Matthew 20, verse 29.
And we're in a series on hope, obviously,
by this behind me.
And that is actually ending tonight.
We've been doing a four-part series, number
four's tonight.
And I'm going to talk to you tonight
about an interesting topic on when God doesn't
heal.
When God doesn't heal.
And many times, maybe it's just me, but
when I read the New Testament, I get
a little jealous.
Jesus went, and everywhere he went, he healed
them.
The Apostle Paul, just an handkerchief would fall,
or a shadow, and they would be healed.
They did miraculous signs.
And my back, for example, what was a
week, you know, of what is going on,
Lord, and heal me in this area.
And with that brought many different things.
And you know, we've all prayed for things,
and God didn't heal.
I remember at A.V. Hospital, I was
in the emergency room, a month and a
half now, and just praying for a man
who was in coma, Lord, heal this man.
I felt great leaving, and then we did
his funeral here a week and a half
later.
And another girl, this time last year, it's
in my Bible, it was a journal note,
I think she was dying of cancer at
14.
Very, very sad.
Very sad to go to her home and
experience that, and feeling God, and praying for
prayer, and healing, and not being embarrassed about
it.
But yet, getting the word that she died
two days later.
And it's a very hard thing.
I don't know if it's me, because I
see it more, but God doesn't always heal.
But he also does.
And I've seen him do amazing things, and
it's hard to be caught in that friction
of, he can, but Lord, will you?
And why doesn't he do it for others?
And why doesn't he do it for these
people?
And why can't we just tell the people
in the wheelchair, Lord, heal them, like you
did, God, and have them, and it's a
hard point to discuss.
And I'll just tell you up front, I
don't have the answer.
I don't know why he does sometimes, and
why he does in others, other than according
to his sovereign will, and things that we're
not aware of.
And I've listened to Jerry, Johnny Eric Tata,
I don't know how to pronounce her last
name, I always get caught up on that.
Many times where, even though it's difficult, she
thinks, I mean, how many millions has she
reached?
Or if you've seen the guy, I don't
even know his name, no arms and legs.
Talk about a powerful speaker, and the joy
of the Lord is in it.
So you wonder, you know, how God just
works through all of that.
So I do want to encourage you, I
went through tremendous back pain, and that turned
into anxiety, and just, Lord, what is going
on in my body here?
And it's debilitating, and crying out to God,
heal me, and it was a process.
I'm glad I'm standing up here today, but,
and that didn't spark the sermon, we just
happened to find ourselves in Matthew 20, but
I do pray for a lot of people.
We go to the hospital homes, and many
of you involved in the hospital homes, if
you're not, I would encourage you to do
so.
And I pray like Paul, for some of
those people to just be healed.
I mean, Lord, what is going on?
And so it's not always linked to faith,
because there's some groups out there, you just
don't have enough faith, brother.
Oh, no, trust me, I've prayed until my
faith has been worn out.
It's not always just faith, we just don't
know the sovereign plans of God.
And I've actually found there's a lot of
comfort in that, because if it was all
up to my faith, like, Lord, what's wrong
with me, and there must be, versus Lord,
I don't know why I'm going through this.
Now, one of the good things was I
spent about three or four hours every morning
in the Word, in prayer, and in Psalms,
oh, thank God for the Psalms.
And just, he redirected a lot of my
heart, actually made me more compassionate again for
people.
So I can see how he uses these
things.
And that's the topic tonight, and it might
go a few different directions.
But the message is when God doesn't heal,
based on Matthew 29, now as they went
out of Jericho, a great multitude followed him.
And behold, two blind men, sitting by the
road, when they heard that Jesus was passing
by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us,
O Lord, Son of David.
Then the multitude warned them that they should
be quiet, but they cried out all the
more, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord,
Son of David.
So Jesus stood still, called them, and said,
What do you want me to do for
you?
Then he said to them, Lord, that our
eyes may be opened.
So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes,
and immediately their eyes received sight, and they
followed him.
And I also had more of the passage
that I was going to read and go
up, but I just got stuck on this
for a while.
And one page turned into two, and two
turned into three, and three turned into four.
And I said, I better stop there, or
you'll leave before I'm done, or I'll have
to do part two.
And I usually prepare sermons based on what
God puts on my heart.
And if it's stirring me, it's going to
stir you.
And being led by the Spirit, not having
to get through a whole text, and not
being subject to a certain area.
But one thing that I think is comforting
is Jesus was God.
He was the Son of God.
And we talked about that last week, the
hypostatic union of Christ.
Fully God, yet fully man, a mystery we
will not understand on this side of heaven.
And because of that, he knew the perfect
will of God.
So when he would heal, they would be
healed.
He knew the perfect will of God.
But in other spots, he would talk about
going into cities, and he could not do
many works there because of their unbelief.
So you start to see that belief definitely
plays a role, and faith definitely plays a
role in healing.
And I haven't found a scripture yet, maybe
you can point one out for me, where
Jesus healed somebody who didn't want to be
healed, or was upset at God, had a
terrible attitude, rebellious and unrepentant.
Jesus said, well, I'm going to still heal
you anyway.
Usually their faith came in alignment with, Lord,
help me.
See, Lord, I need to be made well.
Or the woman bent over because Satan afflicted
her.
Woman, thou art loose from your infirmities.
And she rose up.
Another girl, Talitha Akumai, a rise little girl,
and a rise from your death.
They mocked him.
So just everywhere he went, he just was
healing and delivering because he knew the perfect
will of God.
He had the power of God residing in
him.
So do we, but also our sinful flesh
comes in.
I mean, if we're honest, we pray for
people sometimes, wouldn't this be so great, and
Shane healed this person, aren't they so wonderful?
So our flesh gets in there, and that's
why we have to just rely on God.
But a few things I pulled from this
I want to share with you.
The first lesson is a lesson on spiritual
wholeness.
You can be physically blind but spiritually whole.
These blind men, they said, Jesus, Son of
David.
Son of David was a messianic term that
the Jews used knowing that the Messiah was
going to follow the line of David.
So they knew, Son of David, have mercy
on us.
So they were physically blind, they were physically
impaired, but they knew who he was.
But on the flip side, how many people
are perfectly whole but don't know who he
is?
So spiritual wholeness, it's a lesson on spiritual
wholeness that we look at people, oh, look
at them, they're this, they're that.
But if they know the Savior, they're better
off than the people who are perfectly fit
who don't know him.
And many of you know I worked in
the gym industry for many years, and that
was probably one of the most prideful, idolatrous
places.
I mean, there's mirrors everywhere, and everybody's just
measuring this and this.
And they're in perfect shape, marathon or perfect
shape, but if they don't know Christ, they're
dead spiritually.
And there's a wonderful lesson there that you
can be hurting physically, but if you know
the Savior, you're better than most of those
on the planet because you're in right relationship
in your spirit.
We also gleaned a lesson on compassion.
This point right here struck me very deeply
this week because we're lacking in a lot
of compassion, especially when I read a commentary
by John Nolan.
I would recommend his commentary on the Gospel
of Matthew.
He said, The crowd is not focused on
what the blind people are saying, only on
the disturbance that they create.
No doubt they think that they are honoring
the significance of Jesus by trying to silence
the voice of such insignificant people.
And I realize that we do that today.
We silence the voice of insignificant people.
And here's why.
They don't help us, they don't promote us,
and they don't benefit us.
Have you ever thought about that?
The people we stay in most contact with
are usually the ones where there's a mutual
benefit.
We stay in contact with those friends who
might have some pull, might have some money,
might have some...
What can you do for me?
But insignificant people, they can't help me at
all.
They can't give me anything.
They can't help me in any way.
They can't promote me.
Insignificant people.
And that's why we have to be careful
in a church.
We can have the tendency to...
Insignificant.
I need the big givers.
I need the influential people.
No, we need everybody.
Jesus had compassion on those who couldn't do
anything for him.
And if the truth be told, he had
compassion on all of us.
We're so insignificant in his eyes, yet he
had mercy.
And I just want to encourage you.
There's people out there.
There's people out there that you need to
have mercy on.
They're insignificant.
I think of little kids, how people just
treat little kids like trash sometimes.
Get away from me, kid.
Just bothering little kids.
I want...
We need...
The heart of Christ is to minister to
the insignificant people.
So as a church, we should be focusing
on those who are broken and hurting and
don't have a family.
And one of the wonderful things about the
hospital home, you can't get into a harder
ministry than that.
I'm going to people who can't do anything
for you.
Nothing.
And he had compassion.
But these people are silencing the voice.
Can you imagine the crowd telling blind people
to shut up?
Jesus, Son of David, have mercy.
Oh, leave him alone.
Leave him alone.
He's too busy for you.
God forbid when we get into that busy
mode and we say we're too busy for
insignificant people.
Because we're not busy when it comes to
people who can help propel us or help
share the same thing.
They'll cover lunch.
They'll play for golf.
They'll...
Whatever it is.
We tend to put insignificant people on the
back burner.
Quick test.
Who are you going to call back first?
The insignificant person or the person who might
have some information for you that benefits?
And that's a wonderful lesson right there.
And the sad truth is we don't reach
out to people who don't help us or
promote us or benefit us.
We consider them a burden.
When somebody comes into your place of work,
Jesus isn't going to...
I don't have time for this person, but
what about if your boss walks in?
What's the difference?
Because this insignificant person is bothering me.
And I would just encourage you to change
that heart, to have mercy on those that
Christ had mercy on.
Because you'll be filled with the Spirit.
God will not bless a person who's not
merciful.
When Jesus taught on the Beatitudes, he said
those who are merciful, those who are broke
and humble in spirit, God will reward them
because they're showing mercy to those who can't
show it back.
I think that's one reason Jesus said, care
for widows and orphans.
Go visit those in prison because they can't
do anything for us.
It's an act of mercy.
I would encourage you to do that.
It's one thing to say that sounds great,
but it's another thing to put feet to
it and actually do it.
Also, a lesson on healing.
This is interesting.
A lesson on healing.
Jesus would often ask people, and I really,
theologians are divided on the answer, but he
would often ask people, do you want to
be made well?
I mean, to me, that doesn't make, well,
of course.
Who doesn't?
But do some people really want to be
made well?
We must want to change in this era
of healing.
We must want to change.
You might say, well, Shane, no kidding.
Well, think about this.
We have Bruce Jenner, who's woman of the
year.
He's the world's most famous example of transgender
identity.
Then we have Rachel Dozal, the white woman
who identifies as black, a prominent example of
being transracial.
Then there's Jewel Shepping, who blinded herself so
her mind could be in harmony with her
body.
Now she's a poster woman for being transabled.
Let's not forget about Gary Matthews, a.k
.a. Boomer, who believes he's a dog, apparently
has an example of being transspecies.
You can see these videos on YouTube.
You just cry.
Hold on, I'm not done yet.
And now there's Paul Wulst, W-O-L
-S-C-H-T, who thinks he's actually
a six-year-old girl stuck in the
body of a 50-something man.
As reported by Ashley Goldberg, at age 46,
this man deserted his wife and seven children
to live his true life.
He says, I have an adopted mommy and
daddy who are totally comfortable with me being
a little girl, and their children and their
grandchildren are totally supportive.
We have a great time.
We color, we do kid stuff.
It's called play therapy.
No medication, no suicidal thoughts.
I just get to play.
In the YouTube video, he's dressed like a
little girl.
I just...
Lord, I mean, forgive me, but I don't
know to laugh or cry.
I just...
Lord, what...
But this is a culture void of God.
When you remove God, you will see all
Romans 1.
How often have I quoted that?
And I just might do that again today
to remind us that this is what happens.
When you...
It's almost like when you say, Okay, God,
get out of my way.
I'm going to be whoever I want.
Well, you're going to want to be a
snail.
You're going to want to be a dog.
You're going to want...
This guy Boomer, he eats dog food and
walks like a dog.
The girl who blinded herself is trans-abled,
so now she can better connect with her
mind.
And that's just sad because this is the
hope.
We have it right here.
Hope.
It's right...
What's right above the hope is the cross.
That's the hope, so there's no shame in
telling people that.
As a matter of fact, like the statistics
I gave you last week, I think that
85-90% of the people, Christians, don't
even tell people about Jesus.
No wonder.
We like to be closet Christians.
We walk through the mall all day and
not talk to anybody.
Let me go shopping, not talk to anybody.
I know people at work, I'm definitely not
going to mention Jesus there at work because
they're going to think I'm weird.
And we never offer hope.
I also received this email from an ER
nurse.
I think it was a year or two
ago.
She said, Shane, I'm an ER nurse and
I care for many people.
You're right about how they love their sin
and play the victim.
Most of them don't want to change.
They do not believe in victory, and I'm
including believers.
They do not want to see themselves for
who they really are.
Their pride doesn't allow them to submit themselves
to a holy God.
And the more I talk to people, the
more I counsel on different things, there's a
lot of truth to this.
Not everybody wants to change.
Do you want to be met...
That's why Jesus said, do you want to
be made well?
And people, yes, of course.
But you have to want to be made
well.
Some people like that victim mentality.
They don't really want to break free of
that, what's holding them.
How do you know, Shane?
Because they don't apply God to their life
to get out of that many times.
You know somebody wants to stay trapped if
they don't want to obey the Word of
God.
As much...
I have a heart for addicts.
As much as you want to help them,
many of them want to continue in that.
I don't like the consequence of shame, but
I like the high.
I don't really want to change, but I
do.
And they're caught in this thing.
They're not prepared for change.
They don't want to humbly acknowledge that God
needs to change them.
So on that note, healing must start...
Once a person wants to change, then healing
must start with the application of God's Word.
Now if you've never heard that from here
before, I'd be shocked.
But there's nothing new under the sun.
A lot of times when I work on
a sermon, it's like, well that fits here
again, that fits here again, because there's nothing
new.
The Bible says, the Old Testament says, choose
the old path, the old way.
It's the path on which you will never
get lost.
So it starts with the Word of God.
Let me read again Romans 1.
I'm going to skip all the way down
to 21.
And it might help shed light on what's
going on with these stories I just read.
Although they knew God, they did not glorify
Him as God, nor were they thankful.
See, the reason he's saying this is most
people know there's a God, except there's an
atheist, they'll put up signs about Christmas and
different things.
But most people look around and say, Creator,
you know, and I've talked about this many
times, right?
The heart and the liver and the kidney
and the function works together with the central
nervous system and the skeletal system and the
mind with the neurotransmitter seems to put all
this into play.
Yeah, that just happened, right?
I mean, come on.
It's ludicrous.
Even if there's a stronger word.
So that's why he's saying, if people know,
before this it says, God's invisible attributes are
clearly seen.
Clearly seen.
I mean, I was talking to a scientist
the other day and I didn't realize, but
if the oxygen and the nitrogen levels on
the planet were just skewed, just a tiny
bit by my life.
Gone.
I mean, you're talking just the ratio, just
a little.
So what keeps all that just perfect?
I mean, come on, let's think this through.
So his invisible attributes are clearly seen.
That's why they said, although they knew God,
there is a God out there, they don't
glorify him as God.
Nor were they thankful, but they became futile
in their thoughts and their foolish hearts became
dark and professing to be wise, they became
fools.
And they changed the glory of the incorruptible
God into an image made like corruptible man.
Therefore, God gave them over to uncleanness and
the lust of their hearts.
Basically, God said, I'm giving you over to
what you desire.
I'm giving you over to those evil thoughts.
Dishonoring their bodies among themselves.
Who, here's the key, exchanged the truth of
God for a lie.
So there's an exchange process here.
There's always an exchange process.
Either you grab the truth or you grab
the lie.
So they exchanged the truth with a lie.
And then, they worship and serve the creature
rather than the creator who is blessed forever.
Amen.
So once you exchange the truth, you say,
here's the truth, I don't want the truth.
I'm exchanging it for a lie.
Once I do that, I begin to worship
the creation, not the creator.
And this is a great point to remind
you.
You can highlight this.
You should have this come up in your
calendar once a week to remember to help
keep you on track.
A lie is always the first step in
the wrong direction.
Satan came to Eve.
Did God really say?
Listen, a lie is, believing a lie is
always and acting upon that lie is always
the first step in the wrong direction.
Sometimes, I mean, I could list 20 examples.
Sometimes we'll hear the example you don't deserve
this.
You'll hear that thought in a marriage, a
hard, difficult marriage.
You don't deserve this.
Oh yeah, that's right, I don't.
You can do better.
Yeah, that's right, I can.
Or the addict hears, just start tomorrow.
Yeah, start tomorrow.
Or, I've had a hard day today.
I'm going to have whatever.
You fill in the blank.
Whatever, our favorite.
Yeah, that's right.
I've been doing good for a week and
I deserve it.
You believe that lie, that's the first step
in the wrong direction.
All the time, anytime, in your marriage, in
whatever you're struggling with.
Somehow, in some way, we believe a lie.
That's always the first step.
Or, you exchange that lie for the truth.
Now you'll better understand what Paul said.
Take every thought captive to the obedience of
Christ.
I'm putting my thoughts captive like in a
jail cell.
Is this thought a lie?
Then you're going in jail.
Or is it the truth?
Then I'm going to act upon it.
So anytime anybody goes in the wrong direction,
the first step in the wrong direction began
with a lie that they believed.
I mean, think of dozens of examples.
Not just in marriage, but in getting in
trouble in something.
Even financially.
Nobody will ever find out.
I've worked so hard.
You know, we believe, and then we take
the step.
It always begins with believing a lie.
And here's why.
The truth turns me in the right direction.
The truth of God's Word puts me back
in the right direction.
That's why if you do any form of
counseling, if you're going to do any form
of advice, start with the Word of God.
And I tell people, listen, are you ready
to apply what the Word of God says?
No, I know what that says.
This is beyond that, Shane.
Well, you're not ready.
That's not beyond that.
That is the answer.
So when you begin to embrace the truth,
it will put you back in the right
direction emotionally, physically, psychologically, and spiritually.
But here's the big question I mentioned at
the beginning.
What do you do when God doesn't heal
us on this side of heaven?
And you might not need this sermon this
week, but you'll probably need it someday.
Because all of us pray for healing.
I mean, I remember when I had a
root canal.
Oh, my God, did I want healing.
Man!
I'll just take Vicodin for a month.
Oh, no, no, that's not going to happen.
So I grinned and bared it, right?
Tough guy.
A couple of days, you know, finally wore
off in the pain, but it was like
unbelievable.
And you're wondering, like, Lord, what's wrong here?
I'm your man.
I mean, you know, just help me here.
And going through that, and those are insignificant.
I mean, there's people going through living it
with panic attacks and anxiety and fear and
depression.
So I'm not minimizing all of that, but
I do want to remind you that there
is an anchor you can hold on to.
You can be going through hell but still
holding on to heaven.
You can be going through hell and still
hold on to heaven.
And still, it's where the thoughts go.
That's why I left Philippians 4.
Thank God for it.
Finally, brethren, whatever things are true and honest
and upright and just, pure things, meditate on
those things and change where that direction of
the mind is going.
But I'm going to do something I haven't
done before.
I don't think I've talked about it in
different places, but I'm going to talk about
three things that may prevent healing.
Three things that may prevent healing, and these
are just true.
These are biblical, and I think it'll really
help.
Number one, consequences.
Some pain, depression, suffering, anxiety, and so on,
you know the list, is the result of
our lifestyle choices.
This is where sometimes I upset people.
Before you run to Xanax, run to Matthew,
Mark, Luke, and John.
That's okay to do.
They're consequences.
James 5.16 NIV That'll upset some people
too on that one.
Therefore, the nearly inspired version, right?
James 5.16 Therefore, confess your sins to
each other and pray for each other so
that you may be healed.
That tells me that if there's some sin
in my life, God might use suffering and
a physical ailment to get me back on
track.
Because we don't listen until, I don't know
about you, but my kids don't listen until
you make them listen, somehow.
Right now they've got this elf on the
shelf to make kids good.
I had Belt on the shelf.
You know, it's that that something gets your
attention.
So we cannot ignore this, and I hate
when psychologists or Christian therapists, whoever, oh no,
no, no, you can't always just blame sin.
I'm not always blaming sin, but I'm saying
it is one of the reasons why a
person can stay in a spot of not
being healed.
Look what he says here.
Confess your sins to each other and pray
for each other so that you may be
healed.
I don't know what else to say to
that.
That's pretty clear.
You don't need a degree in the Greek
language to understand what that means.
The prayer of a righteous man is powerful
and effective.
In other words, what we sow we reap.
What we sow we reap.
God is merciful, but often there are consequences.
So if there are consequences, it's still good
to say, don't fight it.
Say, God, have mercy on me, just like
these blind men did.
God, have mercy on me.
That's why this song, Good Good Father, man,
that sometimes brings me to tears every time.
He is a good, good father.
When you say, Lord, I've been a bad,
bad boy.
Say, have mercy on me.
I shouldn't have done this.
Lord, have mercy on me.
I don't want these consequences.
I'm relying on you.
I'm relying on your perfect strength and your
perfect will.
Lord, begin to heal me.
Show me.
What can I do?
How can I improve?
Lord, show me what is creating this.
Is there consequences to my sin or to
wrong choices I've made?
I want to give you a great example.
If you didn't hear this, you should.
Do you ever listen to Family Life Today
with Dennis Rainey?
They had a pastor on there who I
enjoy.
I've followed his ministry for about 15 years.
Tommy Nelson.
He wrote on the Book of Solomon.
He teaches on the Song of Solomon.
He's a very powerful speaker on the board
at Dallas Theological Seminary.
Well, he had a nervous breakdown.
And they call it the dark night of
the soul.
And he said, I don't care how many
scriptures I quoted.
My body was just on fire.
And before he said why, I already knew.
Listening.
No Sabbath day for 30 years.
Preaching four or five times a weekend.
Up early.
Teaching young men's groups.
Men's studies.
This.
Conferences.
Seminar.
He's just going.
And you can only go so far before
your adrenal glands.
It's what pumps in chemicals.
Serotonin and L-Dopamine and all these chemicals.
Cortisol, which is not actually good when you
need it, but if you're always running on
this, your body's going to say, I'm done.
So he went into this just total meltdown.
Took off two months.
What's going on with him?
What's going on?
But the condition was because of no Sabbath.
And he got to it later.
He said he didn't rest.
Ever.
He was just like my dad.
Like I was raised to.
You just work.
So I have to force myself to take
a Sabbath because the body needs it.
So when you go against God's design, there
are consequences.
And he was for months and having tests.
Blood tests are fine.
Everything's fine.
They don't know what's going on with him.
It's very hard.
He met with somebody who said, oh, your
serotonin is completely depleted.
You need these.
I think it's some type of inhibitor or
something that actually will go in and help
your body recreate.
And serotonin is what allows us to experience
pleasure.
I'm sorry.
L-Dopamine.
Dopamine experiences pleasure.
Serotonin is more the relaxing thing.
And even talking about this, people say, oh,
come on that psychology.
I want to say, no, that's how God
designed us.
You don't tell a diabetic to stop your
insulin shots.
I mean, what's the difference?
However, you don't run to that.
That's my, I mean, I need Xanax.
I need Vicodin.
I need Valium.
You run to God first and take inventory
of your life and see what's going on
there.
So he said there's no external reason why
this was happening.
I just had to stand back and trust
in the sovereignty of God and the bare
word of God to take me through this.
Because your body doesn't care that you're quoting
scripture.
You're hurting.
And he said the hardest people to deal
with were this time was those evangelical Christians
who don't believe in any type of getting
the body back balanced.
And it's an interesting topic because on one
hand we don't run to, we don't want
to rely on certain drugs.
We don't want to just go and give
the doctor, but on the other hand, sometimes
there's wisdom there in how the body operates
and how it functions.
He got on this little pill that readjusted
his serotonin level and about three weeks later
he came in to his wife and said,
I'm back.
It recharged his battery.
It redid because it's how God designed it.
God designed cortisol to be in a fight
and flight.
Okay, here comes a lion.
Here's my spear.
I'm going to get it.
Okay, that's good.
But not to be in that constant state
all the time.
That's why I often come out against caffeine,
all these monster drinks, because you're keeping your
body in a constant state of fight or
flight.
It's hard to sleep.
It's hard to get up.
And we're just constantly living like that.
There will be a price to pay.
You're robbing Peter to pay Paul.
That's how God designed it.
Sometimes we have to look at our lifestyle
and say, is this a consequence of this?
Yeah, but Shane, what about be anxious for
nothing?
But everything in prayer is application.
Yeah, be anxious for nothing.
It's telling us don't worry about certain things.
But when your body chemistry is going haywire,
you know, it's just and you have to
be careful.
You have to be very careful.
I want to be delicate here too, but
sometimes the medical industry is more on prescribing
something than looking at what's really going on.
Funny story.
Hope this guy doesn't hear it.
Went to the doctor for my back, right,
this week.
Did my blood pressure.
Shane, you're 180 over 110.
And you went and got these four beta
before things, this.
I'm going to get you on some blood
thinner.
I'm sitting there going.
Hold on.
That was a really small cuff.
Can I try the bigger cuff?
Oh, they didn't use the bigger cuff?
No, they didn't.
Oh, okay, you're fine.
So that, I just almost started ingesting all
of that.
Not wise.
That would have been very bad.
So that's something, trusting in God and not
always because that's all I want to do
is prescribe something.
Prescribe something.
And from time to time, I think God
has given us certain things.
But it can't be what we run to.
We run to Him, ask for wisdom, and
let Him direct us.
And I'm sure it's embarrassing.
He took everything away.
Oh no, your blood pressure's fine.
Yeah, I figured that.
I'm not going to jump on this stuff
without consulting and looking at different things.
So that's just one example.
Another example.
Example B.
From healing.
This is big.
Withdrawals and the usage of acceptable drugs.
Now a drug is a substance.
Anything that alters us psychologically.
There are what withdrawals are.
It's not just the heroin addict that has
withdrawals.
I'm actually working on a book.
It's the past year and a half.
I don't know when I'll finish it.
It's on this topic of helping people addicted
from everything from sugar to caffeine to oxy
to heroin to alcohol to marijuana to you
name it.
There's addiction there.
There is a way to get out of
that.
But in studying this topic, I came across
something called post-acute withdrawal syndrome.
So although somebody can get through the initial
stages of coming off of something, the first
week which I call hell, I tell people
pray for heaven but expect hell.
Just try giving up coffee for two days.
You'll see what hell on earth is.
We're in this culture of accepting all this
stuff.
So anyway, once you get through the initial
stages, right?
Okay, glad that's over.
Well, in a couple weeks, even up to
a couple months, although your physical symptoms are
now subsided, now the mental ones kick in.
That's why it's called post-acute withdrawal syndrome.
And it happens months later.
And that's the number one cause of relapse
for any type of user.
It's because everything's going good and then BAM!
Panic attacks.
Fear, irritability, palpitations.
The heart's pounding.
What's going on?
And then they go back to the source
that initially caused it instead of running to
God.
So in those cases, I would tell people,
not dying.
You'll get through it.
There's what's happening.
Your brain chemistry is all messed up.
Your neurotransmitters are trying to function now correctly.
That's why you're having the heart rhythms.
That's why you're going through anxiety attacks and
panic attacks.
That's why your body's trying to readjust because
of the abuse that's been going on for
many years.
So see, oh Lord, heal me, heal me,
heal me.
Why isn't he?
Because of the consequences.
So you see, a lot of this fits
together.
There's consequences for our actions, for our sins.
Here's another consequence.
Not spending time in God's Word so that
healing takes place.
The mind controls everything.
Everything.
The mind controls it.
So if all we're focused on is ISIS,
Monsanto, financial collapse, the war on Christmas, the
Second Amendment.
I saw all this on Facebook within an
hour.
You know what Monsanto is that people are
saying?
They're destroying our soil, they're spraying stuff in
the air, they're killing everything, there's no more
seeds, and they're destroying our food.
Well, my king still sits on the throne.
Use wisdom.
ISIS, yeah, it's coming.
Second Amendment, we're in the fear factor mode.
And the mind, I'm not going to belabor
this point many times before, but I want
to show you the consequences of not being
in God's Word.
I mean, just turn to the Psalms, and
they're like, God, you are my refuge, you
are my strength, you are my provider.
You'll bring mountains, wipe out entire mountains, just
bring them to nothing.
The enemies will bow to you, nations will
have to bow to you.
You rise one king up, you put another
king down.
You control with just the word of your
mouth, the waves in the sea obey him.
That's power.
So if you stay in the Word of
God, and you change your mental diet to
focus on God, then you're joyful and thankful.
That can change, and that can bring healing.
I truly believe that.
So there's consequences.
One area why we're not healed.
The other area is condition.
The condition of the body.
Why do I go to a four-year
-old's funeral who died of leukemia?
Talk about sad funerals.
I mean, we're in a sinful, fallen world,
and often there's not complete healing on this
side of heaven.
And just that statement's going to make people
mad, because there are groups that think you
should be healthy, wealthy, and wise no matter
what.
What do you do with Paul?
I mean, what do you do with some
of the strongest Christians I know?
Sometimes healing doesn't come, and that's why I
wanted to stress that point on mercy.
Folks, we've got to start having mercy on
people.
The person on insulin chides the person on
Xanax.
The person on beta blockers chides the person
on amoxicillin.
What I mean by that is somebody's like,
oh, you shouldn't take amoxicillin for your strep
throat.
Let God heal you.
Well, why are you taking beta blockers and
Coumadin to lower your blood pressure and get
your blood thin?
Well, that's different.
No, it's a result of a bad diet
in and out every day.
Oh, I might have struck a chord with
this crowd.
But think about how we do that.
The person addicted to seven diet Pepsis a
day mocks a person who can't stop Oxy.
We just, mercy, mercy, and then I love
Christian leaders who chide everybody, and they weigh
350 pounds.
I want to tell them that's called gluttony,
and that's bad.
I mean, we need to start having a
little bit more mercy and understand that we're
all in this thing together.
Doesn't make it right.
But let's, mercy, God, mercy.
Mercy as we're going through things.
And I've confessed before, I went through the
Judgmental Pharisee, you know, time frame.
It was pretty long.
I could point out everything.
Look at that, people.
But I had to have a venti coffee
in the morning, a venti coffee at night.
600, 700 milligrams of caffeine, and I was
addicted, but I could, oh, how come they
can't stop that?
How come they can't stop this?
And they just eat too much, and they
just do this.
They can't stop drinking.
They can't stop their drug use.
Well, I couldn't stop my drug use.
Shane, oh, absolutely.
If you don't think caffeine is a drug,
just Google it.
Just Google it.
It's a central nervous stimulant that affects the
mind in the same way the opium does.
I mean, we've just got to wake up.
I know these aren't popular sermons, but I
may have got a deal that I'm here
to help.
In order to help, it hurts.
Right?
And all you have to do is take
this to God.
I am absolutely convinced if you say, Lord,
I don't like what he said, but do
I need to work on that, that you're,
yes, yes, the hound of heaven, the Holy
Spirit will work on certain areas of your
life that need correction.
And that's why I love a loving father.
He warns us, hey, you might want to
stop that.
I mean, when I see 12-year-olds
walk around with monster drinks, I get, oh,
do you have any clue what you're going
to turn into?
Exactly what the thing says.
Monster.
Just go online.
How much has road rage increased?
I think it's like one-third of all
fatalities now are due to road rage.
Is there connections here with all this?
And the suicide rate, and we're putting all
this stuff in that stimulates.
But you know this about drugs, right?
Whatever it does to you, what does the
reverse happen when you come off?
If you're taking something that accelerates, crystal meth
or something, you're going to come down very
hard.
If you take something that brings you down,
then you're going to come up and be
anxious and irritable all the time.
There's a reverse effect there.
I know this term is probably way more
than you wanted, but it's true.
And the next reason is combat.
So we have consequences for our sins, just
the condition of the body sometimes, and then
combat.
You know, I want to say something.
I don't know why.
I've ignored this twice now, feeling prompted to
say this.
On the condition of the body, you know,
a lot of people, there are people now,
a lot of people that need to take
insulin and different things for diabetics.
But I've seen countless people reverse that by
taking care of their body.
So you don't have to run to the
shot.
Now, there are some people 12 years old,
but now it's called, they've got a new
term, child onset obesity.
When you have little kids that are obese
at 10?
I'll just tell you right now whose fault
that is.
It's not the child's at that age.
It's the person putting the stuff in the
refrigerator, in the pantry, and not teaching and
helping.
And I have four kids that like to
eat a lot, so I know.
Very difficult.
I said, well, now you're not eating anything
today.
I can't have anything.
Yeah, I'm going to cut up a pomegranate
right now.
It's interesting how you can lead your family.
I cannot buy enough pomegranates now to last
three days.
I'll buy 12 pomegranates.
They're gone in three days.
See, they follow.
If I want to get my wife to
eat, here's one thing we've always been challenged.
She was a sugar addict.
I was trying to be more healthy.
I just have salads and healthy stuff.
Now she starts eating the same thing.
See, you're leading by example in the home.
You're leading by example.
I see so many people running to the
doctor when they can cure themselves.
Not all the time, right?
Big disclaimer.
In the gym industry, I see so many
people, yeah, I'm a diabetic.
Can I be honest?
You're about 100 pounds overweight.
The diet is very unhealthy that you're on.
I mean, they'll tell me I can't have
carbohydrates, but they'll come in with a 32
-ounce Pepsi.
Well, Shane, it's a diet.
Well, it has aspartame.
Aspartame is a chemical that the FDA shouldn't
have proved.
And what that does is your body doesn't
know there's no calories.
Your body sees a sugar substitute, so it's
going to kick in everything as if it
was calories, and it's going to be a
detriment to the body.
That's why they're linking lots of Alzheimer's or
different things to people's diets, because you're not
feeding the body what it needs to proper
functionally.
And every time somebody gets mad at this
type of sermon, or what I'm saying is
because they're convicted.
I've never had anybody say, get upset that
it's taking care of their body.
That's not true.
Diet patient says, right here, no calories.
Yeah, no calories.
A calorie is just a unit of energy.
If I consume 2,000, I can probably
consume 3,000 calories a day, but I
better burn 3,000 calories a day.
It's just a unit of energy.
So just because there's no calorie, fat free,
if it's junk and garbage, it's not going
to help the body.
And once you start to feed the body
what it needs, you won't be craving a
lot of the junk, because you're feeding it
what it needs.
So that's just a whole bunch of extra
advice on the condition of the body.
Yes, sometimes people need insulin.
I've recommended it.
I've recommended Xanax.
I've recommended what's that other word I just
mentioned for root canal?
Vicodin.
If somebody is going through tremendous pain, and
hey, try this for a day or two.
Don't get hooked.
Oh, I don't feel good.
But God has given us sometimes these things
to get...
And I know people don't agree with that.
But I don't recommend it often.
But if you need to do that, I
don't want somebody to feel guilty.
Some of these things are a gift from
God.
But when they become abused, they're not a
gift.
And that's the danger.
And the last thing is combat.
So there's consequences to our sins and to
our choices.
Sometimes it's just the condition of the body.
Many of you, you know young kids who
have died at four, five, six from leukemia
or cancer or God forbid asthma.
I mean, it's terrible.
It's just the condition of the body.
But the third thing is combat.
Some pain, depression, suffering, etc.
is the result of spiritual attack.
There's no way around this one.
No way around this one.
Jesus healed a lady bent over for 17
years.
He didn't say, your sciatic nerve is kind
of messed up here and you kind of
sleep wrong.
He said, why should this daughter of Abraham
be inflicted, tormented by the devil?
And then he said those famous words, woman
thou art loosed from your infirmities.
And she stood up.
Why should this child being thrown in the
fire continue to convulse?
Jesus said, out of him.
The man sitting in the tombs, living among
the tombs, Jesus came.
So what do we have to do with
you?
Jesus, we are legion, we are many.
Jesus said, I don't care.
Out of him.
So there's, unless you believe that that no
longer applies, well, I don't.
I mean, there's demonic influence and it's real.
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood.
You're not going to beat the devil with
your 9mm.
Okay?
You're not going to beat the devil with
putting extra locks on the door.
The battle is spiritual.
You pull down strongholds.
You cast down arguments.
If you look at the imagery there, that
would be a wonderful verse to teach on
sometimes.
We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but
against principalities, against the powers of darkness, against
rulers of this age.
And it talks about casting down arguments.
Like, what does that mean?
Something that's going against God, you cast it
down.
You don't embrace it.
You bring every thought captive to the obedience
of Christ.
You say, that's not a right thought.
That's a wrong thought.
And if the devil's coming against you, this
breaks down, and this is sick, God, help
me.
God, help me.
And you fight demonic realm, you fight it
with prayer.
You fight it with fasting.
You fight it with the spirit-filled life.
If I'm going through something, you know what
I'd probably do?
I would fast, I would pray, and I
would go visit all the hospital homes.
And show mercy, and be filled with the
spirit of God, and get off my trip,
and count all my Christmas presents, and start
serving God.
And the devil hates worship, he hates prayer,
and he hates fasting, because you're starving the
flesh, the very thing he's using against you.
That's how you fight the devil.
Well, Shane, it's not working.
Well, keep trying.
What's the Bible say?
Knock, and it will be open to you.
The strongest Christians in God's kingdom are also
the strongest knockers.
See, there's something we don't talk about anymore.
Perseverance.
We don't talk about...
I said a prayer for three minutes.
When is the last time you spent an
hour on your knees?
That's how you pull down arguments, and cast
away things that are highly exalting themselves.
You cast them down.
In order to keep Paul humble, he was
given a thorn in his flesh, a messenger
of Satan.
Well, somebody once asked me, Shane, what do
you do if it's the consequences of sin?
How do I know if it's a condition
of my body?
Or how do I know if it's a
demonic attack?
Good question, right?
I'm going to give you a very, very
good answer that works all the time.
I cover all my bases.
Lord, if this is a demonic attack, Satan
has no power here.
He's defeated on the cross.
I'm not going to allow it in my
home.
I'm not going to allow it in my
body.
I'm claiming victory.
I'm speaking it out.
Go watch War Room.
Watch what she did, walking around that house.
There's nothing wrong with that.
That's too Pentecostal.
No, I'm walking around my house saying, devil,
you are not welcome here.
You're not going to bury my 10-year
-old at 17 because of a heroin overdose.
You're not going to take my son and
get him addicted to alcohol.
You're not going to take my two daughters
and get them raped.
You have no, no, no, no control in
this house.
The demonic realm was crushed at the foot
of the cross.
I'm going to sit, I'm going to pray,
and I'm going to worship.
I don't care what I have to do.
You have no power over me.
Greater is He that's in me than He
that's in the world.
You've been defeated.
The lies are over.
You've been defeated.
That's it.
That's one.
The next one is, Lord, if there is
any unclean thing in me, if there is
iniquity I'm holding in my heart, if these
things are happening because of the sins that
I've done or something I'm doing, Lord, please
show them to me.
Reveal them to me like David said.
Created me a clean heart.
Renew a right spirit within me.
I want to see the joy of my
salvation return to me.
Lord, I'm justifying.
I'm blame-shifting.
I'm a sinner.
I can sneakily do things, but you illuminate.
Show me.
Show me if what is happening is directly
related to something I'm doing that I need
to repent from.
But Lord, if it's a condition of my
body, I'm holding on to you.
You're my anchor.
You're everything.
Listen, I've felt anxiety and palpitations.
My wife will tell you so bad that
I thought I was going to die.
Let's make plans for the church.
I'm out of here tomorrow.
But I'm holding on to the rock.
I'm holding on to him as I go
down.
I don't know if that was...
What was that from?
Condition?
This?
Demonic attack?
I'm covering all bases.
I think that's biblical.
Because woe be to the man that says,
no, I haven't done anything to cause this.
Really?
We just don't know.
That's why God says, come to me.
But he also says, whoever wants wisdom, wisdom,
ask.
I mean, there are so many things that
God has showed me when I just ask,
Lord, just show me.
From ways to heal our kids, from certain
things when they were sick growing up, to
certain ailments.
One of the reasons I get hooked up
on this caffeine thing with coffee is because
he's been showing me for probably 12 years,
my wife will tell you.
And what it does to me, it makes
me irritable and anxious.
And if we can just sum it up,
a jerk.
Right?
Leave me alone.
ADD, give me away.
Type A personality.
And you can't be a pastor and have
those qualities.
You know, it's not a good thing.
You shouldn't even be a husband or a
father or a mother.
So he's showing me how what I'm doing
to my body is hurting others.
And he's convicting.
It's a loving father.
And I see people, so many people abusing
different things.
I mean, I could spend 20 minutes on
sugar addiction that would make all of you
get out here and squirm.
And the foods we're consuming, that some of
it has no nutritional value at all.
The pesticides, the herbicides, the fungicide, everything, chemicals,
all kinds of junk going against God's design.
And here's the results.
Childhood obesity is now an epidemic.
Cancer, heart disease, number one killers.
I mean, this is not rocket science.
And it's so sad because it wasn't until
I would see people in their 60s that
would come to me and say, Shane, I
got to make changes.
Doctor doesn't give me much time.
Why waste an entire life?
So see, God lovingly warns and confronts and
challenges.
And it's still another page, but let me
just read one of my favorite Scriptures.
You will keep him in perfect peace whose
mind is steadfast because he trusts in you.
So the whole series on hope is staying
anchor to the anchor.
He will keep the person whose mind is
steadfast.
Now this is interesting.
He will keep you in perfect peace whose
mind is steadfast.
Well, all of us can say, I've been
there and I'm not in perfect peace sometimes.
That steadfast there is a word.
It's keeping your mind back.
It's going to drift, but it's back on
God.
You're steadfast.
You're persevering.
You're anchoring.
It's falling away, but you're going back.
Lord, this isn't right, but I'm going.
You're keeping your mind steadfast on him because
you trust in God.
And he will keep that person in perfect
peace.
I want to show you a video.
It shows the spread of Christianity.
And sometimes we forget about how big God's
mercy is and his love and his hope
and how he just encompasses everything.
And his mercy, his word will travel.
So as you watch this, just kind of
reflect on God's greatness.