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When God gave us the New Testament law of love, He said we are to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. That just means we are to love our fellow man and our fellow believer as we would love ourselves. The Bible also said, "As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith." (Gal. 6:10)

Well, we don't need to look around and judge the other fellow and see if he's walking in love. We just need to be sure we are doing right and that we are walking in love ourselves! If we judge others, it will just cause strife and discord in the Body of Christ.

Discern the Lord's Body
What we've got to realize is that under the New Covenant, whether or not we fulfill the number of our days is to a large extent up to us. Why? Because healing was provided for our bodies in the atonement. The Bible says, "...Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses" (Matt. 8:17).

So healing belongs to us. But we'll never be able to walk in God's provision of healing unless we learn to walk in love.

Well, if God has made healing available to us in the Atonement, then why isn't everyone healed? If we are going to walk in health, there is something we need to understand about walking in love. Notice what the Bible says in First Corinthians 11.

for I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.

After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, this cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.

For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the lord's death till he come.

Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.  But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.

For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the lord's body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.
(1 Cor. 11:23-30)
Now let's go back and analyze what we just read. When Jesus took the bread, He said, "This is My Body, which is broken for you." You see, with Jesus' stripes we were healed. Because His body was broken for us in the Atonement, we can receive physical healing for our bodies.

Then notice the word "unworthily" in verse 27: "Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord."

The word used here is not "unworthy." Many times folks say, "I feel so unworthy," and they think this verse applies to feelings of unworthiness. But verse 27 is not saying that we are unworthy to partake of the Lord's Supper.

The word "unworthily" refers to the manner and attitude in which you partake of the Lord's Supper. So this verse is talking about the manner in which the Corinthians were partaking of the Lord's Supper.

If you'll read the previous verses and study the context, you'll see that these folks were coming together, having a meal, and also taking the Lord's Supper. But some of them even drank wine and got drunk. So Paul was saying, "These folks are bringing condemnation or judgment on themselves because they are partaking of the Lord's Supper in an unworthy manner."

Then the Bible goes on to say, "For this cause many are weak and sickly and many sleep or die prematurely." That infers that we should not be weak or sickly. Paul is talking about man's physical body here. He's saying that those who partake of the Lord's Supper in an unworthy manner can become weak and sickly and even die prematurely.

These verses are saying, "By not discerning the Lord's body, many are weak and sickly among you and many sleep." By "sleep" the Bible means that their bodies are asleep in the grave, and their spirits have gone to be with the Lord.

But notice that they died prematurely. The number of their days were not fulfilled. They shouldn't have died. It certainly wasn't God's will that they die prematurely. Actually, if they had discerned the Lord's body, they wouldn't have been weak and sickly, and they wouldn't have died prematurely.

The Bible is saying that sometimes there is a cause or a reason some people are weak, sickly, and even die prematurely, because if they don't discern the Lord's body, they bring judgment on themselves.

Christ is our Passover Lamb. His body was broken for our physical sustenance and healing: "by whose stripes ye were healed" (1 Peter 2:24). If you don't know that you are healed by His stripes, then you can go right on being weak and sickly physically. You may even die prematurely and not live out your full length of time down here.

But there's also another side to this statement, "not discerning the Lord's body." You can also be weak, sickly, and die prematurely if you do not discern and understand that the Lord's spiritual Body, the Body of Christ, is one. (Col. 3:15)

In other words, there is a spiritual Body of Christ on the earth today, which includes all the born-again believers worldwide (Col. 1:18). When Jesus was here on the earth, the only Body of Christ that was on the earth was Jesus' physical body. But today the Body of Christ consists of believers all over the world. And we need to discern the Body of Christ and walk in love toward them.

In other words, by not discerning the Body of Christ—our brothers and sisters in Christ—and walking in love toward them, we can open ourselves up to weakness, sickness, and even premature death. And the reason many believers are in a weak and sickly condition is that they have not discerned the Body of Christ as they should have.

If you do not walk in love toward fellow members of the Body of Christ, you're going to be weak and sickly, and you'll not prolong your days on this earth. You'll shorten your days, and you can even die prematurely. I didn't say that — the Bible said that!

Some Christians have already died prematurely because they didn't walk in love toward fellow members of the Body of Christ. They shouldn't have died—it wasn't God's best for them—but their lack of love shortened their own days.

Whether folks agree with you or not on every doctrinal issue, you can still walk in love toward them even if they don't walk in love with you. Walking in love is of the utmost importance.

Source: Love: The Way To Victory
by Kenneth E. Hagin.
Excerpt permission granted by Faith Library Publications

Author Biography

Kenneth E. Hagin
Web site: RHEMA
 
Rev. Hagin served in Christian ministry for nearly 70 years and was known as the "father of the modern faith movement." His teachings and books are filled with vivid stories that show God's power and truth working in his life and the lives of others.
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