Health And Wholeness Through The Holy Communion (4 page)

They ate the roasted lamb and the unleavened bread. This was to give them strength for the journey. It was not natural strength that they received. It was supernatural.

That is why there were “…
none feeble”.
(Psalm 105:37) It takes a supernatural work of God for 2.5 million people to all be healthy.

We know that this lamb was a mere shadow of the real substance. So if the body of a “shadow lamb” could bring such supernatural results, how much more the body of the true “substance lamb”, our Lord Jesus Christ!

Here, again, the double cure was at work — the blood was for forgiveness, and the body and bread were for divine strength. No wonder when they left Egypt, there were none feeble.

David described the double cure this way,
“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases”.
(Psalm 103:2–3) Notice that His benefits include the forgiveness of our sins as well as the healing of our diseases.

Healing, like forgiveness, is not a promise. It is the blood-bought right of Christians!

When Jesus took our punishment on the cross, it did not just bring us forgiveness, it also brought us healing.

Most people, when asked whether they are sure of their forgiveness, say they are. They know that God has already forgiven them because of the cross. But when asked if they are sure of their healing, they say they are not.

I want you to know that at the cross, Jesus bore our sins and our sicknesses. And so healing, like forgiveness, is not a promise. It is the blood-bought right of Christians!

Because of what He did at the cross, we do not just have forgiveness, we also have healing. Forgiveness and healing go hand in hand. The faith that you have for forgiveness is the same faith that will bring your healing.

A Testimony Of Healing Through The Holy Communion

When you believe and when you rightly discern the Lord’s body, you will experience miraculous healings and wholeness when you partake of the Holy Communion.

One church member, Albert, experienced this in a spectacular way. Some time in November 2002, Albert was told by doctors that his mother had a 3cm cancerous growth in the rectum. There was little cause for worry as the removal of such tumours is usually fairly straightforward.

A few days before the operation, two leaders of the church visited her at the hospital and shared the gospel with her. She was born again that day and Albert was very happy that things were really working out well. The operation proceeded without complications and she was discharged within days.

Months later, she was re-admitted for a scheduled follow-up surgery to close the stoma (an opening created in the previous operation). Complications arose at this stage, resulting in her having to undergo three more operations.

By the fifth surgery, this dear 75-year-old lady was drained of all energy and her body started to react negatively. Both her temperature and pulse rate shot up, and her lungs became filled with water.

Her condition deteriorated to the point where the surgeon felt that it was necessary to inform the family to prepare for the worst. He told them that in cases like this, there is a very strong likelihood that the patient would not pull through, and made it clear that the next three days would be crucial. If she did not improve within that time, it was unlikely that she would survive.

Albert was thrown into a state of shock and confusion. He felt helpless. He did not know what to do. But he knew that God would not let his mother undergo five operations and still allow her to die. He was sure that God is not like that. He had always known God to be faithful.

He felt desperate and lost but had a strong urge to have Holy Communion with his mother and family. So he got his sister and father together, and told them that they should partake of the Lord’s Supper because that would bring resurrection life to his mother.

His family members were baffled. They did not understand how he could believe that some wine and bread would bring health and wholeness to someone so critically ill. He simply made no sense to them.

But Albert had been listening to my tape on
Health And Wholeness Through The Holy Communion
over and over again. He knew that when we partake of the Lord’s body, there would be an infusion of His incorruptible life into our bodies.

He had also been reading the four Gospels, and found that all four writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, had included the Lord’s Supper in their accounts. He was sure that if Jesus saw it fit to tell us something four times, that truth must be very powerful.

Though unconvinced, his father, sister and brother-in-law agreed to do as he said. He prepared the bread and wine, and the entire family went into the intensive care unit (ICU).

It was cold and everyone was silent. It felt very strange to have Communion in a place like that. He did not know what to do and just started praying in tongues.

After that, he declared that by Jesus’ stripes and His broken body, his mother is healed. He stepped forward and placed a small crumb in his mother’s mouth and poured some of the grape juice in. He felt a sweet and strong presence of God in the room, and he somehow knew that his mother had been healed. He left the room with peace in his heart.

But nothing happened. One day passed, then another. On the morning of the third day, he made his way to the hospital as usual and headed for the cafeteria to have breakfast. There, he received a call from the nurse. In an urgent tone, she said, “Albert, something has happened to your mother. You’d better come now.”

He did not know what to expect. But the thought that ran through his mind was, “She cannot be dead. I know she cannot be dead.”

He rushed to the ICU, pushed open the door and dashed to his mother’s bedside. He leaned forward to look at her, and when he saw that she was conscious, he sank to his knees and wept. He lifted his voice and praised the Lord. All that he had hoped for, prayed for and believed God for had finally happened.

After this, his mother started getting better and within a week, all the tubes were removed and she was eating again.

Today, she has regained at least 15kg and is up and about, helping her daughter bake cookies, and calling up relatives and friends to tell them about Jesus! Doctors feared that she would not make it. But the resurrection life of Jesus filled her body when her family partook of the Lord’s Supper with her.

Healing Through The Holy Communion Can Also Be Gradual

Although this precious 75-year-old lady experienced a spectacular miracle, healing through the Holy Communion can also be a gradual process. As you partake, you will get better over time. The more you partake, the better you get.

I personally experienced this. Years ago, I had a skin condition that troubled me. I went to the doctor and he said that it could be cured, but the medicine would have side effects. I said, “Thank you very much,” and left.

God’s healing is so much better. There are no side effects. So I partook of the Lord’s Supper and claimed by faith the full benefits of His broken body for me in this area. Yet, nothing seemed to happen at first.

After some time, I stopped bringing this matter before God, but I continued partaking in faith. Then one day, I realised that I was totally healed. I cannot tell when exactly that condition left, but I know that as I continued to partake, I simply got better. The drama was not there. It was not spectacular. But it was still supernatural!

The Power Of Proclaiming The Lord’s Death

One other lesser known aspect of the Holy Communion is the power of proclaiming the Lord’s death. Paul said,
“For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.”
(1 Corinthians 11:26)

You might ask, “Pastor Prince, what about the Lord’s death are we proclaiming and to whom are we proclaiming it?” Paul said in another place,
“Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.”
(Colossians 2:15)

So when we remember Jesus’ death, we are also proclaiming to the principalities and powers that they have been disarmed because He has triumphed over them.

Some years back, a couple from our church owned a house which most people would call “haunted”. It is more accurate to say that there were demons hanging around that place. This is not uncommon because demons usually congregate in places where tragic incidents like fatal accidents and murders have taken place.

One of the tenants felt spooked because his family complained that they saw “a figure moving around in the house”. Two of my associate pastors and a deacon went over to that house, and took the Lord’s Supper there. When you have Holy Communion, you are proclaiming to demon spirits that Jesus reigns.

And when you release your faith in the finished, complete and perfect work of Jesus at the cross, every knee must bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. This means that every demon has to flee. So just by proclaiming the power of the Lord’s death, that house was cleansed of demons.

From that time on, there were no more complaints. The couple now have a new tenant and have had no more problems in this area.

You Don’t Need A Pastor To Partake

Jesus told us to have Communion often. So there must be something powerful about it. Do you think that He would make us do something often without having our blessing in mind?

Those who believe in the power of that one perfect sacrifice on the cross know that His blessings of health, wholeness and preservation abound at His Table.

Once you are a believer, you are a priest. (1 Peter 2:9) So you can partake of the Lord’s Supper and even minister it to others. You do not need a pastor to do it.

Have the Holy Communion as often as you need to.

In the church, we pastors do it because we are the spiritual authority over the people, and there must be order in how we conduct things.

But outside the church, you, as a royal priest, are qualified to partake on your own. Do as Jesus said — have it often. “How often?” you might ask. As often as you need to. It depends on how much you want His health and wholeness.