Why
Physical Healing is in The Lord's Supper and
How It Works To Heal You Now
In
1 Corinthians 11:23-30, the Apostle Paul demonstrates that healing for the
body is in the LORD's Supper.
1
Cor 11:23-26
23
For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That
the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:
24
And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my
body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
25
After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying,
This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink
it, in remembrance of me.
26
For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the
LORD's death till he come.
27
Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord,
unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
28
But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink
of that cup.
29
For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation
to himself, not discerning the LORD's body.
30
For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. (KJV)
Look
at the word new in verse 25. This is not the Greek word NEOS,
meaning new in time. This is the Greek word, KAINOS, which means new
in quality. The New Covenant was not something new in time. It
was already in existence. It was the same Abraham covenant that Jesus
ratified with his own blood, giving it a quality it did not have before.
Jesus' ratification made it qualitatively new. Consequently our New
Covenant is the qualitatively new Abrahamic covenant (now known as the New
Covenant or New Testament).
In
the preceding chapter, I said, "Since Jesus' death ratified the
Abrahamic covenant which granted us healing for our bodies, it only makes
sense that the Scriptures spell it out that God's will for us is our
complete healing at all times. Do the Scriptures spell this out over and
over and over? In point of fact, the Scriptures do spell it out." The
Bible spells it out in the LORD's Supper. In this chapter I will show how
Jesus' death relates to healing by demonstrating that healing is contained
in the LORD's Supper.
What
Is The LORD's Supper and What Does It Mean?
When
God and Abraham made their covenant together back in Genesis 12, 13, 15,
17 and 22, God made sixty, distinct promises to Abraham. These sixty
promises, collectively, form the Abrahamic covenant. Furthermore they made
this covenant a Blood Covenant of Friendship.
In
the Old Testament era, a Blood Covenant of Friendship was the most
binding, solemn and serious form of agreement or covenanting known. It was
more binding than a marriage. You could get a divorce in a marriage. You
could not get a divorce from a blood covenant. It was binding to the
death. In addition, it was usually binding on the respective families for
generations. This was the agreement between God and Abraham.
The
American Indians practiced a form of blood covenanting. You have seen the
movies in which the Indian man and the white man became friends. They
slashed their wrists, rubbed them together, and mingled their blood. They
practiced a form of the Blood Covenant of Friendship. They became blood
brothers. This is the exact form of the Abrahamic covenant.
A
feast, in which animals were sacrificed, accompanied this form of
covenant. Then the flesh and the blood of these animals stood for the
flesh and the blood of the two people making the covenant. However, in
Genesis Abraham had to give his own blood through the rite of circumcision
rather than the blood of a substitute animal. In addition every male that
was born into a Jewish home had to follow the same rite of circumcision.
By drawing blood, they also entered the blood covenant of friendship
between God, Abraham and his seed. This lasted until the death of Christ.
With
the death of Christ, God's own blood is now shed to complete and ratify
the Abrahamic covenant. Why is this so? Because the Bible says that Jesus
was God in human flesh. Jesus' blood, therefore, was the blood of God
Himself. When Jesus climbed the cross on that Good Friday, the blood that
gushed from his body, head, face, back, stomach, and the nail prints in
his hands and his feet--the blood that poured out that day--was the blood
of God Himself.
After
hundreds of years, the blood of God Himself was finally shed in that Blood
Covenant of Friendship, completing and ratifying the Abrahamic covenant.
You remember when God and Abraham made the covenant in Genesis, God's
blood was never shed. The flesh and the blood of animals were substituted
for the flesh and blood of God, but Abraham had to shed his own blood
through circumcision.
When
Jesus died, however, God's own blood was shed to ratify that Abrahamic
Blood Covenant of Friendship. Now, both have ratified it with their blood,
Abraham and his male descendants through circumcision, and God on the
Cross of Calvary. Both have now shed their blood. Consequently, Jesus left
us the feast of the LORD's Supper which is composed of the substitute body
and blood of the Son of God.
Blood
Covenants of Friendship contained a feast where both parties would eat the
flesh and drink the blood of the substitute. In the Old Testament,
however, they substituted wine or some other form of juice in the place of
their own blood. In heathen cultures, though, they would drink the blood
of the animal, and in so doing, they took into themselves the very life of
the other person, the other party to the Blood Covenant of Friendship.
From that point on, those who entered a Blood Covenant of Friendship
actually possessed two lives, their own plus the life of their blood
covenant friend.
The
LORD's Supper is a substitute feast for the Blood Covenant of Friendship
between God and Abraham. Consequently Jesus left us the LORD's Supper just
before He ratified the Abrahamic covenant with his blood in his death.
It's one of the last things He did. Since this LORD's Supper is the
substitute blood and body of God, it must accomplish some things in us
as we partake of it, for we now possess two lives, our own plus the life
of God, our Blood Covenant Friend.
Because
we possess his life, two things follow: first, when we partake of the
LORD's Supper, we take into our being the prescribed substitute for his
body and blood; secondly, the Holy Ghost lives in us now, to make real in
us what Jesus wrought for us, both in his life and in his death. Remember,
He procured our healing by the stripes on his back; we were healed, and we
are still healed.
This
substitute blood and body of God represents two things in our being: the
salvation of our soul (cleansing of our sins), procured by his blood, and
our physical healing, procured by his body. You know, of course, that the
Bible does not talk about the blood relating to healing. It talks about
his body relating to healing, while the blood relates to the forgiveness
of our sins.
I
Jn 1:7
7
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one
with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all
sin. (KJV)
In
the above passage, "cleanseth", is in the Greek present tense,
which means that the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses and keeps
on keeping on cleansing us from all sin.
But
the body of Jesus is for our healing. Isaiah said that by his stripes we
are healed. Peter said that by his stripes ye were healed.
Isa
53:5
5
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our
iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his
stripes we are healed. (KJV)
1
Pet 2:24
24
Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being
dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were
healed. (KJV)
Where
were the stripes? The stripes were on his body. The body of Jesus Christ
was beaten so badly, it didn't even resemble humanity. You see, the law
allowed the soldiers to beat the prisoners with a Roman cat-of-nine-tails
just before crucifying them. Many times a prisoner died from the beating.
When the soldiers finished the beating, at the very least, the victims
were in a state of shock. Their whole body was torn to bits.
A
Roman cat-of-nine-tails is like an American bullwhip with nine little
whips on the end of it, and each of the little whips had jagged pieces of
metal or rock tied to them. Every lash dug out flesh and skin. I have read
accounts which said that the whip wrapped around a person, opened up their
front, and their insides poured out. I have read accounts which stated
that the victim's face was beaten off and their teeth were knocked down
their throat by the metal in the ends of the nine tails. I have read
accounts in which they died before the beating was finished.
The
above describes the condition of Jesus. They striped his body from one end
to the other, cutting his skin to shreds. This beating turned Him into a
jagged ribbon. Both Peter and Isaiah said that by these stripes we were
healed, and we are still healed.
The
blood and body of Jesus in the LORD's Supper is our substitute for the
body and blood of God Himself. God ratified that Abrahamic covenant, to
secure for us every blessing that He promised in it, which is salvation
for the soul, healing for the body, prosperity for the pocketbook, and
well being for our family. The body of Jesus Christ accomplishes our
healing, for the Bible said that by his stripes we were, and still are,
healed. The stripes they put on his back, having beaten Him into a bloody
mass, heals us.
The
book of Isaiah says that when they finished with Jesus, the people that
saw Him were astonished. They said that his visage was marred more than
any man. He didn't even resemble humanity. There was nothing left about
Jesus Christ that resembled humanity. He was beaten beyond recognition. He
didn't even look like a person.
Isa
52:14
14
As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man,
and his form more than the sons of men: (KJV)
His
bones were pulled out of joint when He hung on the cross. his tongue
swelled up and began to choke Him, for He said that his tongue cleaves to
his jaws.
Ps
22:11-19
11
Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.
12
Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.
13
They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.
14
I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is
like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.
15
My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my
jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.
16
For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me:
they pierced my hands and my feet.
17
I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.
18
They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.
19
But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me.
(KJV)
The
Roman soldier blindfolded Him, jerked his beard out of his face, knocked
Him around and said that if you are the Son of God, prophecy to us and
tell us (by looking through that blind fold) which one of us was it that
hit you.
Luke
22:64
64
And when they had blindfolded him, they struck him on the face, and asked
him, saying, Prophesy, who is it that smote thee? (KJV)
Matt
26:67-68
67
Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him
with the palms of their hands,
68
Saying, Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, Who is he that smote thee? (KJV)
Jesus
was beaten beyond recognition. He looked like hamburger. The beating of
his body produced the physical healing for the Abrahamic Seed Group. He
shed his blood for our sins, but they striped his body for our healing.
The LORD's Supper was the substitute feast of the Blood Covenant of
Friendship in which his blood and body were replaced by the bread and
juice. Jesus left us this that final night in the Upper Room.
How
Does The LORD's Supper Heal Us?
We
must partake in the Blood Covenant of Friendship, that substitute body and
blood of Christ. That is our part. As we partake of it, we must understand
that Jesus accomplished (in his death) the healing that God established
between Himself and Abraham. The LORD's Supper enables us to take into our
very being what Jesus accomplished for us; namely, He accomplished our
healing by the beating He took on our behalf.
They
beat Jesus to shreds (for our healing) just before He died. They beat Him
without mercy, hung Him up, and his blood flowed to the ground for our
healing. He became an unrecognizable mass for our healing. During and
after that beating, God ratified the Abrahamic covenant by the blood of
Jesus. Abraham's descendants had shed their own blood eight days after
birth for centuries. When Jesus died, however, God poured his own blood
out to ratify the Abrahamic covenant. Jesus' death ratified it, but his
body was beaten to shreds to produce our physical healing contained in
that covenant.
Furthermore,
that same beating and death broke the grip of Moses' Law and destroyed it
because Jesus took it to the cross with Him and abolished it. Jesus took
it with Him to the cross and nailed it there; it disappeared from the face
of this earth.
The
LORD's Supper is a substitute feast of the body and blood of God Himself.
The blood produces the continuous cleansing of our sins, and the broken
body produces our physical healing. No wonder the Bible says that by his
stripes we are and were healed. We were healed and still are, by the
stripes on his body.
Can
we get even more explicit? Yes. Look again at 1 Corinthians 11:29-30,
still concerning the LORD's Supper.
1
Cor 11:29-30
29
For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation
to himself, not discerning the LORD's body.
30
For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. (KJV)
What
Is Eating and Drinking The LORD's Supper "Unworthily?"
What
is this "unworthily" business mentioned in verse 29? Most people
interpret "unworthily" to mean that I eat and drink the
LORD's Supper when I am not worthy. If that's the right
interpretation, then nobody would ever take the LORD's Supper, because
there is not a worthy person reading this page. I don't care how
sanctimonious you feel like you are. You still aren't worthy. Therefore,
it has to mean something else. In other words, it is not the person who
is unworthy, but the manner in which it is taken.
What,
therefore, is this manner in which you unworthily take it that
brings damnation on yourself? Before I answer that question, I must ask
another question and answer it. What damnation? What damnation will you
bring on yourself? What damnation can you bring on yourself if you take
the LORD's Supper in an unworthy manner?
What Is The Damnation You Bring
On Yourself By Taking The LORD's Supper Unworthily?
What
is this damnation? Is it losing your salvation? Absolutely not. What is it
then? It is not getting your physical healing. You still
maintain your cleansing of sin, but you do not get your physical healing.
Why? Here's how. (Now I am going to answer the other question, "What
is this unworthy manner?") The unworthy manner in which some people
take the LORD's Supper produces the damnation of not being healed for only
one reason: these people do not discern the LORD's body.
To
put it differently, not discerning the LORD's body is the unworthy
manner that produces the damnation of not getting your physical healing.
Look at the word discern, a Greek word which combines DIA, meaning
"through", with KRINO which means "to judge." The
combination, then means "to judge through" or "to judge
between." Consequently, discern means "to make a
distinction between" or "to discriminate."
So
then, you must be sure that you don't take the LORD's Supper unworthily
and bring upon yourself the damnation of not being healed. You must make a
judgment or a division between the LORD's body and the
LORD's blood. You must make a judgment through, that is, you must
make a distinction between the LORD's blood and the LORD's body.
Paul
says that these people were not discriminating between the LORD's
body and his blood. You see, we fail to take into consideration what his
body was striped up for.
We
know why his blood was shed. Many people go to church today to be sure
that they have enough fire insurance to stay out of hell. But there is so
much more than that. We know about the blood. We know the blood is
responsible for our salvation. We know the blood cleanses us from our sins
and keeps on cleansing us. We go back week after week to hear this little
baby story over and over again. (Of course, this is not just a baby story.
It is the most important story ever told.) If, however, this is all you
have heard for ten, fifteen or twenty years, you can't be much more than a
babe in Christ. You can't have matured much. You must develop your faith
enough to know what the Bible says so you can act on it.
Then
you will quit worrying about, "Am I saved or not." When you
really understand one simple scripture, 1 John 1:7, which states,
"The blood of his Son Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. .
.," you will stop worrying about your salvation. "Cleanseth,"
(in the Greek present tense) means continuous action in present time. Not
only does the blood of his Son Jesus Christ cleanse me from all sin, it
cleanses me and keeps on cleansing me from all sin. Now when you master
this, you will quit worrying about whether you are saved or not, and you
will advance to the next level of maturity where you can make something of
yourself for God.
As
long as you stay on that infant formula, you will live in fear. There is
no power of God in fear. God has not given us the spirit of fear, but the
spirit of power. You must get over your fear or there will never be any
power in your life. Everything you encounter will blow you off the wall
because you don't operate in faith. You must get past this thing of
"whether I am saved or not."
So
the damnation that you bring upon yourself by taking the substitute feast
unworthily is this: you are not healed. You didn't make a distinction
between the blood of Christ and the body of Christ. You merge them
together in the LORD's Supper and take it thinking only of salvation. You
don't give one thought to the great Bible fact that the stripes on His
precious body is the basis for your physical healing. You think only about
your salvation as you participate in the LORD's Supper. Meanwhile, you are
sick. For what reason?
You
failed to make a distinction between the body of Jesus that was beaten to
a pulp, cut to ribbons, and striped to bits for your healing, and His
blood which was shed for your salvation and the cleansing of your sins.
Three
Fold Damnation: Weak, Sick and Dead
Look
again at 1 Corinthians 11:30, which says that because you didn't make a
distinction between the LORD's body and His blood, many of you are weak
and sickly and many of you sleep. We must look closely at three words
here.
(1)
Look at the word weak. It's the same word that is translated infirmity
in many places. It's one Greek word which combines the Greek negative,
A, with the Greek word for strength. This word, then, simply
means weak or without strength.
Are
you physically weak and without strength? Is it because you don't know
what His body accomplished. You know what His blood accomplished, but you
don't know what His body accomplished. You are weak. This lack of
knowledge about His body, and your subsequent failure to act upon this
knowledge, affects you physically because His stripes heals us. When we
don't know what His broken, beaten body accomplished, we can't act on it.
When we can't or don't act on it, we get weak physically.
(2)
Not only does the above scripture say that we are weak, it also says that
we are sickly. Look at the word sickly. This translates the
Greek word, ARRHOSTOS, which is used five times in the Greek New
Testament. In every case, it means physical sickness. You must
really stretch your imagination to make this word mean spiritually
sick. This word always means physically sick. Because we don't make
a distinction or discern the LORD's body (because of this one
thing) many are weak and sickly among you.
(3)
The third thing Paul says here is that many sleep. Look at the word
sleep. This Greek word also means death, but only when
applied to a member of the Abrahamic Seed Group; namely, Christians. ( See
1 Thessalonians 4: 13, 14 and 15; Acts 7: 60; 1 Corinthians 7: 39; 15:6
and 18:51 and 2 Peter 3:4.) When Paul said that many sleep, he
really said that many died. Many people died prematurely
because they never understood that they needed to make a distinction
between His body and His blood, and appropriate the benefits of His body
for their healing. Rather, than recover from their illness, they died
prematurely.
The
Blood Covenant of Friendship (LORD's Supper) feast is the substitution of
the body and the blood of Jesus who was God in human flesh. We maintain
our blessings in the Blood Covenant of Friendship between God and Abraham
when we participate in it. We must understand it and act in faith on what
it means. When Jesus died, God ratified the Abrahamic covenant with his
own blood. He also abolished the Law through the death of Jesus. Make a
distinction concerning the LORD's body and turn your situation around.
"Father,
teach us the full meaning of the LORD's Supper that we may be healed by
it. In Jesus' name. Amen."
Please
visit Dr. Jay Snell's website for an INCREDIBLE amount of Spirit inspired
and scriptural information that you need for your every day life
today!!! http://www.jaysnell.org/
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