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In his book "Christ The Healer," F. F. Bosworth wrote:

"Before anyone can have a stedfast faith for the healing of their body they must be rid of all uncertainty concerning God's will in the matter. Appropriating faith cannot go beyond one's knowledge of the revealed will of God." [1]

The promise of God is, "Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be delivered" (Romans 10:13, cf. Joel 2:32 and Acts 2:21). Yet Paul points out that ignorance of the promise robs us of its benefit.

"How then shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?" (Romans 10:14)

In Romans 10:17, Paul concludes, "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ." (Romans 10:17)

 

The same is true in the area of healing. If we are going to believe God for healing, then we must bring our thinking on this subject into harmony with the revealed will of God as found in the Word of God, the Bible. A heart persuaded by the truth of Scripture is essential to steadfastness in this area. For this reason, I would like us to consider some faith foundations concerning divine healing.

 

Perhaps this is a good time to echo the warning found in Hebrews 4:1-2.

 

"1Therefore, let us fear lest, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you should seem to have come short of it. 2For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard."

It is possible to hear the Word and yet be so biased against it that we fail to experience its benefits. Let us pray that God will give us hearing ears and receptive hearts. May our hearts be fertile soil in which the planted seed of His word will grow and bring forth fruit.

 

While there are many reasons for believing that God heals today, I will limit myself to __ .

 

I. THE GOODNESS OF GOD – The Psalmist declared, "Thou art good, and doest good" (Psalm 119:68).

A. SEEN IN CREATION – "And God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good" (Gen. 1:31).

1. Man - This is most notable in man and something for which we ought to give praise to God. "I will praise Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are Thy works, and that my soul knows right well" (Ps. 139:14). Everything about our being affirms the goodness of our Creator. Our nose is designed to keep us from drowning when it rains. Our eye lids and brows marvelously protect our eyes. The placement of thumbs on our hands enhance our ability to grasp things. Our hearts pump thousands of gallons of life giving blood through our bodies for years and years without stopping.

2. All of nature – "The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord" (Ps. 33:5). He feeds the sparrows that do not plant or sow and he clothes the lilies that do not toil or spin. He "opens His hand, and satisfies the desire of every living thing" (Ps. 145:16).

B. SEEN IN THE NATURAL PLEASURES HE HAS PROVIDED FOR HIS CREATURES – "The tender mercies of the Lord are over all His works" (Ps. 145:9).

1. Food – God could have given us nourishing food without providing such delightful variety. He has given us meats, vegetables, and fruits and that in great variety.

2. Taste – God could have given us food without giving us taste buds with which to enjoy the food.

3. Sight – He could have given us vision without giving us color.

4. Beauty – He could have given us vegetation without giving us beautiful flowers that bless our eyes with their colors and our noses with their sweet fragrances.

5. Sound – God could have given us the ability to hear without giving us singing birds and joyful laughter.

6. Sex – God could have made the act of marriage so painful that immorality would be non-existent, but He made the act of marriage pleasureful.

C. OBSERVED IN HIS KINDNESS TO FALLEN MAN - Instead of depriving Adam and Eve of every blessing, comfort and pleasure, He made provision for them. If men go to Hell, it will be because he has rejected the grace provision of God.

D. SEEN IN THE INCARNATION – The angels that announced the birth of Jesus declared, "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill toward men" (Luke 2:14). The coming of Christ was for the "good" of all men, even those who reject Him.

II. CHRIST'S COMPASSION – The term "compassion" appears a total of 39 times in the KJV of the Bible. Overwhelmingly, it is used with reference to God. Of the 20 times it is used in the NT, it is used 12 times with reference to Christ. Here are a few examples.

Matt. 9:36 (NASB) ³⁶Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.
Matt. 14:14 (NASB) ¹⁴When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and healed their sick.
Matt. 15:32 (NASB) ³²And Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, "I feel compassion for the people, because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way."
Matt. 20:34 (NASB) ³⁴Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight and followed Him.

 

III. GOD REVEALS HIMSELF AS HEALER

A. TO ABRAHAM – "And Abraham prayed to God; and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his maids, so that they bore children" (Gen. 20:17).

B. TO ISRAEL AND MOSES – "And He said, 'If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what isright in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the Lord, am your healer" (Ex. 15:26).

C. IN THE ELEMENTS OF COMMUNION – If all God did was provide forgiveness of sins, then His shed blood would have been sufficient. There are, however, two elements in communion, the wine and the bread. The wine represents His shed blood and the bread His broken body. According to Isaiah, His body was broken for our healing. (See Isaiah 53:5 and subsequent NT passages such as 1 Peter 2:24-25.)

IV. CHRIST ATONEMENT PROVIDES FOR OUR HEALING

A. THE BRAZEN SERPENT (Numbers 21:9) – The brazen serpent is a type of the Atonement. It provided both forgiveness and healing to those who looked upon it in faith.

B. ISAIAH'S SUFFERING SERVANT (Isaiah 53:3-6, 10, 12) – According to Matthew declared that Isaiah was referring to bodily ailments when he used the words "choli" (griefs/sickness) and "makob" (sorrows/pain).

 

Matthew 8:16-17 – "…and He cast out the spirits with His word, and healed all that were sick; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah, the Propeht, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses."

 

The word "borne" in Isaiah 53:4, translates the Hebrew word nasa, which means to lift up, to bear away, to convey, or to remove to a distance. It is the term applied to the action of the scapegoat that bore away the sins of the people into the wildnerness (Lev. 16:22). The picture conveyed by the usage of the terms "borne" and "carried" is that of Christ taking upon Himself the heavy burden of sins consequences and carrying them away from us.

V. CHRIST ACTED OUT GOD'S WILL IN HEALING THE SICK – Jesus every word and action was a revelation of the love and will of God. He said, "I came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of Him that sent Me," and that "the Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works." He also said, "He that has seen Me has seen the Father," therefore, when He healed the multitudes who thronged Him, day after day, we see the Father revealing His will. The healing of the sick by Jesus was done as a revelation of God's will for man.

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

Though there are some who would try, God never turned the wine back into water. The reasons presented enable us to say with certainty that God is the healer and that what He was He still is!

 

This is not a basis for faith, but it does encourage me. I have partaken of this wonderful provision for myself. As a child I was healed of the effects of polio.

 

Sources:

[1] F. F. Bosworth, Christ The Healer (Old Tappan, N. J.: Fleming H. Revell Co. 1973) page 5.