Welcome to the For the Gospel podcast. My name is Kasti Hinn, and I have the pleasure of being your host. For the Gospel is all about providing sound doctrine for everyday people. And on today's episode, I want to ask you a big question about sickness, healing, and signs and wonders. We've been diving into this over the past few episodes because I wrote a book called More Than a Healer. It just came out, and it is about the Jesus you need, not necessarily the Jesus that we always want. The Jesus we usually want gives us all the things that we want. But what if I told you that he's so much more? And I know we all say, Oh, of course he is, and I know, but do we really believe that? And do the way that we live reflect that? The books available on Amazon or wherever books are sold in paperback, audio, Kindle version as well, and reflection questions at the end of each chapter can guide your own quiet time with the Lord or your small group, so you can pick that up anywhere that you buy your books. So here's the question again: Are you seeking signs instead of the Savior? That's the big question I want to challenge you with in this episode. In a confrontation that Jesus had with religious leaders in his day, he made a very serious accusation. He told religious leaders that they were missing the most important fact, that he was the savior, and instead they were seeking after signs and wonders. In the Gospel of Matthew, the religious leaders were demanding a sign from Jesus, and he answers them in Matthew 12, 39, and he says, A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but none will be given except the sign of the prophet Jonah. These people kept chasing down Jesus. They were demanding he perform signs and wonders, they wanted him to do their bidding, but yet they didn't even believe that he was the Savior. In fact, some of them were just testing him and demanding he do something to put on a show. In response, Jesus declared that they'd be given the sign of Jonah, which was a reference to Jonah being in the belly of a fish for three days and coming out, just like Jesus would be in the grave for three days and then come out. The religious leaders would eventually get Jesus crucified, only to beget the greatest miracle in history when Jesus rose from the dead. And in contrast to the people of Nineveh who repented when Jonah told them God's message, most of the sign-seeking religious leaders continued in their superficial spirituality, though some were saved, as we see, like Nicodemus, who came back around. But these religious leaders saw miracles. They witnessed healings, but instead of believing in the Savior, they crucified him. Their blindness is a lesson to us to never let signs and wonders and the things that we want Jesus to do get in the way of us seeking him for who he truly is. Throughout history, there's many lessons to be learned from people who vigorously sought something that eluded them, and in the end, that thing they were seeking could not satisfy the deeper longing in their soul. There's a list compiled by an author in his article, The Pitfalls of Positive Thinking, Donald McCullough. And Alexander the Great is one of the examples he uses, says that he conquered Persia, but he breaks down and weeps because his troops were too exhausted to push into India. Alexander the Great falling short, though he sought a great thing. Another individual in history, Hugo Grotius, the father of modern international law, said that at last I've accomplished nothing worthwhile in my life. Can you imagine that? You're the father of modern law, and you say I've accomplished nothing worthwhile in my life. John Quincy Adams, sixth president of the United States. He wasn't a Lincoln by any chance, but he was a decent leader. He wrote in his diary, My life has been spent in vain and idle aspirations, and in ceaseless rejected prayers that something would be the result of my existence beneficial to my species. What a depressing end. Cecil Rhodes opened up Africa and established an empire, but what were his dying words? So little done, so much to do. How could leaders who accomplished so much in history etched their names in history, seemingly accomplishing so much be so empty in the end? It's impossible to know everything that they were thinking, but I believe that people end up empty in the end because they come to realize that death is the great equalizer. No matter what they were seeking, no matter what they accomplished, no matter what they had become, they had an expiration date that could not be delayed. They came to grips with their finite, insignificant existence. All human beings who have ever lived, who are currently living, and who are going to live one day are all going to die. Death is the great equalizer. The only solution to the deepest need of humanity is to be saved by the Savior Himself, Jesus Christ. He's the only solution to feelings of despair. You've got to find him, or more accurately, be found by him. You need to express your need. God, I need this. Jesus, be the magic genie I need, be the God that gives me all the things that I want. And if I'm obedient and I'm a good person and I have enough faith, you're going to do it. Or are you the kind of person that comes to the realization that while God may do many wonderful things for you in your life and through you in your life, the greatest treasure, your greatest need is that you be saved. You need to realize what matters most is your salvation. When the Apostle Peter was encouraging the early church in the middle of some extreme difficulties, he commended them in 1 Peter 1 9 for the way they were looking at Jesus, loving him, and believing in him, even though they had never seen him. He explained to the early church that as a result of seeking after the Lord, the ultimate reward would be obtained. They would get the outcome of their faith. That was salvation. I find encouragement like this fascinating because it's so counterintuitive, isn't it, to the way that we live today. Peter's focus is not on promising the church an easy escape from their pain. He's not promising health and wealth. He's not promising double for their trouble, quote. No, he says, You're just passing through. You've got total assurance of the glory of heaven. You've got an inheritance nothing on this world can ever take away. And when you have faith in the Savior, you're living in a now but not yet promise. The greatest treasure this world could ever have, the greatest peace, the greatest hope is yours. You are, like all people, appointed to die once, but on the other side of this is glory. You're gonna meet the Savior if he truly is your savior. The natural question that every single one of you who listens to our podcast, and maybe you're new to our podcast, you need to know this. How do you know the savior? You need to understand how to know the savior. I've told you over and over, for the gospel tells you over and over, that Jesus is the savior. And I want to explain to you for the rest of this episode what that really looks like. First, the Bible teaches that God is the initiator in the process of salvation. Jesus in John 6 44 said, No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. In very plain terms, Jesus was explaining the first step in salvation, which is that God begins to stir a desire in your heart for him. So, in order for Jesus to quote, be your savior, he's got to do something in you first. God has to stir your heart. And maybe you say, Well, I don't have a desire for him, or I don't really feel that. Well, then pray and ask him to be the initiator. Pray and ask him to start that. And here's the fun part. If you pray that and you genuinely mean it, well, isn't this the most humbling thing of all? Your prayer didn't even make him do it. He started to stir it in your heart because of his sovereign love and mercy towards you. He even allowed you to pray the prayer, wanting him to initiate your salvation. Romans 10, 17 says, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. You got to hear the message of the gospel. The Bible makes it very easy to understand. If you want Jesus to be your Savior and God is beginning to stir your heart towards that desire, well, let me explain the message you need to hear in order to come to a full and true understanding of faith in the gospel, which is the good news. Here's the good news. You're a sinner, and I'm a sinner, and we have fallen short of God's perfect standard. Romans 3.23 says, All have fallen short of the glory of God. That means we've missed the mark. That's what it means to fall short, to miss the mark, to sin. You are not really a good person, neither am I. At the core of who we are, the Bible says in Romans 3.10, nobody's good. Nobody seeks after God. Nobody can fix the problem of brokenness and sin in their heart. Sin is a very serious thing. Romans 6.23, the Bible says that the wages of sin is death. This is because God has determined it to be this way. His standard for relationship with humanity is perfection because he is perfect. But because of our sin, we can never be perfect. We can never be in relationship with him without someone solving the problem of sin that has come between us and God. In fact, let me go further. We don't just have a problem in that we can't really have a relationship with God. We sort of have a relationship with God. We deserve his wrath. We are the subjects of judgment and condemnation right now. So, yeah, we do have a relationship. We're the one who needs to be punished. We deserve to be punished, and yet, in his kindness and mercy, he changes the status of our relationship from being dead in sin, deserving wrath and punishment, and in his kindness and mercy, he saves us. That's really what Ephesians 2, verses 1 to 10 covers in ten verses. You'll see that you're dead in your trespasses and sin in the beginning. Around verse 4, you're going to see, but God rich in mercy, he caused you to be alive in Christ, and then by grace through faith you're saved. He saved you, friend. Not anything you've done. When you believe in him, he did that. When you're right with him, he did that. When you're washed and cleansed, he did that. None of your good works saved you. Well, how are you saved? What absorbed the wrath and the punishment for sin? Who took your place? You deserved the wrath of God. Who switched you out? Well, Jesus did. Romans 5, 8 says that while we were yet still sinners, Christ died for us. 2 Corinthians 5, 17 to 21 explains that if we're in Christ, we're a new creation. A lot of people get pumped on that. Yeah, I'm new. He transforms me. Well, how did that happen? He became sin who knew no sin. So we could become the righteousness of God in him. He became sin. He took on the curse to atone for our sins. And all those who place their faith in Jesus, who was the only and perfect sacrifice, can be forgiven and covered by his blood. You've got to confess that you're a great sinner. You've got to believe that Jesus is a greater savior. You need to trust and faith that he's the Son of God. That's how you are saved. Romans 8:1 says, there's no condemnation now for those who are in Christ. Your status has changed. You're not condemned. You're not going to be subject to God's wrath. You're not going to hell when you are in Christ. You're a new creation. You live a new life. In fact, if he never did another thing for you but save you, you have the greatest thing you could ever have on this earth and in this life. And guess what? You can't lose it. Let me prove that from the Bible. Romans 8, verses 38 and 39 explain that quite literally, nothing can separate you from God's love, not even death. The devil can't do it, sin can't do it, angels, no power, nothing at all can separate you from the love of God. If you're truly saved and you have faith in Him and He is yours and you are His, you can't lose your salvation. That's a treasure. Maybe you're hearing this and you think, well, you know, that's a great thing, but I need some healing right now. I need some provision right now. I need some answers to problems in my life. Let me challenge you before you ever demand or say, God, I need this from you if I'm really going to follow you, that you realize He's already done everything you need. He's delivered you from sin. I want you to come to this place. I want to come to this place. We all need to get to this place, and it is this that we genuinely believe and trust that healing for the body is not as important as healing for our soul. You can get healed, you can be blessed with money, you can get that job promotion, you could have a new baby, a new house, a new car, and everything go perfect in your life, friend. If you don't have salvation, you don't have life. You don't have what you need the most. Maybe you think, well, uh I don't think there's really anything more important than salvation. And I'm not one of those people you're talking about, Costi. Well, I think we should all ask ourselves do we get as excited, are we as appreciative, are we as grateful for our salvation as we are for a happy marriage, a high-paying job, obedient kids, a great neighborhood, a stylish home, social status, popularity, or even just being liked by others? Look, a lot of those things I just listed are good things in life. But do we seek Jesus as sort of the cherry on top of all of those? He's he's the icing on the cake. Or if you had nothing that I just listed, but you had him, would you be fine? I think it's important to re-examine the affections of our heart at every turn, committing to believe and asking the Holy Spirit to help us remain firm in this belief that if I have Jesus and everything in my life is going wrong, everything's still gonna be alright. Thomas Lewis Johnson was a brave and heroic preacher who had the privilege of achieving his dream of preaching the gospel in Africa. He was a man with God-given boldness. He had humility and incredible perseverance. But life was no easy road for Thomas. Before he became a preacher, he was born into slavery and he lived as a slave for 28 years. At just three years old, he was cruelly taken from his mother, who was also a slave, and he would never see her again until the age of nine. His masters were terribly hard on their slaves, and deep down their brutality was rooted in a cowardice. They feared that the slaves would someday dare to exercise a mind of their own and realize how strong they were. And so, in an effort to suppress any thoughts of freedom or strength, they beat down the bodies of their slaves, including Thomas Lewis Johnson. He longed for freedom. He thought about it day and night for over two decades. The pain he endured is something few could ever imagine today. Yet, there in the midst of the horrors of slavery, God would use another slave named Ezekiel to reveal to Thomas a freedom that no man could suppress. This is found in the book Steal Away to Home. And it's a great book by Matt Carter and Aaron Ivy. The story goes on to unpack that he would eventually find, no matter how hard they tried to crush his body, no slave owner could crush the soul. One night he was lying in bed in hopeless despair, and Thomas recalled the words that Ezekiel once spoke to him, saying, I'm telling you, boy, you're looking for freedom in all the wrong places. He wondered if those words were true that his friend had said, and if so, how would they possibly be true? Thomas could bear his despair no longer. He got out of bed, risking a beating or worse, from the plantation foreman, and he went to find Ezekiel in his sleeping quarters. Upon his arrival, Thomas found Ezekiel huddled in a circle with several others singing these words Steal away, steal away, steal away to Jesus. Steal away, steal away home. I ain't got long to stay here, so steal away, steal away to Jesus. The authors again, Matt Carter and Aaron Ivey of this book, beautifully describe what happened next as this group of slaves led by Ezekiel moved from singing to talking about Jesus, but not before Ezekiel caught Thomas peering through the window, and he motioned for him to come inside and join them, and he did. Ezekiel whispered, I got one question for each of you tonight. And then he looked directly at Thomas. Even in the darkness of the room, Thomas could see his friend's eyes bright and piercing, speaking to everybody, but looking only at him. Have you stolen away to Jesus? Ezekiel paused. He let the question settle in. Have you stolen away from this place, your work, your troubles? Have you gotten alone with the Lord? Because that might be the most important question you answer all day long. Because you see, the master, he owns your body. The master, he owns your time, the master, he owns everything about us. But there's something you can never forget. There's one thing that man don't own. There's one thing that man can never own. He don't own the soul. It was that night on a Virginia plantation that Thomas Johnson sat there eating up every single word that his friend Ezekiel preached. He laid the gospel out plain and clear, and he came to realize if no one ever removed his physical chains, that Jesus would shatter his spiritual ones, that every injustice that could steal his human right to freedom could never stop his right to freedom as a child of God, that every bondage on earth could do nothing to stop the blessing of heaven, and every limit to his earthly inheritance could not stop the eternal riches that were his through Jesus Christ. Right there, in a huddle of slaves, the explosive power of the gospel transcended the malicious power of their master, and Thomas placed his faith in Jesus Christ. Almost ten years after that night, he would see the Lord set him free from the chains of slavery, but even more, he was invited by Charles Spurgeon to complete his education at the Pastor's College in London. That served as a catalyst to his achieving his dream of preaching in Africa, and Thomas Johnson's freedom from slavery and his opportunity to live out the remainder of his life on earth became a great treasure to him. But even until his dying breath, he considered his freedom from sin at the hands of the Savior to be his greatest treasure of all. Is that the way someone will describe you and me? If we have an amazing story, if everything turns around, if we get all the things that we desire, if God does, and he can and sometimes will bless you immensely, do you consider your freedom from sin at the hands of the Savior to be the greatest treasure of all? Friend, do not seek signs at the expense of seeking the Savior. Seek Christ in Christ alone. Thank you for joining me today on the For the Gospel podcast to order more than a healer and dive deeper into this idea that Jesus is more than a healer and to discover the Jesus that you and I desperately need, go to Amazon.com, ChristianBook.com, or your favorite retailer. The book is again available in paperback, audio version, and Kindle. And then for free video teachings from For the Gospel that you can watch or share on social media, subscribe to our YouTube channel at for the gospel. And check us out on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and Twitter. If you've been blessed by our ministry or by the book, go ahead and review us on Apple Podcasts or drop a review on Amazon for more than a healer. And if you want to check out everything else about our ministry, go to www.forthegospel.org. We will be back next Monday with another episode. For now, keep on living for the gospel.