Divine Health And Ageing Backwards (Live @ Lakewood Church)
Sunday, 3 November 2019
These are notes on the sermon, Divine Health And Ageing Backwards (Live @ Lakewood Church), preached by Pastor Joseph Prince, screened on Sunday, 3 November 2019, at The Star Performing Arts Centre, Singapore. We hope these sermon notes will be an encouragement to you!
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While it’s good to eat well and exercise, we need to remember that health comes from the Lord.
We are living in an age where there’s a lot of knowledge about nutrition and exercise, as well as great medical advancements and breakthroughs, yet there are still many sick people.
All creation is fallen (including the best organic foods). We cannot put our trust in creation; we need to put our trust in redemption (what Jesus has done for us at the cross).
Jesus went to the cross to pay for our sins and also our sicknesses.
His heart is always to heal. The Bible says that He "went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil" (see Acts 10:38).
While diets and exercise plans may be beneficial, they cannot deal with sicknesses that come about because of oppression by the devil / evil spirits. We need to combat supernatural powers with Jesus’ redemptive work.
We are living in the time that Isaiah talked about in Isaiah 60:
“Arise, shine;
For your light has come!
And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.
For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,
And deep darkness the people;
But the Lord will arise over you,
And His glory will be seen upon you.”
— Isaiah 60:1–2 NKJV
We are living in a time when there is darkness covering the earth, but God’s glory is seen upon us.
"Lift up your eyes all around, and see:
They all gather together, they come to you;
Your sons shall come from afar,
And your daughters shall be nursed at your side.
Then you shall see and become radiant,
And your heart shall swell with joy;
Because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you,
The wealth of the Gentiles shall come to you."
— Isaiah 60:2–5 NKJV
These might look like the worst of times for the world, but it is the best of times for the church of Jesus Christ.
Another example in the Bible that describes the times we’re living in is Exodus 10.
“So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. They did not see one another; nor did anyone rise from his place for three days. But all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.”
— Exodus 10:22–23 NKJV
“there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days” — The darkness the Egyptians experienced was a supernatural one. If it wasn't, they would have simply lit their oil lamps, but they could not. We are living in these days now, where the world is experiencing supernatural darkness.
“But all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.” — Yet in this time, we have supernatural light in the church that comes from God. Our families will have light in our dwellings.
If all the lights in a large auditorium were turned off, and there was only a flicker of light in one small area, everyone would be able to see it.
The flicker of light is the church. Today, as the world is covered in darkness, our light is all the more obvious and recognized.
The world is becoming jaded by all the immorality and violence they see. When people are jaded, they grow spiritually hungry because they are looking for something deeper. At this time, the church will be a lighthouse for them.
We are in the days where the world will look at the church of Jesus Christ and realize that all the answers, all the healing, all the revelation they are looking for is found in the house of God, in the church of Jesus Christ.
So don’t neglect coming together as the body of Christ!
While it is good to watch preaching / teaching online, it is not a substitute for coming together as a church.
Don’t forsake the assembling of the saints because there is a special anointing that takes place when believers gather.
When God's people are in one accord, miracles happen.
That is why the enemy wants you to be anti-social and withdraw from people (like the Gadarene demoniac in Mark 5:1–20).
If you feel a desire to be alone and to isolate yourself, resist it and come together as the body of Christ.
In Exodus, after the plague of thick darkness, God instituted the Passover.
The Passover meal is a picture of the Lord’s Supper (the holy Communion).
The night the Israelites partook of the Passover meal, something miraculous happened to their bodies. By this time, they had been slaves for centuries. They had poor diets and were forced to do back-breaking work. By now, many of them would have suffered from various pains, sicknesses, and diseases.
But after they ate the Passover meal, this is what happened:
“He also brought them out with silver and gold,
And there was none feeble among His tribes.”
— Psalm 105:37 NKJV
“there was none feeble among His tribes” — Every single one of the 2–3 million ex-slaves became healthy and strong. These people who were malnourished and had been suffering from various conditions came out of their oppression and there was not one feeble person among them!
If the children of Israel could experience this under the old covenant, how much more healed, healthy, and whole should we be under the new covenant?
Pastor Prince shares how 20 years ago as a young minister, he used to pray for church members who fell sick, but he felt in his spirit that God had something better for the people (with regards to healing). God brought him to this verse:
“For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.”
—1 Corinthians 11:29–30 NKJV
“... not discerning the Lord's body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep” — This verse tells us that it is for a singular reason that many in the church are weak, sick, and die prematurely. And this reason is “not discerning the Lord’s body.”
What does it mean to “not discern the Lord’s body”?
The word “discern” in Hebrew means “to make a distinction.” This means that when we partake of the Lord’s supper—the bread and the cup—we are to make a distinction between the bread and the cup. We are to see the bread as Jesus’ body broken for our healing, and the cup as His blood shed for our forgiveness. We are not to combine the bread and the cup as one, just for the forgiveness of sins.
When we don't discern the Lord's body accurately, many in the church remain weak and fall asleep before their time.
It is so important that we discern the Lord’s body. Jesus loved us so much that He paid a terrible price in His body for our healing.
Unlike the sacrificial lambs in the Levitical offerings who were all killed quickly and humanely, Jesus was tortured. His body was scourged, beaten, and battered. Why? So that “by His stripes, we are healed" (see Isa. 53:5).
He wants us to receive the healing He purchased for us!
There are those who warn against partaking of the Lord’s Supper unworthily.
What does it mean to partake “in an unworthy manner”?
“For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.”
— 1 Corinthians 11:29 NKJV
When we fail to discern the Lord’s body (how His body was broken for us), we are partaking in an “unworthy manner” because we are not honoring and acknowledging what He suffered and accomplished for us.
Do not allow erroneous teachings to tell you that you cannot receive the Lord's Supper if you have unconfessed sins which makes you unworthy. Notice that the word “unworthy” describes the manner of partaking, not the person partaking.
Jesus died for unworthy people. Jesus died for people with sin.
The Lord's Supper is a way for us to proclaim the Lord's death and to remember Him by.
How do you partake of the Communion in a worthy manner?
You take the bread and say, “Lord, I thank you that by your stripes I am healed.”
You take the cup and say, “Lord, by your shed blood, I am forgiven.”
Jesus’ blood has made you worthy because it paid for your forgiveness.
“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.’”
— Matthew 26:27–28 NKJV
This is why you cannot be unworthy of partaking of the Communion.
So every time you drink of the cup, partake with the revelation that all your sins have been forgiven. This is how you partake of the cup in a worthy manner,
Whenever you take the bread and cup, judge yourself healed and forgiven of all your sins. Past, present, and future.
Don’t believe the lie that says, “You fell sick because you didn’t take the Lord’s Supper correctly.”
Sickness was around long before God instituted the holy Communion and the Passover meal. It has been around since man fell in the garden of Eden.
God provided the Lord’s Supper as a way of escaping being condemned with the world (with disease, decay, and death).
Pastor Prince shares a testimony about a man who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. He and his wife partook of the Lord's Supper together for 4 years, and the man was healed.
The couple partook regularly for 4 years before they experienced a breakthrough. While there are people who partake and almost immediately receive their healing, most people write in to say that they received their healing incrementally.
Jesus talks about seeing 30-fold, 60-fold, and 100-fold increase (see Matt. 13:8). So for those of us who haven't seen the 100-fold healing, don't give up and keep partaking!
How can something so simple, like a piece of bread, reverse cancer?
When a Gentile woman came to Jesus to ask for healing for her daughter who was sick and oppressed, Jesus called healing "the children's bread" and told the woman that it belongs to the table of the family. The woman, unwilling to give up replied:
“And she answered and said to Him, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children’s crumbs.” Then He said to her, “For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter.”
— Mark 7:26–28 NKJV
She believed that even a crumb from the table could heal her daughter, and it did. Even a crumb could drive the demon out and heal her daughter.
Don’t despise the Lord’s Supper, even though in the natural it might just look like a piece of bread/cracker and some grape juice.
God is so kind that He made it such that the Communion is so easily available to us.
God uses the weak things of the world, like a crumb, to put cancer to naught.
God uses the weak things to confound the mighty.
Pastor Prince shares how he was a stutterer in his youth and how the Lord turned his weakness around so that today, he preaches to millions of people.
There is hope for all of us. Our strength is made perfect when we realize we are weak in a certain area (see 2 Cor. 12:9).
It was a simple act of eating that caused all men to fall. So by a simple act of eating, you can eat your way to life and health and all the blessings of God.
Jesus said, “My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.” (see John 6:55).
The early church broke bread from house to house.
“Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight.”
— Acts 20:7 NKJV
Even though these disciples had the best speaker in town come to visit them—the apostle Paul—they didn’t gather to hear him. They gathered to break bread.
That’s how much they prioritized taking the Lord’s Supper together.
We have deviated from this. The early church was radical about partaking of the Lord's Supper. God is bringing the radical back to the church!
When the Jewish people observe the Lord's Supper and remember the Lord, they do not do it in a sentimental way.
The Hebrew word for “remembrance” encompasses much more than sentimental recalling. It also conveys the idea of reenactment, of going through an event again. This means that when we partake of the bread and the cup, the Lord wants us to reenact all that He went through for us so that it becomes fresh in our minds—not just a historical event that happened 2000 years ago.
On the night of the Passover, the Lord said to put the blood of the lamb on the doorposts and on the lintel. The blood on the doorposts and the lintel makes the cross of Jesus Christ.
God said that when He saw the blood, He would pass over that household. God did not say He would pass over if He saw their good works or their good reputation. God would pass over when He saw the blood of the lamb, which represented the blood of His Son.
While the blood was outside the house, the family was eating the roasted lamb inside the house.
Notice that this happened at night. The Communion was also instituted in the night. Why night time? It speaks of your night seasons, when you just receive a bad report. The night seasons make your worries and fears bigger and louder.
In the night seasons, keep partaking of the Lord's supper and proclaim the Lord's death.
We proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
Everything we partake, we proclaim the Lord’s death and all of heaven rejoices.
Every time you partake, you are not just remembering but reenacting Jesus’ death for you. See Him freshly slain.
John, in the book of Revelation, saw Jesus as a lamb that was freshly slain.
God created time and He dwells outside of time. He doesn’t live in a time continuum like us. That’s why He is an ever-present help to us.
Under the new covenant, we come to God in a "new and living way" (see Heb. 10:20). The word "new" in Greek means "freshly killed."
The old covenant way is an old and dying way. When people went to God under the old covenant, the chances of them being struck down were high because of their sins. But today, because of Jesus' blood, we get to experience this new and living way. The more we come to God, the more we live. Every time we come to God, life is infused in our very beings.
Pastor Prince shares a praise report about his Jewish friend, Samuel Smadja, who was healed from a rare form of prostate cancer recently.
If the children of Israel who partook of the Passover meal (a mere shadow of the Lord's Supper) were healed, how much more you are I who have the substance?
When you partake of the Lord’s Supper, whatever your condition may be, it has been covered by Jesus’ finished work. Your emotional, mental, and physical conditions are all covered in the holy Communion.
The first few times when you partake of the Communion, usually, the Lord deals with your emotions first—your fears, anxieties, and worries.
In these moments, when you feel like you don’t have enough faith, Jesus is your faith. Just tell the Lord, "I don’t have enough faith, but You are my faith." And keep partaking.
“Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.”
—3 John 1:2 NKJV
“be in health, just as your soul prospers” — Your soul prosper first, then health comes from the inside out.
How do we partake of the Lord’s Supper?
“Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire—its head with its legs and its entrails.”
— Exodus 12:8–9 NKJV
“Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire” — The lamb must be roasted in fire. We cannot eat the lamb raw. To eat the lamb raw means to follow Jesus’ teachings when he walked on earth, but not believe in His finished work at the cross where the fire of God’s judgment fell on Him. It is only by the cross that we can be saved, forgiven, and receive all the blessings of redemption, including health.
As you partake of the Communion, see Jesus on the cross bearing your sins, your diseases, your sickness, your judgment, and roasted under the fire of God's judgment. That's how you feed on Him.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
— John 3:16 NKJV
The small word “so” makes a huge difference.
God didn’t just love you. He so loved you.
Because Jesus so loved you, He suffered so much at the cross.
To make bread, the dough is beaten and pounded and put in the fire. That is what happened to Jesus.
To make wine, the grapes are stepped on, crushed, and left in a dark area. That's what happened to Jesus.
“Just as there were many who were appalled at him—his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being and his form marred beyond human likeness—”
— Isaiah 52:14 NIV
“his appearance was so disfigured” — Jesus' form was so marred that He didn't look like a human being anymore. He went through all that breaking so that our bodies could be made whole. That is how much He loves us.
So when you feed on Him, see Him roasted.
“Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire — its head with its legs and its entrails.”
—Exodus 12:9 NKJV
The Israelites specifically ate of the Passover lamb’s head, legs, and entrails.
“its head” — If you have any neurological conditions like constant migraines, Parkinson's, Alzheimer’s, as you partake of the Lord’s Supper, imagine yourself partaking of the healthy mind of Christ. Declare by His stripes, you are healed!
“its legs” — If you have any leg conditions, pains, joint aches, Jesus took it at the cross for you. Pastor Prince begins a time of ministering and prays for people with leg conditions.
“its entrails” — If you have a condition in your internal organs, whether it is your liver, pancreas, gallbladder, kidneys, when you partake, say, “Lord Jesus. I thank you that by Your stripes, I am healed in my [name the organ].”
When we discern the Lord's body accurately, many will be strong and many will live long.
When you partake, you are partaking of the fountain of youth.
The more you partake, the more you will age backwards.
Jesus also redeemed us from stress.
Jesus' first suffering took place in the garden of Gethsemane,
“And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”
— Luke 22:44 NKJV
Just the thought of becoming sin for us at the cross and being separated from the Father caused Jesus to sweat blood.
When Jesus sweat blood, He redeemed us all from the curse of sweat and the curse of mental oppression, e,g. depression.
Jesus came to redeem us so that today we are no longer on cursed ground where we have to "sweat" for things (gain good things through stress and toilsome labor). Blessings will come to us as we walk on favored ground.
What is the result of partaking of the Lord's Supper in a worthy manner?
“And thus you shall eat it: with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover.”
— Exodus 12:11 NKJV
"with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand" — When the Israelites partook of the Passover lamb, they were all ready to leave their place of bondage behind. For us, when we partake of the Communion, God wants us to get ready for our physical deliverance. We are moving out of slavery into freedom!
We will walk out of this place younger, healthier, and stronger.
We hope these sermon notes blessed you! If they did, we encourage you to get the sermon and allow the Lord to speak to you personally as you watch or listen to it.
© Copyright JosephPrince.com 2019
These sermon notes were taken by volunteers during the service. They are not a verbatim representation of the sermon.
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