
Verse 10: **"…always carrying in the body the death of Jesus…"** That means when you suffer well, you're actually reflecting Jesus who suffered well. **"…so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh."** You might not feel it, you might not see it, but Christ is displaying himself through your suffering.
Verse 12: **"So death is at work in us…"** You're like, "That is true." **"…but life in you."** So, what seems like your body moving toward death can result in others moving toward life in Christ. Verse 13: **"Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, 'I believed, and so I spoke,' we also believe, and so we also speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence."**
There's your hope. You _will_ be healed. You _will_ be raised. The perishable will put on the imperishable. The mortal will put on immortality. The saying will be true in your life that death is swallowed up in victory. Verse 15: **"For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God."** That means your suffering just might lead others to glorify God.
**"So we do not lose heart."** I pray you don't lose heart. **"Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day."** My hope and prayer is that God would give you what you need today, just one day at a time; that he would give you a sense of his presence and provision, that he would sustain you one moment at a time.
Verse 17: **"For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal."** Do you hear what Paul is saying?
He's saying, "Don't lose hope. Your suffering right now is actually preparing you. It's productive. God never wastes your pain. He always produces something. Your pain is not pointless. It is cultivating something in you, and a day is going to come where your suffering now will feel so light in comparison to the weight of the glory of healing in the presence of Jesus Christ. So don't lose heart."
Watermark members who are suffering now, I am so proud to call you my brother or sister in the faith. I just want to tell you people see you. Christians' faith are being strengthened by you. Unbelievers are hearing and contemplating because of you. Keep going. Don't lose heart. Healing is coming.
I just want to end by praying today for three groups of people. I first want to pray for those in the room who want their broken relationship with God healed by Jesus. If you came here today, you don't have a relationship with Jesus, and you're realizing your life is broken because your relationship with God is broken, if you want to experience healing and forgiveness today, then right now I just want to invite you to pray along with me.
You can just say, "Lord Jesus, would you come into my life today? Would you heal my broken relationship with God today? Would you forgive me of all of my sins, and would you lead me in a new life? I give my life to you today." Then I want to pray for the Christians in the room who are still living in brokenness, who need the healing power of Jesus over sin or marriage that is on the doorstep of divorce.
Lord Jesus, I pray for your healing power. I pray freedom. Lord, where we've put the shackles of sin back on, I pray that you would break those chains. For the marriages that feel dead, I pray that you would resurrect them, starting today. I pray for your hope and your healing. Then, for those who are physically suffering in the room, Lord, I just pray confidently. You _will_ heal them. It's not a question of if it's your will to heal them. It _is_ your will to heal them. You _will_.
I pray that you would heal them immediately by miracle or gradually by medical care, but if your choice is to heal them completely, finally, ultimately, by taking them home to be with you where sin and death can never touch them again, Lord, glorify yourself. But I ask and pray that in our church we would see many healed, that we would get to celebrate this side of heaven in your healing power. We love you, God. We praise you and thank you that you, in fact, are healer. In Jesus' name, amen.