Joseph Prince - The Healing Power Of The Holy Communion
Praise the Lord, thank you, Lord. You know, every time I come to God's house, and God's house is the many-membered body of Christ. It is not the building, it is when you come together, amen? Now, you by yourself, in a sense, you are the temple of God but when the Bible talks about the house of God, it talks about the house built for the many-membered body of Christ. It calls it living stones, amen. Not rolling stones, you know? A rolling stones gather no moss, but living stones, amen?
And why living stones? Because in Israel when you put, you see stones and rocks all around, they're all over the place, but they serve no purpose. But when you take those same stones and you put them together and you build a habitation, you build a house, those stones are now living stones, amen? You are a living a stone. So, I guess that's probably how the family of David Livingston got the name from but you're all living stones, not only that. The Bible talks about living water. Water that is in a cup is stagnant water. Water that is in a place that's isolated is stagnant water, but when water is flowing, when water is flowing like the latter rain, it's called living water, haim maim or maim haim. It's a very interesting idea, amen, praise the Lord.
You know, our lives is to be a constant flow. Our life must be a constant flow. One of the best, you can call it like this, but I don't like to call it medicine, but medicine, you know, in medicine one of the best medicine is movement, amen? When you move instead of just holding on to that part of your body or just being sedentary sitting in the office all day, if you get up and move, amen, you got to move it, move it, okay? You just got to move it, move it, amen? So, when you move around, some of you find the pain, all right, leaves, amen?
God designed you to move. God designed you to flow. Can I have a good amen? And that also brings us to the prayer in the Spirit. The Bible says, "Do not neglect the gift of God", and stir up the gift of God that is in you, amen? One translation says, "Fan into flame the gift of God that is in you". If you look at that word down there, that word can only mean a gift of the Holy Spirit. You don't stir up the Holy Spirit. So, the word for the Holy Spirit in the Greek is different. So, that particular verse says stir up the gift of the Holy Spirit, one of his gifts. And the only gift that you can stir up at will is praying in tongues and the next verse, you know what the next verse says?
"For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind". So, every time you stir up the gift of the Spirit in you, every time you go. The rivers of love, the rivers of power and of sound mind. Sound mind there is an even keel. That means poise, poise, mental poise. That means you are steady, cool, calm, amen, and yet there's power and there's love. So, sayings of God, family of God, do not neglect this gift that's in you. Let it, what? Flow, amen? Let it flow.
And at first you'll find it hard, especially if you stop for some time, you'll find that you're cranking, you know, it's like, then you stop for a while. After a minute, you stop. And you find that everything is telling you stop. You know who's behind it, right? You'll hear voices saying like, "You're just making it up, it's all gibberish". Don't stop, continue, and then you will hit a geyser. You'll hit something that, and then it becomes a flow, you enjoy it and now you can't stop, amen? So, let it be your life, a life of constant flow, and you'll never know when God will use you, amen?
The Bible says, I love the way Jesus said, "Out of the belly of the believer shall flow rivers of living water", amen? So, we come to Jesus he says, "If any man thirsts", and we're all thirsty all the time, amen, for him, for his presence. In one sense, there's a thirst in us that's being quenched forever, the thirst for eternal life, the thirst can only be found in him, but every day we love to be in his presence.
Now, I'm not talking about the fact that you are the righteousness of God in Christ, but you know something? Those that are close to him, who draw close to him, there is a closeness in terms of relationship. We all have the same standing before God in Christ, but there are people who are closer. There are those who are drawn to salvation, but there are those who are drawn to the Savior. It is himself. You know, when Jesus said to Zacchaeus, "Today's salvation is come to this house". He's not saying, "I just gave you the gift of salvation". He's saying salvation himself came to his house. It is the person.
When the Bible says, "Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses", himself the focus, even though the work is amazing, it's a great work of carrying our diseases, but it's himself. The focus of that verse, even in the Greek, it is himself. If only we have a relationship that's in touch with him all the time, amen? Some of us, we are the righteousness of God in Christ, but we're out of touch with Jesus. We're out of contact with the master for some time, and we feel, we feel a drying up, amen? But when you're in touch with Jesus, you know.
When you open up the Word you talk to him, and there's a connection that's made and it's like a electricity. You can feel, you know, when the wires are all in the right place, you feel the connection. The light comes on, amen? You can feel it inside. So, that's what I'm encouraging every one of you to have that closeness, amen?
Many serve David, many. In his kingdom, there were many warriors, many mighty men, but some did things for the kingdom, but there were some who did things for the king. They love the king, and these are the three, the mighty three. They did nothing, I mean took no territories, killed no enemies, amen, and yet they brought David the water he longed for. Hearing the longing of his heart. No enemies were destroyed, no lands taken, yet they heard the cry of David, how he longed for the waters from his hometown Bethlehem. They heard it. It wasn't even a command from the king. It was just a desire and they got it for him. They loved him. Do you love Jesus? It's himself.
In the Hebrew, "Surely he has born our diseases and carried our pains". In Isaiah, surely he. The focus again is on he. Surely it is he, it wasn't an angel. God didn't send an angel to carry our sins and to bear our diseases. God sent his son, himself took it. Praise the Lord. Okay, that was free. That was a bonus. Thank you, Jesus. And when he comes again, don't forget, for the Lord himself will descend. The Lord what? Himself will descend. He doesn't just say, "Hey Gabriel, go ahead, all right, Michael go ahead. For the Rapture, you guys are in charge. I'll come back for Israel seven years after". No, the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with a voice of an archangel, amen? We are waiting for that. It can happen anytime now, praise the Lord.
So, we are continuing our series on the grain, the wine, and the oil. And today, I want to continue a bit more scholarly because I feel that if we don't touch on some of this breaking up the Word for you, what's gonna happen is that when you study the Word or when someone comes and present you that part of the word, you are caught and your faith won't be the kind of robust faith that God wants it to be. So, I'm gonna share with you some Greek words, interesting right? It's all Greek to me, but we all study it together, okay? Are you ready for that? And you can leave this place and have some bragging rights saying that, "hey, I just learned Greek in church. Don't have to go to Bible school", all right?
So, these words that I'm gonna share with you are very important because they appear many times. When you read your English Bible, your English Bible says judge, judgment, judge, condemn, condemn, having damnation. It seems as if some of these words appear in the New Testament and then the believer, for those who understand that we are no longer under the law, but under grace. The reason we are no more under the law, listen carefully, the law is good, sin is bad. We are no longer under the master's sin and we are Romans 6, it's in Romans 6, because of what Christ did at the cross, we are no longer under the master.
Sin is portrayed as a master in Romans 6. We are no longer under this master and that is the personified, okay, in Romans 6. We are no longer, sin has no dominion over us. We are no longer, our bodies are not to be made available to sin. Sin has been deposed of as our master by the cross of Jesus Christ. That is Romans 6. Romans 7, the next one says that we are delivered. We are dead to our old husband. Law is not master, but law is our husband, that's even closer. The Bible says we are not under the master's sin, we are no longer married to Mr. Law. Law is our husband. Sin is bad, law is good. We are not to operate under good and bad. We are to operate under God. We're to operate under the power of the Spirit, being led by the Spirit. This is the Christian life.
Why are we no longer under the master's sin and no longer under the husband law? Because we are dead and risen. Sin has only power over people who are not dead, people who are natural, over all the sons of Adam. They all sin because sin is master over them. Law, especially over the Jewish people, law is a Jew is born into the law, okay? And all of us, technically we are not under the law, but the law is written in our hearts. So, in the sense we also understand the law, but we are not, we are no longer married to Mr. Law, and the law can only speak to people who are alive. The law can only speak to the sons of Adam.
So, you and I, listen carefully, whether you feel it or you don't feel it, this is the reality of what happened when Christ died for us on the cross and rose from the dead and today is at the Father's right hand. We are today, listen, we are in Christ dead and risen. We are to reckon ourself dead and risen. "But pastor Prince, I don't feel like I'm living the resurrection life". Well, brother, you are.
Just like one guy told the pastor, "You know, pastor, I always thought that on my wedding day, something dramatic's gonna happen at the altar and all that after you pronounce those words. But pastor, when you said I pronounce you husband and wife, nothing happened". Pastor say, "What do you mean"? "I don't feel anything". So, the pastor dragged him to a small corner in the room says, "Son, listen, you're married. Whether you feel it or you don't feel it, you're married. You understand", amen? That's good pastor, how many can say it's good pastor? Come on, encourage me. Praise the Lord, amen?
So, whether you feel it or you don't feel it, you are dead and risen. You are on the other side of the grave. Judgment is behind you, death is behind you, the grave is behind you, and that's why for the believer, we are not to look forward to death. The posture of the New Testament is always to look forward to see the Lord. Even Paul at this time was looking forward to see the Lord. We do not know when the Lord is gonna come back. It seems like we are getting closer to those, that particular event. And, in fact, all the signs for the Rapture, there's no signs but actually all the signs even, Israel back in this nation and all that, and all the prophecies seem to be in place, and church, we are looking forward for the Rapture.
"What is the Rapture, Pastor Prince"? Perhaps you're new. Well, Rapture means you get a brand-new body, a body that's forever young and you have muscles in that body without having to work hard like Pastor Lawrence and you look really, really handsome. Guy, guys, Pastor Mark, wherever you are, listen, all right, you look really handsome at that time, amen? All the ladies will look very beautiful, amen. We'll still recognize each other, except the parts of our face that is fallen, all right, will no longer be, amen, amen?
Turn to your neighbor smile, "There's hope". That's the Rapture for you. And God is so courteous that God will change your body before he brings you through the heights, through the universe because in our new body, we cannot be afraid, amen? So, he changes your body before he beams you up. Praise the Lord.
So, we're waiting for that event. The Bible it's gonna happen any time, and all the prophecies of the Bible have all come to pass. So listen, we are dead and risen. We are, so to speak, we are living for God. We are actually, you know, if right now, I bring someone from heaven, an angel, and he comes here to live, I mean, they do it all the time, right? He comes here to live like a man, okay? They do it all the time in Korean dramas, all the time, okay, with special powers. But Hollywood have been doing it for some time with Clark Kent, right? So, we bring him, bring the angel here to live a normal life.
How do you think he will live amongst us? He will dress like us, yes, go to work like us, but except for this quality, when you're with him, you sense a heavenly atmosphere. He lives a heavenly life. When he hears profanities and all that, you find him like, you know, he's not in it. He's above it. When someone says bad things about him, he's above it. He just smiles and moves on. He's not too petty to come down to the level of that person. He lives a heavenly life. He doesn't bear grudges. He's generous. He's loving. That's the heavenly life. That's the life we are called to live, so we are dead and risen, we are to live this life. We are to live the heavenly life.
We're not to live the life of the law, even the law is good and holy, but it was, it has no claim over someone who is dead and risen. It's only for those who are alive in the natural and the Bible says for that matter, even though we are in the flesh, the Bible says you are not in the flesh. In other words, God is not looking at you in the flesh but in the spirit. So, smile at your neighbor and say, "I'm dead and risen". This is better than any TV drama, amen, all the series heroes and all that. And y'all have special gifts for real, all that is just fiction, amen? Okay please, let me go to my subject, okay? Thank you, Lord Jesus, hallelujah.
Now, I want to read to you a testimony, want to start off first with testimony. This is from a lady from Texas, Pamela from Texas, and she shares:
My mother was ravaged by Alzheimer's disease. She was debilitated to the point that she did not recognize her family members. My father told me she was even beginning to wonder who he was at times. My parents live with me so I could see the daily moment-to-moment struggles and hardship. It was a miserable existence for her, as well as for those of us trying to care for her. There were times I just missed my mom and I wished to see her well again. Then one day my sister shared a praise report with me after following Pastor Prince's teaching on Holy Communion. So, I immediately began to partake of the Communion with my mother. Praise God, Jesus healed her mind and set her free. My mother went to bed that night and on the third night after receiving the Communion, she woke up the next day looking ten years younger. All the things she had forgotten how to do, she is doing again. She remembers who we all are now. She has stopped repeating herself.
Now, just because you do this doesn't mean you got a problem, okay? This problem is actually very prevalent among Singaporean parents.
She has stopped repeating herself, something she used to do from sunup to sundown, and is a complete joy to be around now. Praise Jesus for his finished work on the cross. We are still rejoicing that she's back. I have asked her about her experience and the best she could describe is that she was lost and trapped, but that's all over now. I'm so happy for my mom and our family. I'm writing so that others may have hope from what seems like a disease that offers no hope of recovery. Nothing is too big for the finished work of Christ Jesus, and I praise him for it. Now my mom will ask me if we are going to partake of the Communion, so I partake of it with her every day. Thank you, Pastor Prince, for your teaching on the finished work of Christ Jesus. It has freed my mother.
Praise the Lord, thank you, Jesus, amen. Now, more and more, we are receiving all kinds of testimonies of how the grain and the wine, amen, the broken body of Jesus and his shed blood has brought amazing, amazing transformation, amazing miracles, lives are being set free. People who are addicted to drugs, in fact, I have a testimony. I may just read it afterwards, but people are addicted to drugs. You know what? I'll do that right now. How about another testimony? For those of you because I feel that in a church, not just people outside, but in church sometimes there are people who are bound to tranquilizers, they need it to calm themselves down.
Now, we all know this is not the best because you have the peace that Jesus left with you, amen? You can take other medications but for tranquilizers and things that calm you down, you know, I'm not condemning that but I'm just telling you there is a brother here, his testimony, let me find his testimony. We have a few testimonies here but yes. Joel, his name is Joel from New Mexico United States.
I've had very bad panic and anxiety attacks since I was about 12 or 13 years old. When I was 14, I was put on Xanax, a narcotic pill that is very addictive. Through all those years I prayed and believed God could heal me, but I was very fearful of God. I was told that I'll be sorry on judgment day because of all my sins so I stayed away from church. I first heard God speak to me at the age of 31. At that time, I had fearful thoughts and suffered chest pains and dizziness. I was so scared to travel that I did not leave my house for about a year. I felt like the man in the Bible who cut himself and hid among the tombs. It was a scary time for me. God told me countless times to listen to Pastor Prince...
All right? I'm saying God told him, I'm just reading. Don't go out and say, "Wah, he tell people to listen to him", you know?
God told me countless times to listen to Pastor Prince. Finally, I searched for him online and started listening to his sermons, which left me speechless and crying. I had never heard the true gospel of Jesus Christ until then. I heard a clip of his sermon on the Holy Communion. As I said, I was on Xanax for anxiety. God spoke to me on how to receive the Communion in place of the taking Xanax.
Now, for those who may not know, you cannot just stop taking Xanax just like that, all right? A lot of people, there's a lot of cases where people commit suicide. They can't handle the post anxiety and panic attacks that come. They kill themselves. So, Xanax is serious stuff. All right, it's like any drug, you start taking it, it calms you for a while, you need more and then it gets worse. When you don't have it, you go into a downward spiral so my advice, don't get on it, okay? But anyway, he says that the clip on Holy Communion.
I was on Xanax for anxiety. God spoke to me on how to receive the Communion in place of taking Xanax. Now, I did not come off Xanax right away. It took about a year and a half. I would cut off some of the pill and partake of the Communion daily declaring, 'As your brain is, Lord, so is mine in this world. As you brain is, so is mine in this world.' Now I'm 34 with no more panic attacks and have been free of Xanax for two years. All glory to Jesus. I also started going to church with my wife and children.
Give the Lord a praise, amen? Praise God. There's one more little testimony from him.
One day before church, my left testicle hurt so badly, I went to the emergency room. They checked me and said it was a cyst. Before surgery, I asked my wife to get me some crackers and juice, before surgery, I asked my wife to get me some crackers and juice from the hospital cafeteria. I told her that we were going to receive the Communion and believe in faith that the cyst would disappear supernaturally. So, we partook of the Communion while waiting for the doctors to come and get me for surgery. When the doctors came, I requested that they check me again and I thank my Abba that they found nothing. The cyst was gone. My family and I watch Pastor Prince on TV every morning, and we love to partake of the Communion after listening to the sermon. I've also seen many of my family and friends change because of Pastor Prince's teachings.
And may God bless him. Praise the Lord, God bless every one of you with a similar testimony when you start partaking Communion, amen? Now, there's a lot of, this one area is quite controversial. You know, how powerful something is by the level of attack the devil comes against that teaching, whether it's praying in tongues, another one is Communion. Doesn't through the years, you know, even Martin Luther, right after the amazing reformation, that was a reformation from God. God raised Martin Luther, no doubt about it. But Martin Luther had a best friend, a very good friend called Zwingli.
Now, Zwingli and Martin Luther were very close until something happened. Luther still had some of the, you know, the old teachings where the Roman Catholic says the body of Jesus. So, right now I'm dealing with this because it's important you understand, do I look at the body of Jesus as literally the body of Jesus, or it is a symbol? Now, for the Roman Catholic it's something called transubstantiation and actually they don't give you the cup. They only give you the cracker, they put it in your mouth, okay? Now, they say that after the priest pronounced the words, it becomes the body of Jesus.
Okay, so that's a Roman Catholic belief. Now, we all know today the so-called evangelicals, all right, people protestants, they say it's only a symbol, it's only a symbol, nothing more. Okay, so here you have literally become the body of Jesus, which I don't believe because that'll be like crucifying Jesus again, as far as I see it. And this one just a symbol, also it's not fully accurate. So, anyway Zwingli and Luther discussed this one time and Luther said that when you partake of the Communion, there is the presence of Jesus underneath the bread. Now, that's how he defines it underneath. He explains it as underneath. So, Zwingli says no, it's just a symbol.
They started arguing and it got so bad that Zwingli says, "Luther, you know, when Jesus says 'I am the door', he's not a wooden board you know? When he says, 'I am the vine', he's not a tree. He's expressing himself as that". Now, that is a true, right? Symbolic, a type. And Luther says, no, no way. So, the argument became so bad, they split ways, okay? So today, even in Europe you have the offshoots of people under Zwingli and those under Luther all because of the Communion. And even today when I teach on Communion, you'll be amazed at the kind of response that people will have and one of the biggest response is a negative response is, you know, this there's no priest, no presiding priest, the people can just take it home, right?
Now, I get my authority from the Bible. I think we should all get our authority from the Bible, amen? Please don't invite me to your house every day. My Bible says they broke bread from house to house. They broke bread from house to house. Now, where the problem is I think can be resolved is there's the middle of the road, and this is what I want to show you. Look at Matthew chapter 26 first. In Matthew 26 it says here, "Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, 'Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins".
So, drinking proceeded what he said, or did he let them drink first then he says, "This is my blood"? So, over here, we're not told the sequence. Did the people drink first? Did the disciples drink first of the cup? And then he says, "This cup is the New Covenant", or did he say, "This cup is the New Covenant", then they drank?
Now, this is important, okay? We are learning how to partake and partake according to that phrase worthily as well. So, here he say, now by the way, for the remission of sins. One way to partake worthily is you partake knowing your sins have been remitted because of the blood. Now, that's honoring what Jesus has done. Anything less, if you are sin conscious looking for sin, for sin, for sin, when Jesus himself said that drinking this cup is for the remission of sins, not at that time your sins are remitted but it's to illustrate that his blood is the reason why your sins are no more in your life, not that you cannot sin, not that you are, you know, you are now completely sinless. No, no, no, but God is not reckoning you based on unforgiven sin. Your sins are all remitted. They're all forgiven and when you partake of the Lord's Supper, you should be conscious of that and not conscious of your sins still being in you that you gotta look for it. That is judging yourself worthily.
Okay, so here the question again that we are asking is did he give them the bread and the cup and they partook then he says, "This is my body, this is the cup of the New Covenant"? Now, we look at... because why? Why am I saying this? It's crucial. The order is crucial. I'll tell you why. There is a place where it's a symbol and there's a place where it becomes real. For this, you know, of all the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the most chronological in terms of time, chronological is the gospel of Mark. If you look, if you read Mark, all the sequence and the stories, and the events of Mark follow one another. They are consequent upon one another but Luke, for example, follows divine order. There's a moral order.
For example, you want to teach on grace, the effects of grace and the effects of law. You have Luke 18, you have Luke 19. Luke 18 the rich young ruler. Jesus gave him the law, he can hardly give a shekel. Luke 19, Zacchaeus, Jesus gave him grace, no law and his heart opened, his wallet opened, his house opened, amen? He will repay fourfold all those he has cheated, amazing. What law cannot do, grace can do. Grace makes people generous. So, it's a moral order but Luke 18 and 19 are put side by side but the story didn't happen that after the rich young ruler, then came Zacchaeus's story. No, it didn't happen that way. The Holy Spirit put them to illustrate the beauty, the moral order.
One of the most beautiful books in the world is the gospel of Luke and that's a statement not from me, a statement from a literary, an expert, and he's not even a Christian when he said that. He read the gospel of Luke said one of the most beautiful literature in the world, amen? The beauty and the order. There's the story of the Son of Man, amen, coming here to die for our sins that we might become sons of God. Here we are back to this, this is Matthew, right?
So, let's go to Mark. Mark has the order, look at this. "And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them and said, 'Take, eat; this is My body.' Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And He said to them", ah-ha, do you hear that? "He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And He said to them, 'This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many.'"
So, which one happened first, his statement about the cup or their drinking? They drink. So, the thing is this, as long as you hold the bread in your hand, okay, if you hold the bread in your hand, if there a bread anywhere? Never mind, if you have, just for illustration purpose. Now, when you hold the bread, it's still a bread, okay? If this bread falls somewhere, a cat comes and gobbles it up, don't worry, it's not a Christian cat, okay? So, it's still natural, okay, you understand? So, it's okay. When we're handling it, it's okay. It's common. It's normal, okay? When does it become uncommon, holy?
Now, when you come before the Lord. By the way, you don't need a priest. You don't need a pastor. You don't need me. They broke bread from house to house. They broke bread from house to house. We are all priests, amen. We are all royal priesthood, amen? Of course, if you are at home and the father is a believer, the father becomes the priest of the house, amen, he partakes with all of them. If the father is not, then the mother can do it. Nobody, you can do it yourself, you and Jesus, amen?
So, when you open up, right, you take the bread, it's still bread. When you come before the Lord and you meditate and you thank the Lord and you say, "Lord, I discern your body that on that tree you bore away all my sins, all my diseases, all my infirmities, all my pains", you can include, "all my aging". Because from aging comes all kinds of sickness, you know, all right? And in heaven everyone is young, right? So, you can put it down there. "And Lord, I thank you by your stripe I'm healed". And you partake.
Now watch this, when you partake, when does it become the bread, the body of the Lord? When it goes in. After you partake, it's the body of the Lord. You got it? That's what I believe. I believe that the language of Jesus in John 6 and all that cannot just make it just purely symbolic, cannot. Are you listening? All right, as long as that's outside, it is still, it was after they partook he says, "This cup is the New Covenant in my blood". You just drank it, right? "This is my body broken for you", after they ate it. You understand?
Yeah, just suppose you are praying, you hold the body of Jesus and all that then someone calls you and, you know, it drops and again your... comes in and swallows it up. It's not problem. It only becomes holy in the vessel, amen? Are you with me so far? So, we got that settled. Now, we go to 1 Corinthians... by the way, Holy Communion is the substance of the shadow of the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, we have a shadow. On the night of the Passover, God told Israel to put the blood on the doorpost and on the lintel, right, making the cross. Can you see it? And God said, "Eat the roasted lamb, roasted in fire, and do not eat it sodden with water".
Do not water down the person of our Lord Jesus. Don't water it down. Don't just say that he's a good man, but he's not roasted in fire. Don't eat him not roasted in fire. Roasted in fire means see him at the cross suffering your judgment and my judgment because he was carrying our sins. That's how you partake worthily. So, they were partaking of the roasted lamb. They ate the head, they ate the entrails, they ate the feet. And whatever they're suffering from, if they're suffering from dementia or Alzheimer, they partook even of the brain. While the judgment was going on outside, the angel of death was passing by and he looks at the house, okay?
Now, listen carefully, God is not requiring great faith to eat, only hunger, amen? God doesn't need great faith for you to put on the blood, just obedience, amen? And it doesn't matter how afraid they are, trembling, all right, when they know that at that hour, at midnight hour the angel of death is passing by, if they are struggling and some of them are really, really, you know, crying, bawling in the house, but as long the blood is there, they are saved. They just wasted all their emotions. They just wasted all their fears. Am I right? Because their security lies not in their faith, it lies in the blood. Am I right?
So, another house, Egyptian house, "Ah, don't worry, nothing will happen to us. All this Moses, ah, fake news, all right? Don't worry about it. Nothing's gonna happen to you". So, for him, right, there's no blood on the doorpost, nothing, but they are very confident. You might even say they look like people of faith. What's gonna happen that night? The moment it strikes midnight, the son drops dead, the firstborn, amen? It's not your confidence, it's not your great faith. It's not even positive thinking. It is the blood or the lack of it, amen? Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins, can I have a good amen?
So, put this in the Communion, whether you fully understand you don't fully understand doesn't really matter. Jesus died for you. His blood has been shed. What you need to do is be... sorry, partake worthily, not try to earn it, not try to deserve it just know that, "he did it for me", that's all you need to do. But in the early church, something happens. If Communion is not important, why did the apostle Paul write this? Let me tell you this, okay? Matthew was an eyewitness to the Communion on that night. He was one of the 12. He was an eyewitness. Mark, by the way wasn't. Mark heard it from Peter, amen, who was present.
In fact, Peter considered Mark, my son, "Mark is my son", in one of his writings. But, of course, his gospel is written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. All Scripture is God-breathed but also Peter shared with him but then the way he write it and all that is still divine, okay, divine design. Then we have Luke. Luke wasn't present. He was the only gentile writer of the entire Bible. Luke was a partner of Paul. That's why in gospel of Luke it says, "This do in remembrance of me". The other two never mentioned that, Paul mentioned that and Paul received a personal revelation. I'm coming to that.
So, here you have Luke. Of course, Luke's gospel is also divinely breathed, designed. He wrote by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Then we have Paul. Paul definitely wasn't there at the Lord's Supper, am I right? He didn't even walk with Jesus. He calls himself someone born out of due time, but he received more from the Lord Jesus than all the disciples that walked with Jesus. So, that's why it's just walking with the Lord Jesus, amen, doesn't mean that you get all the revelation. Peter saw Jesus on the cross. He still didn't understand. A few days before they were saying, you must not go to the cross, amen. There are time he says, don't go. Sometimes he says go. Sometimes he's confused. He doesn't even know the purpose for the cross. And time and time again the Lord... "and the Lord says, when the Holy Spirit comes, he will guide you into all truth. I have many things to say".
Now, imagine at the last of the three-and-a-half years in the upper room Jesus told them, "I have many things to say unto you. You're not yet able now". That means all that was taught to them, you see, the baby stage, amen? Now, I don't want to knock your pet doctrines or whatever, but the Lord's Prayer and the Sermon on the Mount is actually at that level of the kingdom. It is not the deep church truths. Now, I believe in the Sermon on the Mount. Amen, I still believe that it's still applicable today. I believe you should pray the Lord's prayer, amen, it's a beautiful prayer, but you need to know the Spirit by which we pray today. We don't pray in the spirit of a servant, we pray in the spirit of a son, amen. We don't pray, "Forgive us as we forgive others". We pray, "Thank you that you have forgiven us of all our sins, and now we forgive others because we are forgiven", amen.
Just put it in the New Covenant because Jesus taught this before he died and rose again. I still believe it's valid for today. So, here we go, watch this. I have many things, when the Holy Spirit is come, he will guide you into all truth. So, God raised Paul and Paul came up with this, Paul wrote three-fourths of the New Testament and he wrote why Jesus died, why the necessity for him to rise from the dead to be raised from the dead. What is he doing now at the Father's right hand? All that is a revelation of the Apostle Paul. Even the Book of Hebrews, I believe was written by him. He has the knowledge like none other. He has the scholarly, you know, upbringing that the rest didn't have. He was a rabbi of rabbis. He sat under the chief Rabbi Gamaliel, one of the top rabbis of that day.
It's like he went to Harvard, the Harvard of the Bible school of that day right in the heart of Jerusalem and yet, he was against Jesus. He was, you know, he was like a terrorist bringing, persecuting, all right, and killing, and yet Jesus met him on the road of Damascus, amen? He was blind for three days because the glory of God was so bright, you know, he could not see it. He heard the voice. He saw the light and that was he was blinded for three days. On the third day, God sent someone called Hananiah, in Hebrew Hananiah, Ananias, Hananiah means the grace of God. It was the grace of God that he first saw. When his eyes was opened, it was the grace of God that opened his eyes. It's the grace of God that he first saw, and that was his message from then on. His gospel is the gospel of the grace of God. Can I have a good amen?
Now, someone says, "Pastor Prince, preached this gospel or". No, it's not Pastor Prince. Pastor Prince is just picking up the gospel, dust it off and say, "Hey, what's this"? Like Josiah, amen? It's the gospel that God gave the Apostle Paul, amen? So, watch this, 1 Corinthians 11, Paul says this, "For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on 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; this do in remembrance of Me.'"
Now, listen carefully. This is direct revelation from the Lord. He didn't learn this from Matthew. He didn't learn this from Bartholomew. He didn't learn this from Thomas. They were all there in the upper room. He could have gone to them and asked them, right? But he received strength from the... I receive from the Lord. What is it that, about the Communion that is so important that the Lord Jesus himself, whether it's in vision form or Jesus came to him directly and taught him, he received from the Lord directly. That's revelation and it was from Paul that we learn about health and healing being available and how neglecting this provision from God is causing people to be weak, sickly, and dying prematurely.
So, we have this idea that in churches today, if you partake the Lord's Supper and you have sin in your life, then you might be sick. It's a judgment. Because there's sin in your life, you might even die prematurely, and they got it from this passage and the whole thing is misconstrued. You know, I did my best not to go into the theological part and all that but the moment I did that, something happened to me. I felt the Lord saying, "No, you teach that". So, I'm gonna teach that as much as I can today. So, first of all, it's a direct revelation from the Lord. Are you listening, okay?
Number two, the Lord watches over this provision. You know, for some reason people say, "You know, Pastor Prince, just a piece of cracker and a piece of juice and all that, what can it do"? Well, you know what happened when the woman said, "Yes master", when she was looking for the Lord's healing for her daughter was demon-possessed. And she says that even the crumbs that fall from the master's table, even the crumbs. And the Lord says for this saying, "Go thy way. The devil's gone out of your daughter". Even a crumb can drive a demon out, can drag the cancer out because the body of Jesus. It's a symbol of the body of Jesus.
Hey folks, we are not like the puppies under the table, you know? We are seated there on the table. We don't have crumbs, we have the whole bread. She's just saying even the crumbs that the puppy's eat, even puppies eat the crumbs. The puppies are Gentiles. We're not that level. We're not Gentiles. We are the church of Christ. Can I have a good amen?
So, here we go just it's like I was reading thinking of this lady Yael in the Bible. Just a hammer. She's a homemaker, a hammer and a nail, a peg, just that. And all the battles went, all the battles going on against the number-one enemy of Israel at the time called Jabin. All right, and all he had was a hammer and the rest were having, minus a 2.1. I can shoot. I can shoot, and it goes sideways to the guy hiding behind the rock. You know, all kinds, they have all kinds of with weapons and all the guys are so macho and all that. And finally the guy fled, came to her tent. You know the story, right? She gave him milk to drink. He was very tired, he slept, and she took the hammer and the nail, PHD, permanent head damage.
That's it, that's it, the war ended that's it, and the honor was given to a woman, amen, who did nothing more than the home utensils. God is not asking you more than what is that in your hand? Always remember God is not asking more than your profession. What is that in your hand? Moses was a rod, I'll use that, amen, for that Yael it was a hammer and a nail. And she does that for her tent and for her sheep and all that kind of thing. She does that, that's her life. So, the Lord uses weak things, like even red dots, to confound the mighty.
You know, the only country in the world that's called a red dot, thank God we are small. Thank God they call us red dot because in God's economy, something great is gonna be accomplished and why red? That's revelation that you must find out. Something red rescued the children of Israel on the night of the Passover, that's all I can say. Why not other dot, red dot? Friend, something about the Communion the devil is so terrified of that he doesn't want anyone to get hold of. So, in the early church, he started attacking this and made them all drunk, made them have a good time, happy hour, you know? The wine becomes something for happy hour, right?
I'm looking around for familiar faces. I'm looking around for people that understand. No one nod their head. Happy hour, happy hour, like all of a sudden start looking at Pastor Gabriel all of a sudden. And okay so anyway, it becomes a time when they were drunk and they were eating before, you know, the poor could eat. The poor had not much to bring, and they ate whatever was there. So, it was the devil behind this. So, for us there's a small lapse, you know, in their... no, no, no, it was a serious, serious thing that's happening here.
Paul says, "Guys, you're missing out, and that's the reason you don't understand that God has given us a provision, all right, that we don't have to suffer like the world. The world has what? Sickness, dying prematurely, but I've given you a provision", God is saying, "The body and the blood of my Son. If you will partake, you will escape the condemnation, the sentence of this world". See, the world, there's a sentence in this world. Ever since Adam's sinned, the sentence was what? Death. But before death was what? Weakness, sickness, death. So, that's the sentence of the world.
Now, we are not to suffer that sentence. Now, listen carefully, Christians do get sick. At times, I get sick. But I know when I get sick that this is not God's will for me, okay? Compared to people who are sick and thinking, "What is God teaching me 'cause God gave me this sickness"? No, that's totally a different ballgame, okay? So, here we must be clear that there was no sickness. There was no even death until Adam sinned. So, now it's not part of God's plan. If it's part of God's plan, you'll see death even before Adam sinned. Adam would have been baring some animals. No, death only came in because of sin. That tells us God, the way God hates sin, God hates death. The way God hates sin, God hates sickness. And that's why the number-one thing Jesus did in his ministry besides preaching is that he went around healing all that were sick.
You never find one time that Jesus looked at someone and say, "You're too healthy, come here, receive a bit of leprosy. Ah, I don't know why I'm doing this, but there's a reason God is doing this to you". Never, never, never, never, never. You know, he's always providing. He never say that these people are hungry for three days, but you know what? There are people who fast for seven days, ask Daniel, all right? It's time for them to learn discipline. No, he fed them. They were hungry, he fed them.
So, does God want to supply? Yes, and the supply only stopped when they stop. The Bible says, "As much as they would". He gave them as much as they would, not as God would. So, God wants you to be blessed. He wants you to have provisions, yes. He wants you to be healthy, yes. You know, straightaway, "Oh, that's the prosperity gospel, oh yeah. Okay, okay, praise God, hallelujah. I'm ignorant, amen? All I know is that the gospel is called the gospel, the grace of God, but I'm so ignorant that I think that the gospel of the grace of God from history, even from history, wherever it has gone, it has brought civilization".
Women, women, are respected and honored. Education has been the stronghold of Christians in every country where the gospel has gone to, amen. Children are given a chance to be educated, amen? Many of the great, great halls of education and buildings and all that were built to the glory of God for the exaltation of the name of Jesus. They were first, all those places were first Bible schools, amen? I can mention names here, big names y'all know of schools all over the world in England same thing. Wherever the gospel has gone, invention, people become innovative, become creative. Eternal life makes you creative.
"So, you tell me the gospel of grace does not produce prosperity"? Look at the places there's abject poverty. I'm talking about the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Even hospitals, doctors, many of the Christians down through history went into these fields. So, we're all about helping people, right? But hoping people the way God ordained it to be. We are a blessing, even in this nation, all of you. We are taught to honor our leaders, all right? We're the least gossipy, least murmuring, least complaining people. I'll try again, the least complaining people, amen, amen. We are the people that picks up our tray and returns it and help the Aunties and the Uncles that are working down there, am I right, amen? You don't just eat and go off, right? You are the people that give extra one dollar for service people like those who pump gas and all that. You give them something, right? You are that type of people, right? And they smile at you and they just say, "Yeah, so I need", amen, right? And you walk away, praise the Lord, amen? Heavenly life.
So, what has happened is that instead of partaking of the provisions, Pastor Prince just eating, it's a simple act. A simple act brought the entire fall of man. It was a simple act. It was a simple act that brought. Every time you cry tears because of someone's death, a relative's death or whatever, just remember a simple act. It was a simple act that caused everything to happen. All the curse came in because of a simple act. Doesn't it stand to Godly reason then that God ordained you can eat your way out of the curse of... everything began with a simple act of eating. They can look at the tree, no problem, right? They even touched the tree, no problem. Eve at the... cannot touch it. God never said cannot touch it, but don't eat it. Eating is partaking so you are the same when you partake. Don't just listen about the Communion, it's when you partake, amen.
So, let's go on, praise God. Verse 25, "In the same manner He also took the cup and said, 'This cup is the new covenant", all right, "do this in remembrance of Me.'" Don't forget, all this is given by the Lord Jesus direct. "For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes", proclaim the Lord's death, proclaiming the Lord's death. Some are proclaiming the Lord's death. I don't think I'm gonna rush this, okay? Every time, for example, Israel one time the enemies were gathering around Israel and about to launch an attack, and they cried out to Samuel the prophet and Samuel says, "Bring me a suckling lamb, a young lamb, a picture of Jesus and put it on the altar".
The Bible says he offered a burnt offering. And as the sacrifice, the sweet incense went up to God, as God smelled the sweet sacrifice, it reminds God of what would happen in the future when Christ, the true lamb of God, will carry our sins. So, sin is no more a barrier between God and Israel at that time because of the burnt offering. And now the Bible tells when the enemy came against Israel, God thundered from heaven, literally, God thundered from heaven and scattered them all. They all went off in different ways defeated just because of the lamb, a suckling lamb, a small lamb. All the armies, strong men, were all defeated.
This is the earlier part of the Prophet Samuel's ministry, they're looking for it. The Lord gave them a mighty victory. Every time they offered something, something happened. David brought back the ark, not in God's due order. Someone died, this time he offered burnt offering. Every six paces, he offered burnt offering, burnt offering. You look from a mountaintop, you can see almost a trail of smoke all the way to Jerusalem. He became really obsessed, not just obsessed, in a good way, that is the blood that brings the blessings. Amen, are you listening, people?
You say, "But Pastor Prince, I believe in eating well and all that". It's okay, I said before I generally I eat well. It is important that we understand the whole focus. I'm just reminded of someone, you know, the wife was crying. He came back saw the wife crying, he said, "What happened"? "You know, that cake that I've been wanting to cook for you, bake for you, I just made it today". "Fine, why"? "The dog ate it". Then he went to her and say, "Don't cry, don't cry, we'll get another dog".
Okay, never mind. Eating is life or death, huh? I mean every time you proclaim the Lord's death like David did, blessings come, amen, blessings come. I got a teaching called the secret of Obed-Edom, why he's so blessed, amen? He understood the sacrifice. He understood the blood of Jesus, the blood of Jesus. He understood what it means. So, for us to partake the Lord's Supper, now we come do this exciting part. For as often, as often, not as seldom, verse 27, drop down. "Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord".
Okay, notice focus in an unworthy manner. So, every time I become sin conscious, it's unworthy because he said the cup is for the remission of sins and you are acting like sin is not remitted. It's unworthy, amen? "Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup". The way it's taught today is this, let a man examine himself for sin, right? Doesn't say let a man examine himself and abstain from the bread and push away the cup.
That's what I used to do after I examined myself, no more, no more faith to partake. I was so scared. But the word "examine" is the Greek word "dokimazo". Dokimazo is the word examine for good things. Look at this, dokimazo, definition of Vine's expository. Vine is a great, Greek scholar. He said this of dokimazo, to prove with a view to approving, not a view of something negative. It's to prove something good, to prove with a view to approval. Are you listening?
So, this is the idea of examining yourself for sin doesn't fit in with dokimazo. Okay, go back to the passage again. "Let a man examine, approve himself", amen? Yes, I know the purpose of the Lord's Supper. I know his body was broken for my sins and for my diseases, amen? I partake receiving his health. I know, I'm examining myself. I'm proving what is approved. Are you listening, okay, so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. Doesn't say examine yourself and then abstain from the cup, abstain from the... no, that's what's happening in the church. Drop down. "For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body". Now, drinks judgment to himself. This is the part where it gets a bit, people are concerned. Drinks judgment to himself.
"Well, Pastor Prince, you know, there you go, it brings judgment". No, let me just tell you this, the word "judgment" here is krima. Let me just tell you this, judgment is death, all right? You can also judge yourself. Am I right? So, who is the one that's partaking unworthily? He's the one who's eating, judging himself. He's eating judgment to himself. The word "to himself" is the reflexive noun in the Greek, reflexive noun. I told you a bit theological, right?
Reflexive noun means the person is doing it to himself, not God. Reflexive noun is like John is doing to John, Mark is doing to Mark, Peter is doing to Peter. Nobody else doing to, nobody outside is doing to him. In other words, he's sin conscious. He's eating, right, sin conscious. He's still feeling judgment. He's eating judgment. He's not eating justification. Are you listening? To himself means over there you check it out, you know, in the Greek, it's the reflexive noun. It's something he's doing to himself.
So, if you partake with judgment to yourself, if you are self-condemned you partake, that is partaking unworthily because the cup that you hold is proof that your sins have been put away. Yet you're seeing your sins on yourself. You are drinking judgment to yourself, not judgment from God okay? For this reason, okay, not discerning the Lord's body, all right, not discerning the Lord's body.
So, another feature is this, you are condemning yourself. You're not discerning the Lord's body, the Lord's body was broken, listen, listen, was broken so that judgment will not be part of your life. Judgment is over and gone. He dispensed the judgment of God, right? So, also the body, another judgment on mankind, in terms of our body, is sickness and death, parts of itself. So, when you discern the Lord's body, why was his body broken? You must make a difference.
Now, we come to the Greek word, not discerning the Lord's body. It is the word, not discerning is the word diakrino. Diakrino is this, in the Thayer's definition, show them Thayer's definition, to separate. Say, separate. Make a make a distinction, discriminate, to prefer. Now, look at me, look at me. Do you know something, Mark 11:23 that famous passage says that if you speak to the mountain and you don't doubt in your heart, and you don't doubt in your heart, you will do not only what is done to the fig tree that was cursed but the mountain will move. And the word doubt not in your heart, we always teach doubt not means don't doubt. But actually, there's another place where the word "doubt" is used.
When Peter was walking on the water, then he looked at the storm and the waves, then he sang. Jesus grabbed hold of him and Jesus said this, "Why did you doubt"? It's a different word from diakrino. Over there, it is literally doubt. It is the word distazo. In other words, distazo is made of double standing. Stasis is standing, D is double. Distazo, why did you distazo? You are believing me, looking at me, and you're looking at circumstances. You're looking at me, looking at circumstances. You have two standing. Why do you... that's doubt. But in Mark 11:23 he says, if you... it's diakrino. Don't doubt in your heart. Don't make a distinction between the cursing of the fig tree.
People say, "I can curse the fig tree, it's small, but moving a mountain, I can't". Don't make a difference. Don't make a difference. Do not diakrino in your heart because diakrino moans what? Separate. Right below that it says doubt. To be at variance with one's self. Another revelation there is krino is judging. Dia is by means of. You are judging yourself. You can't speak to the mountain, okay? Got it so far? But the primary use of diakrino is to make a distinction.
So, let's go back to the passage again. And it says not discerning the Lord's body means what? You're not making a distinction. A lot of people they take the bread and they take the cup and just say, "I've taken Communion already". They don't distinguish. Do you know the blood, many people know the blood is for the forgiveness of sins, amen? But they lump both the bread and the cup as one. No one taught them to distinguish, make a difference between the bread, the Lord's body, and the blood, the cup.
So, for this reason, I'm not distinguishing, not diakrino. For this reason, many are weak and sick among you and many sleep, for this reason. Doesn't say for the lack of laying on of hands. Doesn't say for the lack of exercise. I believe in exercise. For, doesn't say for the lack of good dietary observance. For the lack of what? Discerning the Lord's body. For this reason, singular reason, singular reason in the church, many. I wish it didn't say many. Many are weak, many sick among you and many sleep, sleep. It's not sleeping during service.
We saw last week what happened when Eutychus slept during Paul's preaching. I was so encouraged. Paul's long preaching, amen? His name is good fortune. When good fortune falls out of the church because of not listening to Paul's preaching, Paul's teaching, and not partaking of the Lord's Supper. He hasn't partook yet and they went up and they partook again. So, that's last week's sermon, but listen, here not distinguishing between the Lord's body and his blood. For this singular reason, many, many are weak, and sick, and fall asleep. They die prematurely. Is this God's will? No.
Now, I got a few minutes left, I'm gonna share with you, just come to this part. Shall I continue just a bit? Try to cover this in 5 minutes. "For this reason, many are weak, sick. For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged". Ah, this is the problem here. Let's go down, all right, 31 and 32. "For we'll judge ourself, we'll not be judged", okay? "But when her judged, we are chasten by the Lord that we may not be condemned with the world".
Wow, this is the part where people get, "Whoa, Pastor Prince, there it is, God judging us". Stop, okay, before you say that and I got such little time to share Greek. Lord, you take the little and make it much, okay. All right, go back to 31, okay. For this reason, many are weak. For if we would judge ourselves, it's the word krino where you get diakrino, we will judge ourselves is.. sorry, diakrino, diakrino, ourselves. We will not be krino, judged.
Okay, watch this, what's this, Pastor Prince, what's this? If we will distinguish ourselves, okay, in other words, we distinguish ourselves, how do we do that? But here it's taught in the church world today judge yourself, judge yourself, judge yourself but it's the word "diakrino". We just read just now diakrino means what? Make a distinction, amen? We are people, not the people of the world. We take the Lord's Supper, we make a distinction. If we make a distinction, if we judge ourselves in that sense and by the way, do you know judge can be used for, I judge that good, some good. I judge you faithful. I judge you committed. It's not always bad.
In the context here, by the way, let me show you, do, you know, krino, then we will not be judged. Here is where it says, see, we will not be judged by God. It doesn't say by God. By the way, God is involved here. Let me tell you this, but the word krino is not always the ultimate damnation. That one includes that. It does include that. Let me tell you, it colludes that but there are seven meanings of krino, do you know that? Real fast, let me show you, okay? To separate, krino means separate, put asunder, pick out. Number two, approve, esteem, prefer, to be of opinion, deem, think. I judge you faithful, think. Prefer, deem. To determine, resolve.
Now watch this, this is the one I want you to get. To pronounce an opinion concerning right and wrong, to pronounce an upon concerning right and wrong, not just wrong, right also, okay? Because of time, to pronounce judgment to subject to censure. That's what I want you to get. That means that censure, censure means scolding, all right, correcting. Correcting, am I right? In a family environment, am I right? Is it the word "krino" under the word "krino", yes? Strong's definition.
Okay, now, down all the way. A lot of people always think of the last one to go to law means a court of heaven where you are judged with ultimate damnation. Now, that one, we are no more under that. You must establish this one and for all. Let me prove to you from the word "krino"even that we are no more krino in that sense. John 3, real fast, John 3:17 and 18, "For God did not send his Son into the world to krino the world, but that world through him might be saved".
Now, he who believes, let me hear everyone who believes in the house. "He who believes in Christ is not krino". We are not krino in that sense anymore. The seventh definition of krino, to condemn, we are no more under that. So, cannot be like here we are krino and then in 1 Corinthians, here we're not krino, but in first 1 Corinthians 11 we are krino. It's like God says, "I change my mind about Jesus". No, we are never in krino. We believe in Jesus. Okay, establish that. And then it says, "He who believes in him is not krino, not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God".
So, there goes the theory that everybody is saved automatically. No, he who does not believe is condemned already. It's not like you don't believe, that's the time condemnation come. No, it's already condemned. Jesus came to rescue you out of the condemnation. Okay, are you clear so far? Go back to the passage, we're closing. Are y'all learning? Are y'all getting this? Thank you, Lord. It's not easy, I mean this is Bible school stuff, you know? But I felt that you need to understand this because when people challenge you, they will challenge you with these words and straightaway, you will say, "Yeah, that's judgment".
Let's take the idea, if there is judgment, if the way God judges us and judges Christians who partake unworthily is with sickness and God is behind it, then we can never say that God doesn't teach us with sickness. Now, in a while you will see the word "chasten", but the context is beautiful, okay? What is chasten? It's child train. We shared that with you already, paideuo, where you get the word pediatrician, paideuo, child train. Literally look it up, it's the world child train. Does God child train us? Yes. You only child train those you love. You only child train those who are your children, those you care for. You don't train the kids in the streets. You child train your own. Am I right?
Go back to the passage. If we would distinguish ourselves, we are the ones that we judge ourself. When you take the bread you say, "By his stripes, I am healed. I judge myself healed". That's partaking worthily. I drink the cup. I judge myself forgiven and righteous by his blood. Am I right? We are distinguishing ourself from the people of the world. If we discriminate, if we put a difference, all right, in this area, we will not be censured? Am I right? We will not be censured by who? By God. But this idea, we'll not be judged comes in. So, we saw just now that one of the seven definitions is subject to censure. We'll not be subject to God's censure.
Now, even though God censures us because he loves us, nobody likes to be censured, right? My child until now amazing, amazing, amazing, there's not one day he likes to be censured. How about your children? I'm still the same. I think my leaders are all the same, you know if I have yo correct someone, you know, it's not pleasant. Nobody likes to be corrected, am I right? I don't like to be corrected, how about you? He's saying, if we distinguish ourselves in this, we will not be subject to censure, by who? By the Lord because the Lord wants you to partake so you can benefit. He loves you.
Then comes the last verse and we'll close. The next verse says, "But when we are judged", what's that? When we are krino and we find out when we are corrected. We are chastened, we are child trained by the Lord. You see, does God correct us? Yes. The seven churches, he corrected five out of the seven. Only two didn't receive any rebuke, amen? He does correct us. He has corrected me on this church a number of times, I'll tell you that? By the way, also this series I'm doing was part of his correction, I mean this teaching. He tell him you gotta teach this more.
You know, the testimony that come back is such that I don't want to appear like, I don't know. I don't like to stand out, okay? I don't like to, you know? And always remember, don't talk about Pastor Prince like, you know, oh, you know? You know what I'm saying or not? Talk about Jesus, your friends, amen? "I like the way Pastor Prince shares Jesus, let me tell you about Jesus", amen. That's the way.
Anyway, let's close with this. When we are corrected, am I right? When we are censured, who censures us? The Lord. When we are censured, we are child trained, chastened by the Lord. Same teaching in Hebrews 12. When we are corrected the presence is heavy, you know, no chastening for the present seems joyous but afterwards, we learn. It yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness. So, it's child train there. God doesn't train us, doesn't child train us with sickness. That's an abuse. That's a child abuse.
Doesn't say, "Stay outside there in the cold until you learn to put on clothes that I tell you to". Something wrong. "Don't play in the street, how many times, now, lie down in my driveway. Car, oh, broke your leg because I want to teach you a lesson". You know, we attribute to God these kind of things and even people who teach that God doesn't chastise with sickness, they teach in this passage he does. So, there's a lot of confusion, a lot of confusion, when it's actually the understanding the word judge. That's why I had to show you the word "judge". It's not just condemn the ultimate. It's used also for ultimate condemnation, which we'll never suffer, why?
John 3:17 and 18, I show you just now, "He that believes is not krino". You never enter krino. Then watch this, how about this one? "We are chastened, we are child trained by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world". Exactly he's making a difference, why? What is the condemnation of the world? And the word here condemned is the word "katakrino". Know, what is that, condemned of the world? That we should not suffer the sentence of the world.
By the way, pass sentence upon is not mine, it is from Vine. The word "katakrino", Vine says pass sentence upon. Remember, when God passed sentence when Adam sinned, the ground everything, sentence was also death but before death was, what? Weakness, sickness, death. So, God is saying, when we learn how to take advantage of the Lord's Supper, God doesn't want us to be suffering the condemnation that is in the world, that the child training is so that we will not suffer that sentence.
There is a sentence out there. I said, there is a sentence out there. God doesn't want us to suffer that, amen, why? He loves us and that's why he trains us so that we may not be suffering the sentence that's already in the world, the sentence of sickness, dying prematurely. And all the people said amen? Every head bowed, every eye closed all across this place. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Amen, amen, amen. Hallelujah. It's amazing. Medical science says there's no reversal for Alzheimer, but here we go, we have read the second testimony.
Last week we read another testimony of someone who also recovered from Alzheimer. Is there something about the Lord's Supper that we are missing? On the night of the Passover as they partook of the roasted lamb, one of the features mentioned was that they partook of the head, the head of the lamb. Now, this is something that you can do when you partake the Lord's Supper, imagine that Jesus's head bearing the Alzheimer, your dementia, your forgetfulness. And when you partake, partake of as if you're partaking of Jesus's brain, amen?
That's what they did on the night of the Passover, they partook of the lamb's head and the legs, they partook of the legs. Are you having problem in your walking? Do you have problems in your feet? They partook of the... the next day they'll be walking miles and miles and miles. Many of them were undernourished, many of them were elderly. With all due respect to that movie, "Ten Commandments", we showed the older people being brought out in a stretcher. My Bible says there was none feeble, none feeble. Psalms 105 says, "None feeble among their tribes". When they came out, there was none, not one sick.
If the partaking the shadow can do that for them, what about the substance? Amen. I pray that this will encourage you to partake of the Lord's Supper, especially when you've been diagnosed with something, hands have been laid on you but, you know what? Don't give up. Keep on partaking. Many a times, many a times the miracles I see through the Lord's Supper has not come instantaneously. It's come thirtyfold, sixty-fold, and then a hundredfold, but it will surely come.
All across this place with every head bowed and everywhere that's watching this right now, even at Grace Revolution Church, you say, "Pastor Prince, I do not know much about Jesus, but I believe that he took my sins. He bore my judgment". And friend, he did that because he loves you. If you want to put your trust in the Lord right now, pray this prayer with me. I'm gonna help you do just that. Pray this prayer. Say:
Heavenly Father, I believe Christ died for my sins on that cross and he bore away for me all judgment forever. He was buried and on the third day, you raised him from the dead, and I'm raised in him and that's how you see me forever in Christ, dead and risen. Jesus Christ is my Lord. In Jesus's name, amen.
Praise the Lord. Let's all stand to our feet. By the way, just let y'all know that in the second service last week, I brought Justin out. He's strong, healthy, amen, fine, playing, right? No restriction of any movement for a boy who got fractured in two places in his skull only three weeks ago, only three weeks ago. It could have gone bad, but the Lord was there. I saw for myself, Wendy saw for herself, Justin saw for himself the blow-by-blow account in the hospital of he got better and better by taking the Lord's supper. Sometime take for three times a day, amen, with the medicine, we take that. And medicine, by the way, no other medicine except for painkillers, that's all. Today he's fine, amen? Praise the Lord. So, lift your hands all across this place.
Father in heaven, I thank you for everyone under the sound of my voice and I ask in the name of Jesus that as they move back, Lord, to wherever they come from, Father, and into this coming week, they're stepping into, Father, a week that's already been blessed and prepared by you. Father, 'cause your angels to be stationed all around them and their families to deliver them from harm and evil. I pray, Father, that you will put them far, far, far, from places, Lord, that will cause evil to happen. Father, they'll always be at the right place at the right time, cause them to enjoy your goodness and your free favors, Father, everywhere they go. Let the presence of the Lord be so evident and that heavenly life, Lord, just ooze out of them, Father. Everywhere they go, Father, everyone they meet, someone will sense that this person is not natural. There's a heavenly touch, Father, a heavenly touch on everyone. Let this be the experience. And I pray, Father, you'll put an evangelistic spirit, Lord, in the hearts of your people here that they'll go out there and share the good news of Jesus Christ and his love. In Jesus's name, and all the people said amen.