Healing and the Lord's Supper
While politicians are talking about health care reform, the Lord led me to where He used the apostle Paul to remind the church in Corinth about His health care plan:
For I have received of the Lord that which I also delivered unto you. That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread. And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, Take eat; this is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me.
After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.
For as often as you eat this bread, and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's death til he comes. Wherefore, whosoever shall eat of this bread, and drink of this cup unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he who eats and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. [1 Corinthians 11:32-30]
The Lord's Supper is a perfect illustration of the truth that Jesus' atonement was both spiritual (the blood represented by the cup of wine) and physical (the body represented by the bread). Similar to the Passover meal (which they were eating at the Last Supper) the Passover represented deliverance from the bondage of Egypt (symbolic of the bondage of sin) in the blood on the door post, and also the fact that there was no feeble person among their tribes [Psalm 105:37] referring to physical healing in the consumption of the flesh of the lamb. It was God who said, I am the LORD who heals you after the children of Israel crossed the Red Sea (Exodus 15:26).
It is the blood of Jesus that dealt with our sins, and it was the body of Jesus that dealt with our bodies, which is why we partake of the cup AND the bread.
Jesus said, Truly, truly I say unto you, Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whosoever eats my flesh, and drinks my blood has eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood dwells in me and I in him. As the living Father has sent me and I live by the Father, so he who eats me, even he shall live by me. This is the bread which came down from heaven; and not as your fathers did eat manna and are dead. He who eats of this bread shall live forever. [John 6:53-58]
And we now have a down payment of the Spirit indwelling us, and we also have a down payment of physical healing and health until the Lord comes and we receive glorified bodies. Let us remember that Paul wrote, for this cause (not discerning the Lord's BODY) that many are sick and have untimely deaths. This is the "unworthily" Paul is talking about—and not a person with sin in their lives. Examining yourself is for you to remember that you are righteous REGARDLESS of your actions provided you have been born again. The church has been presenting only a partial gospel of the blood of Jesus alone when His body is equally as important. And through His body is where we receive physical healing.
One of the major reasons Christians continue to get sick and have untimely deaths is because they are not properly discerning these truths. I don't say this to criticize anyone who is sick or has died from sickness, but to share the Truth with you.
The Lord said, My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. [Hosea 4:6]
In Remembrance
Do this in remembrance of me...
How often does the Lord desire for us to remember Him and what Jesus has done for us? Does He desire it only every Sunday, or the first Sunday of the month, or just once a year? The Lord's Supper or Communion has been relegated to a religious observance and thereby stripped of all its power to bring life that is in constant remembering of what the Lord has done for us. Let us remember that it was David who wrote, Bless the LORD O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases... [Psalm 103]
Remembering is a powerful weapon in the arsenal of the Christian--by which he quenches the fiery darts of the enemy. Everything in the Christian life is based on remembering what the Lord has done for us. It was Israel's greatest downfall due to their hard heartedness.
The Word of God says, As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup... inferring that there is no set or established time to partake of remembering what the Lord has done for us. Rather, the Lord points to an activity of which perhaps other than going to the bathroom, we do more often during the day for a time of reflection and remembrance--and this is while we are eating.
Most Christians "bless" the food before they eat it, but they make no correlation to this being the TRUE Lord's Supper if they would only remember and discern the Lord's body. Most are taught about the forgiveness of sins part, but the body He gave is left as a mystery. Well, my friends, it is a mystery no longer!
As often as you do this... at least three times a day when you eat and drink something, remember the body Jesus gave for the healing of ALL your sicknesses, diseases, and physical problems, and also remember the blood He gave for the cause of all those problems--the sins of the world. If Jesus' blood destroyed the root of all sickness (sin) then certainly it destroyed the fruit of all sin (sickness). And this truth is realized when you remember and discern the Lord's blood AND body as often as you desire.
Some traditionalists may suggest that this teaching would diminish the sanctity of the Lord's Supper and Communion service in church. Well, this is exactly why the Lord's Supper is having no effect and so very many Christians are weak and sickly and die untimely deaths. This awesome way of remembering what Jesus did for us has been turned into a religious ritual, and we are simply reaping what has been planted in our hearts concerning this great truth.
Why don't you try this and see? Every time you eat, quote Psalm 103, Bless the LORD O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: who has forgiven all my sins, who has healed all my diseases... and see if your health doesn't change. Mix faith with it and the Word of God says that your words will control your body (James 3).
I don't "say" things lightly when it comes to the word of God. God's word SAYS I am healed. This is NOT just my opinion. I am repeating what God has said; and therefore, this is a law of God--an absolute truth that never changes. It is as constant as the law of gravity, but we know that in spite of the absolute truth that gravity has the same effect on every object, we also know that external things such as friction can dramatically affect gravity's pull on an object. A rock will fall to the ground at a faster rate than a feather, but this does not mean that gravity has a greater effect on the rock. It means that the dynamics of a feather (it's shape and make-up) hinder the gravitational pull to the earth. The same goes with any of the promises of God. These laws are constant, but can be hindered by external forces such as lack of knowledge, lack of faith, unbelief, or incorrect application (Hebrews 4:2; Romans 3:3-4; Psalm 78:41; Hosea 4:6; Matthew 17:19-20; Matthew 13:58). In all cases, it is not God's laws that are at fault. Rather, it is US who fail to correctly appropriate God's promises, and renew our minds to these truths (Romans 12:2).
How's this for a health care plan?
Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not ALL HIS BENEFITS: who forgives ALL your iniquities, who heals ALL your diseases... [Psalm 103]
He sent his word and healed them and delivered them from ALL their destructions. [Psalm 107:20]
Surely he has took our infirmities, and bear our sicknesses. [Isaiah 53:4; Matthew 8:17]
Who his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sin, should live unto righteousness, by whose stripes you were healed. [1 Peter 2:24]
...I will put none of these diseases upon you, which I have brought upon the Egyptians, for I am the LORD that heals you. [Exodus 15:26]
I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death; blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life, that you and your descendants may live. [Deuteronomy 30:19]
Beloved, I wish ABOVE ALL THINGS that you may prosper and BE IN HEALTH, even as your soul prospers. [3 John 2]
He who dwells in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge, my God, in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler, and from the noiseome pestilence. He shall cover you with his feathers, and under his wings shall you trust. His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
You shall not be afraid for the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flies by day, nor for the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor for the destruction that wastes at noonday. A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not come near you. Only with your eyes shall you behold and see the reward of the wicked, because you have made the LORD which is my refuge, even the most High your habitation. There shall no evil befall you, neither shall any plague come near your dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. They shall bear you up in their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone. You shall tread upon the lion and adder, the young lion and the dragon shall you trample under feet.
[The LORD says] Because he has set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him. I will set him on high because he has known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With LONG LIFE will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation. [Psalm 91]
It's a great plan--and best of all--it's a FREE gift from God out of His love for us! I've been "participating" in this health care plan for over five years now and I live in complete health in body, mind, and emotions. The times when sickness has attacked, I used the word of God to defeat it. It can work for you too... you just have to believe it.
