07-26-20 Kevin Goins - Church's Ministry of Healing John 9:18-23

“Anatomy of an Illness: The Church’s Ministry of Healing” 
John 9:18-23

I First, sickness gets our attention and it gets the attention of Jesus (9:1).
II Second, sickness makes us uncomfortable (9:2).
III Third, sickness is caused by alienation (9:2).
IV Fourth, oftentimes our best theological or commonsense explanations for sickness are not good enough (9:3a).
V Fifth, sometimes sickness happens for a good reason, so that God can be glorified in our life (9:3b).
VI Sixth, all believers in Jesus are called to help sick people find health (9:4).
VII Seventh, sickness is a work of the kingdom of darkness; healing is a work of the Kingdom of light (9:5).
VIII Eighth, the how of healing is very important (9:6).
IX Ninth, sickness can be overcome by divine healing, but healing does not happen without some action on our part (9:7).
X Tenth, divine healing will always arouse doubt (9:8-9).
XI Eleventh, the response to the healing of sickness is often questions (9:10-12)
XII Twelfth, healing is not only a debated topic, it is also a very divisive issue.
XIII Thirteenth, people who are healed enter into some kind of relationship with the Healer.
XIV Fourteenth, both sickness and healing take place within the context of family.

XV Fifteen, every testimony of the healing power of Jesus is __________________.

 A. First, a healing testimony does not require any __________________ (9:24-25).

1. First, the Pharisees say, “Give glory to God.”  This was a Jewish idiom which means, “Praise God by admitting your _______.”

2. What sin are they asking the healed man to confess?  They think he ______________ by calling Jesus a “prophet” in verse 17.
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3. The Pharisees were claiming to know God better than the healed man, which means he would need b____________ e_____________ to defend himself.

4. This guy knows he can’t argue with the Pharisees, so he ignores the theology he d_____________ know and he turns his attention to the facts he __________ know.

B. Second, a healing testimony should ___________ for faith in Jesus (9:26-27).

1. The healed man sees their desire to hear the story again as a sign that they want to become ____________________ of Jesus.   

2. If what the Bible says about the healing ministry of Jesus is true, then anyone who knows about it should ___________ to be a disciple of Jesus.

3. What Jesus did for this man was so powerful and so merciful that this man no longer sees Jesus as only a p________________; now he sees him as L_________________.

C. Lastly, as powerful as it is, a healing testimony will not always __________ friends and ________________ people.  (9:28-29).

1. Notice the attitude of the Pharisees:  they are religious leaders but what we hear from them is s_________________, then a________________, and, finally, full-blown h_____________.

2. The Pharisee’s behavior disqualifies them as disciples of _____________ because Numbers 12:3 says Moses was ___________, not filled with hate.

3. And not only do they claim to be disciples of Moses, but they act as if being disciples of Moses separates them from ______________.

4. When we share our testimony, we will find that some will ___________ us, but some will be powerfully _______________ to Jesus.