There is a Cure
by Darrell W. Johns
Atlanta West Pentecostal Church (Lithia Springs, GA)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Jeremiah 8:20-22, Genesis 37, Hebrews 2:3, Proverbs 14:34, 2 Chronicles 7:14, Proverbs 28:13, Psalms 19:13-14, Acts 17:30, 1 John 1:8-9, Luke 13:5, Luke 18:13, Acts 2:38, Matthew 18

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/darrell-w-johns--there-is-a-cure
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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jeremiah 8 20 the new king james version the harvest is past the summer is ended and we are not saved in the words of jeremiah of himself for the hurt of the daughter of my people i am her i am mourning astonishment has taken hold of me then he asks these questions is there no balm in gilead is there no physician there why then is there no recovery for the health of the daughter of my people and i would like to assure you today from the word of god that there is a cure there is a cure if you believe that say amen please be seated on wednesday evening this past wednesday i taught on making the most of summer if you are not here and especially if you're a parent i recommend you go back and watch that message or listen to the podcast because i gave a lot of ideas shared with us by parents of children and teenagers in our church my text was jeremiah 8 and 20 the harvest has passed the summer has ended and we are not saved what i spoke about was the importance of understanding the seasons of life that summer to them was a season that started with the end of the winter rains it went through the harvest and began with the reigns again they really enjoyed more like two seasons than the four we celebrate in the northern hemisphere in north america summer was a window of opportunity it opened and it closed and during the summer seeds that had been planted germinated sprouted grew into maturity and then were harvested before the rain started jeremiah used this season of summer to talk about the spiritual opportunity that the people of judah that southern kingdom of israel had and that season was coming to a close and if they were not saved by then they would go into captivity into babylon and 70 years they would be kept there as slaves of sorts not always slaves in their foolish imagination though the people of judah kept telling themselves that this season will go on forever that god is merciful that judgment will never come that we can repent when we get ready it's on our timetable not on god's timetable and jeremiah saw this he spoke about it it is regretful to say that the summer is ended the harvest is over and we are not saved as a prophet of god as a fellow person a fellow jew he felt the pain of the people of his nation in verse 21 he said for the hurt of the daughter of my people but he says the daughter of my people is just a euphemism to save my people but he kind of makes it more personal like this girl this little girl i'm hurting for my people he said i hurt for them i am mourning their spiritual condition astonishment has taken hold of me i take their wound personally i feel their pain i grieve with them over their spiritual condition there was a time when jeremiah got tired of preaching and trying to reach his people he said i decided to stop talking about it and the more i held it in jeremiah said that it was like fire shut up in my bones and i couldn't keep it in any longer and i had to say what god was saying to me judgment was coming on judah and it seemed avoidable at this stage in the entire decline of the moral condition of judah later jeremiah will speak of their wound as being incurable but certainly now it's not so then in jeremiah 8 22 he asked these questions the first one first is there no balm in gilead now gilead was part of israel it was a rugged mountainous region that lay on the eastern side of the jordan river and it was an agricultural area among the many things they grew in gilead was balsam trees and from the bosom tree they would extract the sap and they would make a balm they would make something that could be put in a compress on a wound in a plaster of sorts bomb is a fragrant ointment a preparation used to heal or to soothe a wound it's interesting when i was thinking about bomb in the bible but all the way back in genesis 37 when joseph's brothers threw him in a pit decided not to kill him we're trying to figure out what to do they looked up and there is a band of ishmaelite merchants coming out of the land of gilead and they had with their camels spicery and balm and myrrh to take it down to egypt joseph's brothers sold him as a slave and those men took him down there but all the way back there hundreds of years before jeremiah would write baum was a healing agent and jeremiah asked this rhetorical question has bought has gilead run out of bomb is there no more bomb in gilead i see that you're still sick are you still sick because there's no medicine to make you better of course the implication is that there is bomb in gilead there is a healing power there is a cure and then jeremiah asked the second question in jeremiah 8 22 is there no physician there in gilead now less is known about the medical practices in gilead from my research i didn't discover that there were lots of hospitals and clinics and doctor's offices in gilead but you would be implied by what jeremiah said that there's a cure there and there's care there there's doctors there are physicians in gilead so there's baum and there's a doctor and then jeremiah asks the third question i'll read it again in jeremiah 8 22. is there no bomb in gilead is there no physician there why then why then is there no recovery for the health of the daughter of my people if there is a medicine and there is a doctor why are you still sick it's not for a lack of a cure it's not for lack of care it must be that you've refused treatment that you've not allowed the bomb to heal you that you've not allowed the physician to care for you i was thinking about this and and reading some medical reports and i know there are lots of caveats to scientific research and medical reports but i read that in the united states about 92 000 people each year died prematurely from heart disease when they their lives could have been prolonged it wasn't that they couldn't be treated they didn't get treated they ignored the numbness in their arm they ignored the chest pains they ignored the hypertension and elevated blood pressure there were things pointing to them that you need to get a cure that you need to get some care but they looked the other way whistled in the dark pretended they were okay and they died when they could have lived eighty four thousand five hundred people they say die from cancer prematurely when they could have lived 17 000 people died prematurely from strokes when they could have lived if they would have applied the cure to their life how many people die of neglect and the writer of hebrews would say that we would not be saved if we neglect so great a salvation so i want to tell you today from the old testament frame of reference that for the people of judah there was a cure there was care there was bomb there was a physician but they continued in their sinful condition they did not apply the bomb they did not allow the physician who would have been god himself to heal them and their sin worsened the moral decline deepened and they went into captivity i wonder why would people continue to be sick when they could be well why would you choose death rather than life why would you choose the illness rather than the cure i thought well some people stay sick out of fear they're afraid of what the doctor is going to find they're afraid of the doctor they have what is called white coat syndrome when a doctor walks in their blood pressure goes up and they're afraid to go to the doctor there are some people that perhaps remain sick out of pride they don't want to admit that they have a problem that they need help that they are sick whether it is physical emotional psychological or spiritual they just are too proud to humble themselves and say i need you to help me i am hurting i am sick i'm in trouble and i need help but pride keeps a lot of people from accepting the cure i've said before that in my mind the greatest revival in america should be in the nursing homes and geriatric facilities of america but when people have spent their lifetime saying no to god either out of fear or pride when they get old and they're facing death something inside of them will not allow themselves to humble themselves to god and seek a solution some people stay sick out of pride other people i think continue to be sick because of distrust they had a bad experience they heard about a malpractice suit they knew that somebody went to the doctor and it didn't work out very well i've seen it in the church people had a bad experience there was a hypocrite in the church the church disappointed them the church wasn't perfect the pastor didn't shake their hand it was too hot cold too hot the sound was too loud or too quiet never a problem here but they got these excuses and it's developed into distrust i don't trust the cure i'm not going to go to the doctor i don't believe in that anymore so they would rather go on in their sickness until their wound becomes incurable until their condition becomes terminal and they die spiritually they die emotionally they die physically because they simply do not have confidence in the care so i am here today to tell you what jeremiah told judah that there is a cure there is help for you today in the spirit of the lord in the gospel of jesus christ in the church and in the lord himself amen there is a cure for the national sin that is eating away at america there is a cure for what is happening in our country that is dividing families and killing our culture there is a cure there is help [Applause] in our country we desperately we desperately need the spiritual palm of gilead and we desperately need the intervention of the great physician righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a reproach to any people we need a national revival a worldwide revival but every national revival begins with a personal revival perhaps you've heard the story about a person who said if you want a revival in your home or your church or your nation you should start by getting in a room by yourself and drawing a circle around yourself and praying god send a revival in this circle and the saying is when god gives you a revival in your life when god gives you a revival in that circle then you have the basis for a revival somewhere else but rather than point our finger as someone else that needs a revival why not look in the mirror and say i'm the one it's me it's me it's me a lord standing and they need a prayer i need a revival praise god great awakenings have founders the great awakening of the 1730s in america has many people behind it pastors and churches who were praying but jonathan edwards is called the father of the great awakening in the 1730s churches saw spurs of revival he preached his most famous sermon sinners in the hands of an angry god on july 8 1741 in infield connecticut in a monotone voice he read from a script under anointing as he spoke people began wailing and crying and screeching loudly frequently edwards would tell them to please quiet down and allow him to finish his sermon but there is a catalyst there is a person that said god we need a revival and let it begin in me i am preaching that there is a cure today for the sin of our world there is a cure for the problems in our families it's time to draw a circle and have a revival in your life that will spread outside that circle there is a cure but it involves a choice to accept the cure and allow the physician jesus christ in your house amen and that cure begins and that openness begins when you repent of your sins now i know repentance is our first step toward god but it should always be a staple in the life of a christian that we should always keep repentance close to us and if you sin confess your sins and repent and if you will he will cleanse you from all unrighteousness repentance is a change of mind it is triggered by godly sorrow or contrition but it is not equal to sorrow or regret or feeling of pain repentance is a turn the word in the bible is metanoia a change of mind it literally means an about face from the direction you're going now you change your mind about sin yourself and god and you determine to turn your life over to the lordship of jesus christ that is what repentance is that's why in the old testament the most quoted second chronicles 7 14 if my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways then will i hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land it is our humbling it is our repenting that releases the power of god into our lives proverbs says he that covers his sins shall not prosper but whoever confesses and forsakes his sin will find mercy have mercy so it is the trigger of repentance of turning from our sins and turning to god that releases the power of god into our lives to heal us to forgive us to deliver us the old testament prophets preach repentance over and over to sinful people john the baptist came bridging the old testament with the new testament and john the baptist preached a message of repentance he called the people to bring forth fruits worthy of repentance in other words he said repentance is not just words repentance is action repentance is a change repentance is a difference that is happening in your life because you have turned your back on sin and you're walking toward god john the baptist said if you do not repent then there is an ax that is laid to the root of the tree and every tree that does not bring forth good fruits of repentance he would mean is cut down and thrown into the fire if we have a cure in our lives we've got to turn from our sins and open our hearts so that god would come to us amen amen amen we need a revival of repentance of becoming thoroughly right with god that we now allow no sin to reside in our life not a small sin not a big sin not a justified sin not a word you've spoken not a thought you've had not an action you've taken not an attitude you've harbored we need to thoroughly repent before god and say lord i desperately need you to forgive me of my sins oh god oh lord keep me from presumptuous sin like the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight o god cleanse me from every sin cleanse me from ambition cleanse me from bitterness cleanse me god at every level of my life paul said in the times past god winked at religious ignorance but now to the athenians to pagan athenians he said this in acts 17 but now god commands all men everywhere to repent amen repentance starts with the heart but it changes every part of us repentance is asking jesus christ to take away our sins john wrote that if we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us but this is where it is in my nose but if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness i thank god for every good and godly person in our church but what heaven rejoices over is one sinner that repents jesus said the whole the healthy do not need a physician i think he was being facetious because the people who pretended they were whole and pretended they were religious and pretended they were righteous needed forgiveness just as much as the people they thought were bad there are people that died in the collapse of a tower and they felt maybe there was something wrong with those 18 people but jesus said i want to tell you that except you repent you shall all likewise perish you may think you're better than the person who died in a catastrophe but we all need repentance in our lives amen god help us never be like the religious expert the pharisee a really strict person that went to church in the temple and he prayed the bible says thus within himself god i'm really glad that i'm not like other men he looked across the church and he saw a tax collector republican he knew what publicans were alleged to be that they cheated rome they cheated the people they accepted bribes they were crooked people generally republican in the new testament a tax collector is considered to be a sinner they're tossed in the same basket with sinners republicans and sinners he looks across at the publican and he says lord i thank you that i'm not like other men like that guy he knew what that guy did you know some people call him a scumbag he's a dirty low down tax collector then he started telling god how good he was i fast ties twice a week i pay tithes on all of everything i've got lord i thank you that i'm such a good person lord i am spiritually whole and no words of repentance would ever come out of my mouth because certainly they're not needed but jesus when he told about those two men he said i will tell you truly that that man that was over there that publican the bible said he would not even lift his head he beat on his chest his words were god have mercy on me a sinner and jesus said that man that said god had mercy on me he went home forgiven he went home with mercy but that man who thought he was too good to repent he went home his sins were not taken away he was not justified now will say to us today that unless we repent we will die in our sins unless america repents there will be the demise of a nation amen i want to see heaven rejoice because my heart has been made right with god we all know most of us pentecostals know repentance was not just a message of the old testament or john the baptist were in the ministry of jesus but the apostles preached this message on the day of pentecost in the con concise plan of salvation the apostle peter in acts 2 38 said then peter said unto them repent change your mind you're guilty of the crucifixion of jesus christ you're guilty of rejecting the messiah so you need to repent and be baptized they go together repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of jesus christ for the remission of sins not merely an outward sign of an inward work but baptism in the name of the lord jesus christ is for the remission of sins it brings about the remission of sins when combined with repentance amen repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of jesus christ for the remission of sins and you shall promise you shall receive the gift of the holy ghost would you just say repentance i think you've got it and in a little while we're going to do it and i trust you're praying like that now if you need to but there's another side to the equation of the cure there is a cure and repentance is part of that cure but there is a plague among people people who have been abused hurt wounded disappointed generally done wrong and that plague is unforgiveness it is not asking god to forgive you of sins that you have committed it is asking is releasing a person who has wronged you from that wrong forgiveness is making sure that you do not stand in the place of god holding someone's sins against you against them rather because of the way they've wronged you but forgiveness releases the offender forgiveness lets go of the offense amen mark twain said that hatred corrodes the container it is carried in anger is an acid he said that can do more harm to the vessel to which it is stored than anything on which it is poor unforgiveness is a cancer that destroys the person who holds it amen forgiveness should not be withheld even when a person doesn't deserve it because you and i certainly did not deserve the forgiveness of god he died for us while we were dead in our sins he forgave us before we repented and if we do not forgive others we ourselves will not be forgiven the lord's prayer is forgive us our trespasses or our deaths as we forgive our trespassers or those that are our debtors in other words in the lord's prayer that famous prayer that we quote there's an understanding that as i ask god to forgive me i am forgiving you and as you ask god to forgive you you're asking god to forgive me or the person who has wronged you for when you hold a person at pay when you hold them hostage to your unforgiveness you are not destroying them you are destroying yourself you are trying to punish them for what they have done to you but you are the person who is being punished because you cannot let go of it and the cure for so many broken people is not just repentance but it is forgiveness it is letting go over and over sometimes the wrong that has been done to you and say lord i will not revenge myself i will turn it over to you vengeance is mine saith the lord i will repay it doesn't belong to us to try to judge another person or condemn another person that is the business of god alone and our responsibility is repent of our sins and to forgive those who have wronged us there's a story that jesus told about forgiveness and forgiveness retracted in matthew 18. the apostle peter asked jesus lord i want to be a really good christian i'm paraphrasing his words so how many times do i need to forgive somebody who wrongs me and then peter came up with his own answer he said lord what about seven times wouldn't that be good that would make me really really holy you know because some people think somebody smites you on the cheek turn the other cheek that some people interpret that that if you get wronged once after you're wrong twice then they belong to you drink water while you're thinking about that that is not what that means scripture has to be compared with scripture when peter says to jesus what about seven times and jesus looks back at him and says no what about 70 times seven what about 490 times in a day or what about as some people believe and i do times without number what about that you don't count because what if god has counted how many times he's had to forgive us of things we've done wrong and thought and said and watched and did to other people we would have passed seven seventy times seven god has been merciful to us and we must be merciful to other people now jesus tells a story brother jury preached this story just maybe a couple years ago i'm not sure jesus says there is a master and he's got servants and he comes to reckon with them bring them into account and they had all borrowed money from him this one guy he owes his master millions of dollars that's the new living translation a debt he cannot repay more than he could ever pay back in 10 lifetimes he's a servant that's his master how did he get that deep in debt easy credit the way to financial hell right so he's in debt so the master says we're going to sell him he sell his wife sell his kids sell everything he owns until he pays the debt now that's forever he can never pay the debt back but this man this servant who owed his master so much money millions and millions of dollars jesus said he falls down and he begs his master and he says just be patient with me and i will pay it all now i don't think he was lying but he was lying he could never pay that debt back but he's begging for mercy and mercy is what he got his master was philip pity and released him and he didn't say pay it back later he wiped his dead out he completely forgave a debt of millions of dollars that he could never pay wow what would you do if that had happened to you how would you feel if you had been released from a debt that you could never pay well i'll tell you how some people feel i'll tell you what this man did the man left he left the master behind he went over to a friend a fellow servant a peer somebody on his own level and that man owed him new living translation a few thousand dollars a manageable debt a debt he could have paid if given time but the servant who had been given forgiven so much he took his fellow servant by the neck he choked him he demanded instant payment on thousands of dollars his fellow servant did what he had done he begged for mercy he said give me a little more time be patient with me and i will pay it and if given time he could have but that peer that creditor would not wait he had his fellow servant arrested thrown in jail until the debt could be paid in full he removed his ability to even work and pay it back but there were some other people standing around and they saw what was done how unmerciful that forgiven servant was they went back to the king they went back to the master and they told him the entire story and the bible says jesus is telling this the king called the man that he had forgiven and said you are an evil servant i forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as i had with you then the angry king withdrew forgiveness he sent the man to prison to be tortured until he paid that debt in full and then jesus applies the story to us he said that is what my heavenly father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart i'm preaching today that there is a cure and there is a position and we can hold him at bay if we do not repent and if we do not forgive but today i pray that a spirit of repentance and a spirit of forgiveness would flow into this house today that we would ask god to forgive us and that we would release those who have wronged us from the death they owe us let's thank god for a minute right now for the debt he wiped out for us oh hallelujah there is a cure there's a palm in kiliad there's a physician there but i asked jeremiah's third question why have you not recovered why are you still limping why are you still holding a grudge why why are you still struggling when everything you need is available to you you're saying pastor are you telling me that if i just repent and forgive that everything's going to be perfect certainly not but when you repent you release the power of god in your life when you forgive you release the power of god in your life and the other person's life but as long as you withhold forgiveness as long as you refuse to repent then god holds us back god resists the proud but he gives grace to the humble and when you humble yourself beneath the mighty hand of god when you ask him to forgive you and when you realize that you're not good enough to not forgive anyone else then it releases healing and salvation and a right relationship for you there is a cure i knew a man whose name was olin he was an adult when i was a kid i knew his family very well his wife margie served the lord but he did not i did not know a story but in his younger years he did serve god but evidently he became very bitter he was hurt by someone i don't know who and he had been away from god for decades i think probably over 40 years as i try to think back he was bitter towards someone and that bitterness kept him away from god olin got cancer contracted cancer it was terminal he was going to die so his wife's pastor drove out of town out to the little farm where they lived in their retirement years went into ola's house sat down with him looked him straight in the eye and said you are going to die and go to hell because of unforgiveness you're going to die i don't know every word he said you're going to die in your bitterness through all these years he never released that he lived away from god he confronted him he got right in his face like nathan the prophet did to david the king and when he did olin broke and he repented and released the people who had offended him from being held hostage by his unforgiveness he was renewed in the holy ghost and when he died he died saved because he refused to refuse the cure he refused to die in his sins there is a cure and there is a physician the gospel of jesus christ can set you free from your sins and it all begins with repentance