“How many there are who believe in God, but who do not believe God!” – F. F. Bosworth

My previous post highlighted the extraordinary life of F.F. Bosworth, an evangelist who saw over one million people come to Christ, and who received over 225,000 written testimonies of healing to his ministry headquarters. Like a comet, Bosworth served the Lord at full strength, right up until three weeks before he graduated to heaven at the age of 81.

Should we pray for our loved ones to get sick?

“If sickness is the will of God for His children, then it is sin for them even to desire to be well, to say nothing of spending thousands of dollars to defeat His purpose. . . [and] if sickness is the will of God, then every physician is a lawbreaker, every trained nurse is defying the Almighty, and every hospital is a house of rebellion.”

So stated Bosworth in his sermons to, as he called it, our modern Laodician church. He went on to say,

“If the modern theology of those who teach that God wants some of His worshipers to remain sick for His glory is true, then Jesus during His earthly ministry never hesitated to rob the Father of all the glory he could by healing all who came to him . . . And Paul too robbed God of all the glory he could by healing all the sick on the island of Melita.”

Christ the Healer responds to all the objections the church here in the West has used to formulate a philosophy for our sorrowful lack of power to bring the transforming gospel of Christ. Bosworth also addresses Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” that has also served as a barricade against the Holy Spirit’s might:

“Many today hold that God afflicts even the obedient because He loves them, making sickness a love token from our Heavenly Father. If this is true, why do they try to get rid of His love token? Why does not the one suffering with cancer thus ask for this blessing for his wife, his children, his father, his mother, his neighbors and so forth. Sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it?”

Knowing that healing is the will and even the very nature of God is key to being able to stand in faith for yourself or for your loved one. Understanding that “the Son of God appeared for this purpose: to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8b) makes infirmity of all kinds something to be opposed as an enemy of the cross.

“Our gospel came not only in words but with power”

A friend who is a physician shared a story how the thought crossed his mind one morning, “Lord, nobody ever gets healed of ALS” (Lou Gehrig’s Disease). An hour after this dejected thought came, someone walked into his office who testified of their loved one being healed of ALS.

Our friend shared this story at a prayer meeting, not knowing that I’ve been contending to see another person healed of this hellish infirmity. I marveled how the Savior not only is able and willing to heal, but how the Holy Spirit always is encouraging our faith in Christ through very specific means.

Paul stated that “Our gospel came not simply in words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction” (1 Thessalonians 1:5). For years, many of us have been trying to get people to come to church or to take some kind of interest in the gospel. We’re disappointed how overwhelmingly apathetic they are to both. But when the Holy Spirit power shows up and people are set free of some debilitating thing that has wrecked their lives, you don’t have to coax. They not only are ready to hear about this Jesus, they’re bringing their friends and family to get healed as well.

We are witnesses to this through a door the Holy Spirit has opened through deliverance (see 1 Corinthians 16:9, Colossians 4:3, and 2 Corinthians 2:12).

If you have sought healing for yourself or a loved one, and have been disappointed, keep seeking. Knowing His will is to heal and that He paid for it is the battle won. We must administer the victory of the cross over the enemy and his lies.

*Graphic courtesy of Bibleart.com, “Serpent on the Pole”