ANOTHER COFFEE BREAK: EASTER OR RESURRECTION?

Another Coffee Break:

Easter or Resurrection?

 

April 18, 2014

And a Good Friday Morning to you!  Like that pun!  Sorry 'bout that!  We will take somewhat of a break from our Aphiemi Healing series today (although it may very well seem like we're still there) because of the significance of this Passover season which includes Jesus' death and resurrection.  I will probably run a bit long today.

Playing off the title of this Coffee Break, millions of Christians still regard the day we celebrate as Jesus' resurrection from the dead as "Easter."  I don't want to get into a lot of irrelevant discussion and arguments, but it is important to me -- and to our family and fellowship -- that we don't engage in the paganistic rituals (e.g., the Easter Bunny, the egg rolls, the candy, etc.) which have nothing whatever to do with Jesus' resurrection.

Prior to Constantine's declaration that all Rome was now "Christian," the Romans celebrated the Feast of Ishtar at the time of the year we have treated as the last day of Passover (or Jesus' resurrection from the dead).  Constantine's pronouncement allowed the Romans to continue to celebrate Ishtar under the guise of the Christian believers' celebration of Christ's resurrection.

The Feast of Ishtar (or Easter, in English parlance) was meant to honor the pagan god, Baal's, consort whom we know in Scripture as either Astarte (the deified wife of Nimrod), or Ashtaroth (as she was more commonly known).  Baal was known in many cultures by a host of different names, (e.g., Marduk, Zeus, and others) and I won't take the time to go there today. Suffice it to say that none of this has a thing to do with Jesus or His resurrection from the dead.  To engage in the partying and celebrations that folks associate with Easter is completely contrary to everything that Jesus did on our behalf.  That's why I want to share the following with you so that this day forever becomes "Resurrection Day" on your calendar -- NOT Easter.

Let's return for a few minutes to our discussion from last week in Isaiah 53.  This is a chapter that has fascinated me because of the way in which it is written.  Several years ago I did a Coffee Break (or a series of Coffee Breaks) on Jesus in which I noted the striking contrasts in Isaiah's prophecy, but let's revisit it.  Have you ever noticed how Isaiah puts everything in the present, and then the past tense?  Watch.

"He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.  Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.  But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

It's almost as though Isaiah can't quite decide if he is actually standing there watching it, or seeing it as something which has already transpired.  He refers to Jesus as being (present tense) despised and rejected, and then he switches gears when he writes, "we hid our faces from Him."

Then he says, "we did esteem Him" putting it in the past.  Take a look at the repeated past tense as he writes, "He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows"; "we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted"; "He was wounded"; He was bruised"; "our peace was upon Him."

Finally, Isaiah returns to the present tense when he says, "with His stripes we are healed."

There's a reason for Isaiah's putting things like this, and we'll get there in a second.  The point I'm making here is that Isaiah has stepped through that time portal into eternity as he is making his observations.  What he is watching unfold are the events that led to Jesus' crucifixion.  He sees the beatings, the cat-o-nine tails used to scourge Him and flick away bits and pieces of His flesh.  Isaiah watches the scorn on the faces of the Roman soldiers and the sadism as they torture Jesus to the brink of death.

But then he rightfully assesses the consequences of what he has just witnessed when he prophesies, "with His stripes we are healed."  Get it?  Isaiah pulls the future back into his present.  Time stands still.  What Jesus is doing some 700 years in his future now becomes a practical reality -- an available benefit for those who will believe that prophetic word.  We'll come back to this again, but let's take a look for a moment at this same prophecy when viewed by the apostle Peter perhaps 30 to 35 years AFTER Jesus was crucified and resurrected from the dead.

In his first general epistle to the body of Christ, Peter writes, "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed."

Notice how Peter phrases this.  He puts all healing as an accomplished fact, NOT SOMETHING YET TO HAPPEN!  For Peter, just as it had for Isaiah, time was standing still.  What Jesus did on the Cross transcended time itself.  From the actual point where Jesus underwent such torture as no human being had ever suffered, and then died on the Cross; and then rose again, EVERYTHING that Jesus accomplished was finished!  There was nothing left to accomplish.

Every sick person was healed.  Every disease was terminated.  Infirmities were done away with and perfect health restored.  Every demon was made subject to Jesus' name!  The poor no longer needed to live their lives on the edge of nothingness.  Death was canceled.  Relationships were made whole.  Everything was complete!  EVERYTHING!  Legally.

There was nothing left for Jesus to do.  He had accomplished all that He had come to do.  When He cried out on the Cross, "It is finished!" it had been!  When He rose from the grave, He established the New Covenant with those who believe.

Tragically, today, people don't believe it.  They don't believe that Jesus did and accomplished everything that needed to be done in their lives.  People still pray to be healed, not recognizing that their healing has already been accomplished -- that all they need to do is to seize it, claim it for themselves, confess their agreement with the Lord Jesus Christ and all that He has done, and walk in it.

People still pray today and ask God to make provision for them despite the fact that Jesus made every provision on the Cross.  People still pray to be set free from bondage, whether bondage of the flesh or bondage that is demonic.  We have a bad religious habit of praying for things, asking the Lord for things -- as if they haven't been done -- not recognizing, nor acknowledging that Jesus has already done His part.  Our receiving of all that Jesus did and accomplished on the Cross is simply a matter of believing Him, believing His Word, believing that the price He paid WAS the price -- the total, the complete, the sufficient price -- for everything.

When we go to the Lord and pray, and ask Him to heal us, to deliver us, to set us free, to meet our needs, it is a total contradiction of our confession of salvation.  If we believe that Jesus died on the Cross to save us -- and that is a simple matter of exercising the faith He has already given us -- but we don't believe He has healed us, delivered us, made us whole, given us health and long life, and delivered us from poverty, we effectively put Him back on the Cross saying that His death and resurrection were insufficient, and that He needs to do it again so we can receive whatever we ask.

I know that about now, some of you think I've slipped my trolley, and that I'm just playing with words.  Folks, this is not a matter of semantics.  This is not a play on words!  I'm serious.  We disregard the consequences of Jesus' death and resurrection, setting aside the price He paid as insufficient.  Some of us are dumb enough to buy the lie that it is (or was) His will for some of us to be sick, and that He didn't undergo all that suffering and bear those stripes in His body for ALL of us to be in perfect health.

Some of us even believe that it is His will and desire for us to live in poverty and need -- that poverty is somehow the will of God, or that it is holy to live this way -- despite the fact that part of the purpose of His death on the Cross and resurrection finished poverty -- wiped it out, and did away with it.  Notice that I said earlier, LEGALLY!

Every price that needed to be paid has been paid.  But if we don't claim it and reclaim what Satan has stolen from us when we take our salvation and our fire insurance, we can live in sickness and disease, in need, and oppressed by Satan all the while we are legally healthy, free of sickness and infirmity and wealthy beyond comprehension.

Why is this?

Let's get back to Isaiah's prophecy.  Although our English translations submerge this truth in phraseology that causes us to miss it, let me show you how it actually appears in the Hebrew text.  Here is my translation of Isaiah 53:3-5:

"He is disdained and scorned, and considered as having ceased to exist by men: a man of anguish and pain, and has known grief by seeing and experiencing it; and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was disdained and scorned, and we maliciously fabricated, invented and treated His suffering and death as void.

"Surely He has suffered and accepted as His own our maladies, our anxieties, our calamities, our disease and sicknesses, and carried our anguish, pain and grief: yet we fabricated and maliciously invented His being stricken violently, beaten, punished, wounded and slaughtered as if by God -- choosing to believe that God browbeat, demeaned and looked down upon Him.

"But He was broken and profaned for our rebellion, our revolt, our apostasy and our [religious] quarrel against God; He was crushed, oppressed and smitten, and (emotionally) broken into pieces for our perversity, our evil, our mischief, sins and faults; the breaking and ridiculing of our peace, our welfare, our prosperity, our health and our safety was upon Him; and with His bloodied and blue wounds we are cured, mended, repaired and made thoroughly whole.

Are you seeing the picture?  Notice that the Hebrew text uses the word, áLÛç˜ -- chashab' where the translators have inserted the word "esteemed."  In fact, this word, chashab', more accurately translates in today's English as: to fabricate or to invent; to plot or contrive, to imagine or conceive.  Thus the word, "esteemed" -- while OK perhaps in Elizabethan English -- really misses the context and the photography of the Hebrew.

What Isaiah is seeing, therefore, from his perspective in eternity as he draws this prophetic picture for us is that folks would treat Jesus' suffering, His death and His resurrection as null and void.  He sees people treating all that Jesus went through as insufficient to pay the price and somehow contriving for themselves that God did this to Him, that God wanted Him to suffer, that suffering is the will of God, that sickness is the will of God, that we must still in some way pay for our sins, that we were not set free at the Cross, that we were not completely and totally healed, that we should live poverty-stricken lives, that it is somehow holy to do so, that God teaches us through sickness and suffering -- and on and on and on and on and on, ad nauseam!  Let's continue with Isaiah's narrative:

"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.  He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.  He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.  And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

I won't take the time to break this down totally out of Hebrew today because I want to move on, but there is one word of significance in the first part of verse 6.  It appears in the phrase, "the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all."  Here again, to read the English translation, it looks as though the Father did this to Jesus.  In fact, the word appearing in the Hebrew is that word most often translated "intercede:" òâ‡tÈ -- paga', which more properly renders: to entreat, to make intercession, to take advantage of an importunity.

Thus we can read verse 6 like this: All we like wanderers have vacillated and strayed; we have turned aside to our own paths [in the belief that there are many paths to God]; and the Father has entreated Him, taking advantage of His obedience to death to lay upon Him all of our perversities, our sins, our mischief, our faults and our evil.

Now, let me raise another question.  What is it that causes us to disregard the price that Jesus paid on the Cross?  What is it that causes us to believe that it is somehow His will for us to be sick, to suffer infirmity, to live in need so that He can teach us "things?"

Here's how the apostle Paul put it.  "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled."  (II Corinthians 10:3-6)

This is war, folks!  This is a war strategized by Satan and capitulated to (appeased?) by God's people in the one area of our flesh where Satan gets his strongholds: our minds.  The strongholds in us are in our thoughts: our fears, our doubts and our unbelief.  This is the only place where Satan can get a foothold -- and no one should doubt for a minute that he takes every opportunity to combat the effectiveness of Jesus' suffering for us, His death on the Cross, and His subsequent resurrection as THE FINAL VICTORY over Satan's power and stranglehold over the human race.

Why do we call them strongholds?  Because they are "high things" that exalt themselves against the knowledge of what God has done, what Jesus Christ accomplished on our behalf, and what our new Covenant is with the Lord.  Do you think that Satan wants us to believe that we have been healed?  Do you think he wants us to believe that we have been delivered from his power and his authority?  Do you think Satan wants us to walk in health, to prosper in every area of our lives, to live the abundant life available in Christ Jesus?

So how do we deal with these strongholds?  We realize that these are "vain imaginations:" these are thoughts that need to brought into captivity and made obedient to the Word in the same way that Jesus was obedient to the Cross.

Let me phrase it a little differently.  One does not do battle against Satan's connivances and deception with thoughts.  You don't battle the flesh with the flesh.  You battle it with the Spirit.  You battle it with the Word.  The apostle Paul describes the Word as "the Sword of the Spirit," and that is the ONLY offensive weapon we have.

And you can't just think the Word: it must come from your mouth before it goes forth as a weapon against Satan.  It is all well and good to think the Word -- that's an important first step -- but the battle against "every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God," His Word, His promises, and His Covenant made in His shed blood MUST come by our speaking, our continual declaration of all that God's Word says concerning anything and everything.

Just because you don't see the immediate evidence of what you speak doesn't mean it isn't true.  If you're anything like me (and I suspect a whole lot of you are), the mental programming of this world has done its job so effectively that you have to combat it with declaration after declaration after declaration after declaration of God's Word -- day after day after day after day after day after month after month after month after year after year after year -- UNTIL you see the manifestation.

This is war, folks!  It is the kind of warfare that isn't finished until Satan and his lies and his deception, his fear, his doubt and his unbelief are finished!

What matters -- and the ONLY thing that matters -- to us is that Jesus accomplished everything that needs to be accomplished.  His death on the Cross and His subsequent resurrection -- which we celebrate this Sunday -- were the legal finish of the curse upon the human race.  It only remains for us to become the second witness in the Court of the Universe.  And that takes place when we overcome by (1) the blood of the Lamb [which He shed on the Cross], and (2)  the Word of our testimony in concert and in agreement with what God has declared in His Word!

Now do you see the difference between Resurrection Day and Easter?

If you are in need of healing please join our prayer conference calls on either Monday, Wednesday or Friday of each week at 7:00 PM Eastern.  Once again, the number to call is (805) 399-1000.  Then enter the access code: 124763#.  Let us minister to your need for healing!

Blessings on you!

 

Regner

 

Regner A. Capener                                                            
CAPENER MINISTRIES

RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
Sunnyside, Washington 98944

Email Contact: Admin@RiverWorshipCenter.org

 

Our book, A Tale of Two Brides, published by Destiny Image, is now available on Amazon.com as an E-book: http://www.amazon.com/Tale-Two-Brides-Relationship-ebook/dp/B00BSV6HZC/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1363139096&sr=8-8&keywords=A+Tale+of+Two+Brides#_

 

All Coffee Break articles are copyright by Regner A. Capener, but authorization for reprinting, reposting, copying or re-use, in whole or in part, is granted –provided proper attribution and this notice are included intact. Older Coffee Break archives are available at http://www.RegnersMorningCoffee.com.   Coffee Break articles are normally published weekly.

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CAPENER MINISTRIES is a tax-exempt church ministry. Should you desire to participate and covenant with us as partners in this ministry, please contact us at either of the above email or physical addresses, or visit: http://www.RiverWorshipCenter.org.

ANOTHER COFFEE BREAK: APHIEMI HEALING, Part 25

Another Coffee Break:

Aphiémi Healing, Part 25

April 11, 2014

Just a couple of quick reminders before we get started today: Folks have been asking about the conference calls for our Sunday gatherings, and if the messages are being recorded for later playback.,  Once again, the number to call in for participation is (559) 726-1300, Access code: 308640#.  To listen to the previous Sunday's recording, change the last digits of the call-in number from 1300 to 1399.

The same applies to our Monday-Wednesday-Friday Healing Conference calls.  That number is (805) 399-1000, Access code: 124763#.  To listen to the previously recorded call, change the 1000 to 1099.  In both cases the access codes are the same.

Talking about Paul's thorn last week, and the crazy doctrine about our having to "suffer diseases and injuries" in order to make up for some deficiency in the price that Jesus paid on our behalf brought a number of questions.  I need to address those before we get too far along in today's discussion.

As I noted last week, when Paul cried out to the Lord in his frustration, God's answer to him was simple and to the point: "My grace is sufficient for you."  Don't you get it?  The Lord wasn't telling Paul to put up with it, He was saying to Paul, "Stand up!  Acquit yourself like a son of God and joint-heir with Jesus Christ!  My grace for you has supplied everything you need to exercise the needed authority to get rid of the demonic harassment!"

Paul didn't lack any needed authority to deal with the harassment of the Enemy, and he sure didn't need to put up with this "thorn!"  Jesus made the very comprehensive statement prior to His departure to Heaven: "All authority has been given to me in Heaven and in Earth; go ye, therefore, and make disciples of all nations..."  (See Matthew 28:18-19)

The commission to go forth -- even as Paul was commissioned as "apostolos": one sent forth with delegated authority and power -- came with all the authority "in Heaven and in Earth" to back him up.  The fact that Satan had sent a messenger to "buffet" him (more on that word in a minute) was certainly a nuisance but not something that Paul wasn't equipped to deal with.

Consider how Paul dealt with the Word of the Lord to him.  (See II Corinthians 12:7-10)

"Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong."

Are you seeing it?  Paul realized that the power and authority of the Lord Jesus Christ was resident in him, even in the midst of his infirmities, his attacks from Satan and the buffeting he was receiving.  He didn't need to put up with these attacks.  The grace of God operating in him included the "grace gifts" -- the charismata -- which more than enabled him to rebuke the Enemy and cast him off.

He could say, therefore, with absolute confidence and joy, "I take pleasure in infirmities (astheneia -- feebleness, infirmity, weakness), in reproaches (hubris -- insult, insolence, harm), in necessities (anagké -- constraints, restrictions, times of distress), in persecutions (diogmos -- being pursued after to render harm or injury), in distresses (stenochoria -- narrowness of room, being squeezed tightly; colloq: no room to move about) for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak [in and of myself], then am I strong [through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ]."

What Paul is saying more literally is that when his flesh failed him (whether it was physical weakness, mental or emotional distresses), then his access to the authority and power of the Lord Jesus Christ enabled him to make plain to the world around him that the Glory and God is not dependent on the strength of human flesh.  He could, therefore, rejoice when he was under attack because it was then that the Lord was going to show forth praise and Glory.

I hope I'm making this clear!  The Glory of God is not dependent on either the strength or the weakness of human flesh.  The Glory of God more often displays through us when we feel the weakest or least capable of accomplishing that which He has given us to do.  I'll share a personal story about this momentarily.

Let me emphasize one other thing while we're on this topic.  God DOES NOT bring sickness, disease or infirmity upon us so He can teach us something.  If we allow Him to do so, He will demonstrate His grace, His love, His Glory AND His authority through us when we are under attack.  The apostle Paul describes this situation perfectly in Romans 8:28.  Here's how the KJV reads:

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."

Now, if you don't mind, here's my amplified translation from the Greek text.

"And we see and know that everything [taking place in our lives] cooperates [with, and through God] for our benefit, [more specifically] for those who {absolutely] love God and are the invited, appointed and anointed according to [and in direct proportion to] His purposes, plans and declared intentions."

You get it, don't you?  All things most certainly DO NOT work together for good for everyone!  They only work for our good and our benefit WHEN we love God and walk with Him in an uncompromised and committed relationship, AND have been called, responded to that calling, then appointed, prepared by Holy Spirit, and anointed for that to which He has called us.

That's a mouthful, isn't it?  But you can certainly see the clear difference.  Things don't always work together for good for folks -- even when those folks have been "saved."  There's a huge difference between being "saved" and walking in a real love relationship with the Lord!

Getting back to Paul's "thorn in the flesh," he could respond in joy to the buffeting of the Enemy because God had given him the grace, and with that grace, the authority to deal with Satan.  God didn't bring that buffeting upon him, but neither did God prevent it!  (I'll talk more about that in a minute.)  What God made clear to Paul was that he didn't have to put up with it, but he was going to have to exercise the grace God had given him.  God's grace was more than sufficient to deal with it!

Now, let's talk about this term, "buffet," for a minute.  Paul's complaint to the Lord was that a messenger of Satan had been sent to "buffet" him.  This word is a translation of the Greek, kolaphizo, which comes from the root word, kolazo.  J. H. Thayer tells us that this word means: to curtail, to restrict, to inflict [torment], to pester and distract by rapping (with one's knuckles).  Nothing in either the word, kolaphizo, or its root, kolazo, implies sickness or disease.  Paul was NOT being "graced" with some kind of sickness or disease.  He was being pestered by some demonically-driven individual to distract him and keep him from preaching the Gospel.

We actually have a picture of such an event taking place with Paul in the city of Philippi (Acts 16:16-18): "And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying: The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which show unto us the way of salvation. And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour."

This is an exact picture of what Paul contended with.  The difference was that -- in this instance -- the buffeting spirit came in the form of a young woman who was demonized by a Spirit of Divination.  (This is a spirit which leads many people astray.  It masquerades today in fortune tellers, in astrology, in tarot cards, and a host of other devices which lead people away from God's destiny in their lives.)

Paul certainly didn't need someone with a Spirit of Divination proclaiming he and the company of brethren with him as the "servants of the Most High God."  Had it continued, that spirit could have led many of the new converts away from the Lord with false prophecies and demonically camouflaged guidance.  Whatever Paul was experiencing with the buffeting he was suffering, God had given him the same authority to expel from his presence that he exercised with the young woman in Philippi.

While we're on this topic (and it is clear that I'm not going to continue today with where we left off last week -- that'll have to wait), let's address another issue that plagues the body of Christ today.  And, by the way, if it seems like I'm really off-track with our discussion on aphiémi healing, this is germane -- both to the topic of healing, AND to the concept of aphiémi -- total eradication so that it never existed in the first place.  Follow this closely.

When Jesus suffered the 39 stripes to his body -- 39 stripes, incidentally, with a cat-o-nine tails tipped with lead tips, making the effective stripes to his body, 351 -- it left him with barely any clear flesh on his body.  There was scarcely a square inch of his body that wasn't ripped open, bruised, bloody and festering.  Add to that the crown of two-plus-inch thorns shoved into his scalp and his skull.

Got the picture clearly in your mind?  Good!

Now, explain to me just how any sickness, any disease, any suffering you might endure is necessary ON TOP OF EVERYTHING THAT JESUS ENDURED so that you "can learn whatever it is God is trying to teach you?"  That is a heresy that has pervaded the body of Christ for centuries, and it is demonic!  But it gets worse!!

There are folks who actually believe that God does this to them!  Really?  If we believe that nonsense, then we are crucifying the Lord Jesus Christ afresh.  We are effectively putting Him back on the Cross.  We are nullifying the price He paid on our behalf.

Consider a couple of scriptures.

Isaiah expressed it like this (See Isaiah 53:5):  "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."

Let me amplify this verse for you out of the Hebrew text:  "But He was broken and profaned for our rebellion, our revolt, our apostasy and our [religious] quarrel against God; He was crushed, oppressed and smitten, and (emotionally) broken into pieces for our perversity, our evil, our mischief, sins and faults; the breaking and ridiculing of our peace, our welfare, our prosperity, our health and our safety was upon Him; and with His bloodied and blue wounds we are cured, mended, repaired and made thoroughly whole."

Here's how Peter put it in his first letter to the body of Christ (I Peter 2:21-24):  "For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed."

The first part of this translation out of the KJV really misses it.  It draws a picture that I believe, when added to several of Paul's statements in his various letters, somehow has caused folks to come up with a doctrine that we are supposed to endure sickness, disease, infirmity, etc., because "Jesus did it, and we are supposed to follow in His footsteps."  Nothing could be further from the truth!

When do you ever see Jesus sick?  When do you ever see Jesus fighting against disease or infirmity?  If that were the case, then He wouldn't have been able to take all sickness, disease, infirmity, pain and suffering to the Cross and put it to death, ONCE AND FOR ALL!   Let's not forget something, folks!  Sickness, disease, infirmity, etc., etc., etc., are all a part of the curse that came upon the human race when Adam ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil!  Sickness, disease and infirmity are all a part of death and dying -- and Jesus already kept our appointment with death!

I'll pick up at this point next week and finish this discussion, showing you the actual picture drawn in the Greek text.

If you are in need of healing please join our prayer conference calls on either Monday, Wednesday or Friday of each week at 7:00 PM Eastern.  Once again, the number to call is (805) 399-1000.  Then enter the access code: 124763#.  Let us minister to your need for healing!

Blessings on you!

 

Regner

 

Regner A. Capener                                                            
CAPENER MINISTRIES

RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
Sunnyside, Washington 98944

Email Contact: Admin@RiverWorshipCenter.org

Our book, A Tale of Two Brides, published by Destiny Image, is now available on Amazon.com as an E-book: http://www.amazon.com/Tale-Two-Brides-Relationship-ebook/dp/B00BSV6HZC/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1363139096&sr=8-8&keywords=A+Tale+of+Two+Brides#_

 

All Coffee Break articles are copyright by Regner A. Capener, but authorization for reprinting, reposting, copying or re-use, in whole or in part, is granted –provided proper attribution and this notice are included intact. Older Coffee Break archives are available at http://www.RegnersMorningCoffee.com.   Coffee Break articles are normally published weekly.

If you would like to have these articles arrive each morning in your email, please send a blank email to: Subscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.To remove yourself from the mailing list, please send a blank email to Unsubscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.

CAPENER MINISTRIES is a tax-exempt church ministry. Should you desire to participate and covenant with us as partners in this ministry, please contact us at either of the above email or physical addresses, or visit: http://www.RiverWorshipCenter.org.

ANOTHER COFFEE BREAK: APHIEMI HEALING, Part 24

Another Coffee Break:

Aphiémi Healing, Part 24

 

April 4, 2014

This morning brought us an interesting phone call with a brother who has been struggling with depression, anxiety, and physical pain in his back and legs partly as a result of the stresses he's been under with his job.  For the sake of discussion, let me refer to him as "Ray."  As Della and I shared with him it became clear that although he has been saved for many years and baptized in the Holy Spirit, when it comes to health issues, his reference is primarily oriented in the culture of our medical society with its medications, pills, and various and sundry treatments.

Della and I both saw something at the same time (and admittedly, we've been caught in the same trap).  When a person today gets a headache that lasts for any length of time, the first thing he or she thinks of is the aspirin bottle.  When we get hurt or injured in some way, the first thing we think of is the doctor or the hospital.  If we get a cold or flu, we look for the Nyquil or some other kind of medicine to take the headache, deal with the runny nose and/or something to deal with the upset stomach.

You see where I'm going with this don't you?

We don't think health and healing!  Despite the repeated commands in the Word to renew our minds and our thought processes, we hang onto the thought processes we've grown up with in our modern society.  We think "progressive" healing.  If we are injured in some way, we just "know" that a doctor visit will result in some kind of surgery, a hospital stay of varying lengths, and a period of time for us to "get better."  That's how our society thinks!

It matters not that Jesus endured the most unimaginable suffering and beatings, torture of unspeakable intensity such that his body became almost unrecognizable as that of a human being, and then wound up being nailed to a cross with spikes driven through his hands and his feet and a circlet or crown made out of thorns more than two inches in length shoved into his scalp and skull -- ALL OF IT so that we would have access to instant healing, instant deliverance and complete restoration for our physical bodies, our minds and our thinking, AND our emotions.  The fact that Jesus paid this kind of price so that we who accept Him as Lord and Savior, Healer and Deliverer would never have to put up with the afflictions this world considers just a normal part of our earthly existence!

We just don't think that way!  And why not?  Why do Christians today somehow arrive at the insane conclusion that God brings sickness or disease or ill health or accidents resulting in physical injury to teach us some spiritual truth?  Is God a masochist?  Did Jesus go through all that he suffered for nothing?  Do we have to endure sickness or disease for the Lord to teach us something?  That's about as stupid as anything you can imagine!

We need a revolution in the way we think!  Consider what Paul wrote to the Romans.

Romans 12:2 (with my amplification):  And be not conformed to [shaped by and to the thinking of] this world: but be ye transformed [changed through the metamorphosis] by the renewing [the restoration to God's original plan and design] of your mind, that ye may [test and] prove what is that good (beneficial), and acceptable (well-pleasing), and perfect (complete), will (heart's desire) of God.

Can it be any clearer than that?  Try a couple other scriptures on for size.

II Corinthians 5:17:  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Let's try that again from the Greek text (RAC Translation):  That being the case, if anyone is immersed into the Anointed One and His anointing, he has been re-formed as a new being [with new DNA]; the old person (he used to be) has perished and gone; pay attention to the fact, and see for yourself that he has been created afresh and anew.

Titus 3:5-7 (with my amplification):  Not by works (sweat and toil) of righteousness (justifying ourselves) which we have done, but according to his (compassionate) mercy he saved us, by the washing (baptism) of regeneration (rebirth and restoration), and renewing (re-creating anew) of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

OK.  One more and we'll come back to the significance of these verses!

Philippians 2:5-6 (with my amplification):  Let this mind [or manner of thinking] be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus [the way He saw things and thought]: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal [like and similar in construct, character and makeup] with God:

Has it become clear for you, yet?  Everything -- and I do mean EVERYTHING -- about our relationship with Jesus Christ means a return to our original creation in the likeness and image of God where there is no sickness, no disease, no infirmity, and nothing that can befall you that you cannot deal with from a place of God's authority and power.

Where, in any of these scriptures, do folks get the idea -- no, wait!  where any of US -- that we have to put up with even the slightest affliction or attack on our bodies.  Why do I tolerate a stuffy nose or a sinus drip as though this is just a part of living in a polluted valley with its agricultural sprays, blooms and the toxic emissions from hops?  You see it don't you?  Just because I may live at the moment in an area where the air around me may be full of pollen and the residue of the sprays that farmers use, why should I automatically accept the fact that I have to be susceptible to this pollution?

Whatever happened to the prayer and admonition of, "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth."  (II John 2)  Folks, if my soul is prospering, that means it is in agreement with what the Word says about my thought life, the way I live and where I live ("in Christ")!  If I am "in Christ," the environment around me has no power over me, no power over my mind and thoughts, and no power over my physical body.  In fact, if I am restored (or in the process of being restored) to the status of our original creation, the Word says that the environment is subject to me -- NOT the other way around!

Let's take this discussion another step.

Suppose I have some kind of accident and injure myself, whether it be through carelessness or through no fault of my own?  Should I run to the medicine cabinet, the doctor or nurse, or to the hospital -- and here's the kicker -- first?  Or, should I take hold of the Word of the Lord first, speak the Word (which had better be in me if I'm in Christ) and then, if Holy Spirit directs otherwise, see a doctor?

Let me share a personal example of something that happened to me a few years ago when Della and I were still in Anchorage.  Besides my regular, somewhat sedentary, job as Chief Engineer for the local FOX station, I ran not less than four (and sometimes five) newspaper routes every morning, seven days a week.  Ironically, I made more money with my newspaper business than I did as an engineer, but that was less the reason than the physical exercise I gained from it each morning.  I was in prime physical condition from running 4 1/2 miles every morning with up to as much as 150 pounds of newspapers on my back.

One spring morning when there had been a warm spell that had melted the snow on the streets and then frozen over during the night leaving glazed ice in places, I was running with my usual load of papers when I slipped on the ice, fell and tore a ligament in my left ankle.  The pain was excruciating, to say the least!  I dragged myself (couldn't walk) over to my van where the supply of newspapers was, pulled myself up into the van, drove home and called the district manager for the Anchorage Daily News to let him know what had happened so someone could cover the rest of my routes.  This would have been around 5:00 or 5:30 in the morning.

Around 8:00 or thereabouts, Della drove me to the doctor's office where X-rays showed the damage.  The doctor put me in an air cast and told me to stay off that leg for six weeks, indicating that it could take as much as six months for the torn ligament to heal.  The following Sunday, Della and I were visiting a local Foursquare church fellowship (I had been ministering to the pastor of that church).  There was a break in the morning service for folks to pray for one another.  I turned to the people standing behind me (whom I did not know at all) and said, "the pain in my leg is almost more than I can tolerate, and I'm not going to put up with this any longer.  Will you lay hands on me and pray?"

They did so quickly and prayed the prayer of faith.  In that instant, I knew that my leg was healed and that the torn ligament had been made whole.  When we got home a little later, I took off the air cast and tested the leg.  I called the district manager for the newspaper and told him I was ready to resume my regular routes the next morning.  Sure enough, I ran the 4 1/2 miles with the newspapers the following morning.  There was no pain, no discomfort of any kind.  All of my strength was back, and there wasn't so much as a single twinge of any kind!  When I acted on the truth of the Word, the Lord did exactly what He says He will do.

You see, my healing was paid for nearly 2,000 years ago!  Why am I going to keep paying for something Jesus already paid for?  Should I NOT believe that I'm already healed?  Why do I want to suffer discomfort?  Why do I want to endure pain and agony on top of what Jesus already endured?  Was His suffering not enough for me?  Should I somehow think that my suffering will compensate for my own failures?  Was Jesus' death and resurrection not sufficient?  Shall I put Him back on the Cross while I suffer instead?

It sounds ludicrous, doesn't it?  Is my pain or suffering somehow going to make up for some insufficiency in Jesus' suffering, death and resurrection on my behalf?

Folks, I've gotta tell you, THAT is pure heresy!  How stupid can we get?  How irrational is it for us to somehow think that we have to "suffer with Jesus"?  One of the dumbest things I've ever heard is the supposed justification for our suffering with some disease, some ailment or some deformity because "Paul had to endure his thorn in the flesh."  What makes that argument so silly is that anyone who stops with that never bothers to realize that the "thorn" was nothing more and nothing less than "a messenger of Satan" (a demon) who was sent (by the Enemy) to torment him, to buffet him and to sidetrack him from his apostolic mission.  God didn't send that demon to torment Paul!

When Paul cried out to the Lord in his frustration, God's answer to him was simple and to the point: "My grace is sufficient for you."  Don't you get it?  The Lord wasn't telling Paul to put up with it, He was saying to Paul, "Stand up!  Acquit yourself like a son of God and joint-heir with Jesus Christ!  My grace for you has supplied everything you need to exercise the needed authority to get rid of the demonic harassment!"

I want to talk more about this aspect of things, and perhaps I'll pick it up more next week, but let me wrap up this part of our discussion today by saying that the picture of our new creation -- our re-creation in Jesus Christ -- is again the demonstration of what this series of Coffee Break discussions is all about: aphiemi: not just forgiveness, not just remission of sin, but the eradication of the past, its shortcomings, its weaknesses, its failures, its diseases and susceptibility to diseases or infirmity of any kind.  This is the total erasure of anything connected to the unredeemed nature and character of the flesh, the old person who was put to death in baptism, and then resurrected into new life!

I don't know how far we will take it again today, but last week we were talking about healing for those who’ve been wounded in soul and spirit.

Let's pick up where we left off last week with Isaiah’s prophecy – the same place where Jesus started His ministry – as we take up our study with the wounded soul and the wounded spirit, and see how each area affects the other.

Isaiah 61:1-3:  ¹The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek (åéðˆòÈ -€aònaòyv:depressed in mind and circumstances, humble, lowly, poor); he hath sent me to bind up (Lá—ç˜ - chaòbash:to wrap fully, to heal, to gather back together)  the brokenhearted (øá—LÜ - shaòbar:crushed, broken in pieces, torn apart -- + -- áìÅ - leòb:the heart, metaphorically] feelings, the emotions, the will or intellect), to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;

²To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our  God; to comfort (íç—ðˆ - naòcham:to breathe strongly upon, to ease) all that mourn; ³To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.

Before we dig into this Word again, take a look at a couple of other relevant scriptures.

Job 24:1-12 (NASB):  ¹“Why are times not stored up by the Almighty, and why do those who know Him not see His days?  ²“Some remove the landmarks; they seize and devour flocks.  ³“They drive away the donkeys of the orphans; they take the widow’s ox for a pledge.  ⁴“They push the needy aside from the road; the poor of the land are made to hide themselves altogether.  ⁵“Behold, as wild donkeys in the wilderness they go forth seeking food in their activity, as bread for their children in the desert. 

⁶“They harvest their fodder in the field and glean the vineyard of the wicked.  ⁷“They spend the night naked, without clothing, and have no covering against the cold.  ⁸“They are wet with the mountain rains and hug the rock for want of a shelter.  ⁹“Others snatch the orphan from the breast, and against the poor they take a pledge.  ¹⁰“They cause the poor to go about naked without clothing, and they take away the sheaves from the hungry.  ¹¹“Within the walls they produce oil; they tread wine presses but thirst. 

¹²“From the city men groan, and the souls of the wounded (ììÈç ˜chaòlaòl: pierced, to profane [by speaking evil], to dissolve, to break apart or prostitute, to weaken one’s mind to such a degree that they are willing to sell themselves for relief) cry out; Yet God does not pay attention to (íéNØ sñŒòym: impute) folly.

The picture that is drawn throughout this chapter in Job conveys a pretty graphic picture of the events that cause a person’s soul to be wounded.

When you follow the discourse between Job and Bildad the Shuhite in chapter 25, and then the first part of chapter 26 you see the unfolding of events that create a wounded spirit.

Next we consider David, and the words and events that were directed against him.

Psalm 64:1-10:  ¹Hear my voice, O God, in my prayer: preserve my life from fear of the enemy.  ²Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked; from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity: ³Who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words: ⁴That they may shoot in secret at the perfect: suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not.  ⁵They encourage themselves in an evil matter: they commune of laying snares privily; they say, who shall see them? 

⁶They search out iniquities; they accomplish a diligent search: both the inward thought of every one of them, and the heart, is deep. ⁷But God shall shoot at them with an arrow; suddenly shall they be wounded.  ⁸So they shall make their own tongue to fall upon themselves: all that see them shall flee away.  ⁹And all men shall fear, and shall declare the work of God; for they shall wisely consider of his doing.  ¹⁰The righteous shall be glad in the LORD, and shall trust in him; and all the upright in heart shall glory.

This is a tremendous promise that God makes to those who have been wounded by the tongue, those who’ve been spoken evil against and conspired against.  The Lord makes very clear that HE is the One who will shoot them down – and He will direct HIS arrow against those who speak evil of His anointed.  This was a Word that the Lord gave to Della recently concerning some fellow-ministers who were being spoken evil of because of their ministry and their teaching.

My apologies but this is where we will stop for today.  We will pick things up at this point next week.

If you are in need of healing please join our prayer conference calls on either Monday, Wednesday or Friday of each week at 7:00 PM Eastern.  Once again, the number to call is (805) 399-1000.  Then enter the access code: 124763#.  Let us minister to your need for healing!

Blessings on you!

Regner

 

Regner A. Capener                                                            
CAPENER MINISTRIES

RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
Sunnyside, Washington 98944

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