Lesson 12. Christ the Healer. F. F. Bosworth. A Classic in Divine Healing.
“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase… and you are God’s field” (1 Cor. 3:6–9).
How to Receive the Fulfillment of God’s Promises
Every person on earth was “bought with a price” to be the Lord’s garden, in which His incorruptible seed should grow, be cultivated, and produce miracles. True Christians are God’s “farm”—His “vineyard,” His “field,” His “garden.” The “field” belongs to its owner. And Paul says, “You are not your own; you belong to God.” We belong entirely to Him. We belong to Him by right of creation and by right of preservation. But the very best thing for us is that we belong to Him by right of redemption—because He “bought” us at a great price so that we would be His “field.”
Planting the Seed
Paul told the Corinthians, “I planted.” In the parable of the sower, Jesus said, “The seed is the Word.” This is the “incorruptible seed.” God gathers His miraculous harvest just as a farmer does. Jesus said, “A sower went out to sow.” It is the Word of God that lets us know what to believe Him for. “Faith comes by hearing”—when we learn what God’s will is for us. God wants His seed to be planted because it can perform great miracles. God’s purpose in creating the seed was for it to be planted in “good soil,” where it would sprout, grow, and bear fruit. Paul said, “I planted.” The seed has no power until it is planted.
The enormous price God paid for this “field” shows the importance of planting the seed. All God’s miraculous works are potentially contained in the seed. David said, “All His works are done in faithfulness,” that is, in faithfulness to His promises. God’s works are not accomplished until the seed falls into “good soil.” According to His purpose, we are to live our lives ensuring the germination and growth of the “incorruptible seed.” Nothing can take the place of the seed—not even prayer. Prayer is not the seed; the Word is the seed. The sole purpose of God’s promises is their fulfillment. They are all revelations of what He wants to do for us. The Holy Spirit, who is responsible for fulfilling the promises, calls them “great and precious.” Their greatness lies in their ability to meet all our needs and fill all our vessels. The unchanging nature of the promises makes them “great and precious,” because it removes all grounds for doubt and gives us compelling reasons on which to base our expectations. As “seed,” they cannot be changed in their essence. Therefore, they produce wonderful results at any time in any garden.
It is the task of Christians to show the world the actual manifestations of God, proving that the promises are just as true today as they were two thousand years ago. They were given so that people would know them, acknowledge them, declare them, and ask for them in prayer. They must be sown and cultivated in prayer. In Romans 4:12, God speaks of Christians as those who “walk in the footsteps of the faith of our father Abraham,” meaning that we must relate to every promise of God exactly as Abraham related to the promises God gave him. Could it be that God is less real to people living in the era of the Holy Spirit than He was to those who lived under the shadow of these “better things”?
Jesus told His disciples that they could not contain the Word He was preaching. What place should the Word of God occupy in us? My answer is that the Word must take and retain a place within our thoughts, memory, consciousness, and affections. It must take and retain a place of honor, reverence, faith, love, and obedience. It must take and retain a place of trust. It must take and retain a place of authority.
Millions of people sing the glorious hymn “Standing on the Promises of God,” while in reality most of God’s promises remain unclaimed by today’s church members. To stand on God’s promises means to receive all the blessings revealed in the promise; it means praying the prayer of faith for their fulfillment. To neglect them is like destroying what their fulfillment would mean if it had already been accomplished. The preciousness of the promises should determine our love and respect for them. Paul joyfully said, “I planted.” If all farmers treated seed the way millions of Christians today treat God’s “imperishable seed,” the world would die of hunger.
The Potential of Seed
This seed contains unlimited potential. A simple biblical text contains a whole world of blessings, just as a tiny seed contains the potential of a tree a million times larger than itself. One verse of Scripture allowed to take root in the human heart can grow into a harvest of thousands of converts and the subsequent “eternal glory.” A single wheat seed can, in a foreseeable time, cover an entire continent and feed a nation, while the results of cultivating the “imperishable seed” are just as significant and desirable as heaven is higher than earth. Only the “imperishable seed” can produce imperishable results. The Bible says, “Every seed produces fruit according to its kind.” Every promise points to what we should expect from God when that promise is fulfilled.
Watering
Paul said, “I planted, APOLLOS WATERED.” All seeds and all plants in God’s garden need watering. Jesus said of the seed that fell on rocky ground: “When it sprang up, it withered because it had no moisture,” and “because it had no root, it withered.” For seed to grow, the soil must be moist. Because of a lack of constant watering, many plants planted by God wither instead of growing. A garden is a place of growth. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “Your faith grows.” “Your love grows.” He instructed everyone to “grow in grace.” Therefore, God says to each of His little gardens: “Be filled with the Spirit”—keep the soil moist. Water is the Spirit God gives to all who obey Him. Being filled with the Spirit creates the conditions for His perfect work.
How David Watered the Seed
All 176 verses of Psalm 119 reveal David’s attitude toward the Word of God. He gladly acknowledges his obligation—to diligently keep God’s instructions. He promises: “I will keep Your commandments.” He said to God: “I have hidden Your word in my heart… I rejoice in the way of Your testimonies, as in all riches. I meditate on Your commandments… I delight in Your statutes; I do not forget Your word… I will live and keep Your word… I have chosen the way of truth… I will run the way of Your commandments… I will keep Your law and observe it with all my heart… I long for Your precepts… I will keep Your law continually, forever and ever… I will speak of Your testimonies… The proud have utterly derided me, yet I have not turned aside from Your law… Your statutes have been my songs… You are my portion, Lord… I hastened and did not delay to keep Your commandments… The proud have forged lies against me, but with all my heart I will keep Your precepts… The law from Your mouth is better to me than thousands of pieces of gold and silver… Your law is my delight… Forever, Lord, Your word is firmly established in heaven… Your faithfulness endures through all generations… If Your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction… I will never forget Your precepts… Oh, how I love Your law! I meditate on it all day long… I keep my feet from every evil way, so that I may keep Your word… How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth… Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path… I have sworn and will fulfill my oath to keep Your righteous judgments… I have taken Your testimonies as my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart… I have inclined my heart to perform Your statutes forever, to the very end… I hate the thoughts of men, but I love Your law… I will continually study Your statutes… I love Your commandments more than gold, even pure gold… I consider all Your precepts right; I hate every false way… Your testimonies are wonderful; therefore my soul keeps them… Though I have many persecutors and enemies, I do not turn away from Your testimonies… My heart trembles at Your word… I rejoice in Your word like one who finds great spoil.” All these words, along with many others, can be found in Psalm 119. They show us how David watered the Word. Paul said, “The one who plants and the one who waters are one.” Watering the seed is just as important as sowing it. God cannot make the seed grow if we do not water it.
God Grows the Seed
And then Paul says, “God made it grow.” The Lord gave His promises for this one purpose. He always grows the seed when it is in good soil and watered. Growth is possible after watering.
Jesus also said, “It produces fruit.” The intensity of every holy desire is measured by the degree of divine love a person possesses. Therefore, God’s desire is much stronger than ours, just as His love is stronger than ours. His favor is so great that His eyes “range throughout the earth,” constantly looking for opportunities to bless those whose heart attitude makes it possible. What God has promised us belongs to us. God’s justice requires Him to grow the seed when it has been planted and watered. John says that “He is faithful and just.” The word “just” means that He would be unjust if He withheld from us what He promised us. We have a right to what He has promised us. God grows every seed when it is planted and watered; this is one hundred percent true. We can all apply it to our present and eternal enjoyment. God is the best farmer in the universe. He never fails!
God’s Time Is Now
If the work of the “incorruptible seed” is supernatural and only God causes it to grow, then the seed often produces the most miraculous results on the very day it is sown. God’s promises are intended for TODAY; His time is always TODAY. “Today, when you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts” (Heb. 1:7). If you postpone receiving God’s promises, you may not be alive tomorrow. God’s promises belong to us TODAY, and we cannot be sure they will belong to us at any other time. The only way to be certain of the blessings promised by God is to accept HIS TIME; and, as we read in Second Corinthians 6:2: “Now is the acceptable time.” If NOW is the time appointed by God, then we must accept it as our time. He commands us to hear His voice TODAY and says: “Do not harden your hearts” by waiting. In Mark 11:24, Jesus said: “Believe that you receive” (literally, TAKE). WHEN? “NOW”—that is, “when you pray.” Faith speaks before the answer appears: “Father, I thank You that You have heard me.” When you cannot SEE or FEEL, say: “Now is the time to trust.” Results will not be manifested until we believe that our prayer has been heard. Say to God: “Now You are acting in response to my prayer—I am relying on Your faithfulness.” The matter passes from our hands into God’s hands the moment we commit it to God. But God does not promise to fulfill anything that has not been committed to Him. In this way, we can receive everything God has promised. If God’s gifts for our souls and bodies were merely PROMISED gifts, we would have to wait for the One who promised to keep His promises, and the responsibility would rest with Him. But all God’s blessings are gifts OFFERED to us, not merely promised, and therefore they must be RECEIVED; responsibility for receiving them rests with US. This frees God from all responsibility for failure.
The Result of Watering the Seed
What was the result of David’s attitude toward the Word of God—his watering of the seed? The young shepherd, watering the word within himself, became “wiser than all his teachers.” His attitude toward the Word of God made him a man “after God’s own heart.” It made him the greatest psalmist in the world. His psalms blessed millions over the centuries that followed. By watering the seed, he became a writer who was inspired by God. Just as every planted seed produces more seed, so David’s words in the psalms became God’s “incorruptible seed,” which over the centuries took root in human hearts throughout the world. His words became the subject of thousands of sermons.
David discovered that meditation helps us absorb spiritual food and brings the sweetness and life-giving virtue of the Word into our hearts and lives. Meditation transforms truth into spiritual food. It is the Word of God, as Paul says, that “works effectively in us” and brings about all divine changes from glory to glory. David said, “I understand more than the elders, because I keep Your commandments.” By keeping the Lord’s commandments in his heart and life, David understood more at an early age than those who had lived longer and gained extensive experience. David, who began life as a shepherd boy, acquired such wisdom and knowledge by meditating on God’s commandments that in the Second Book of Samuel (14:17), he is described as an “angel of God,” able to discern good and evil. In that same chapter, his wisdom is compared with the wisdom of an angel. He said, “Your Word has given me life.” It enlivened his entire being to such an extent that the Word of God was fulfilled in him. His life was full of praise and thanksgiving. It is far better to be the Lord’s garden than the devil’s. The possibilities of the “incorruptible seed” are unlimited. By becoming God’s garden, you will do yourself a great kindness. Only God can know what the eternal harvest will be. Remember throughout your Christian life that you are GOD’S FIELD.
Author: F. F. Bosworth
