Our Bodies Are the Members of Christ
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their spirit will come back into their body. And while you’re sitting there, it’s going to hit you.
Whoa! And you’re going to be changed. Why am I saying all of this? Because your body—right
here, right now—is a part of Christ.
Well, when you think of the body of Christ, do you think it pleases God for His body to be sick?
Think about the phrase “is our body a member of Christ?” (1 Corinthians 6:15) We just read the
verse about it. Do you think the sound of sickness in Christ, sickness in Him, disease and
corruption in Him pleases God? Does that sound right to you? No way. Sickness and corruption
and defilement are not going to please the Lord, in Christ or in any part of Him. We know it
can’t be the will of God. We know it doesn’t please Him.
We know there is sin in the body of Christ. Does that please Him? No. Poverty, lack, fear, and
disease—none of it pleases Him. It’s His will for His body to be clean, whole, strong, and free.
We’re sure it’s God’s will for all of us to be healed because our bodies are a part of Christ. Pat
your body and say, “My body is a part of Christ. It’s a member of Christ. It can’t be the will of
God for it to be diseased.” Absolutely not. Not only that, but the Bible tells us that the Lord
manifests Himself through His body. (2 Corinthians 4:10) The Head accomplishes the work and
will of God through His body.
How many heads of businesses do you know who are happy when their employees are sick? It
pleases them when their workers can’t come to work and can’t get their jobs done? None. It does
not please them. In fact, if you study this, sickness costs corporations billions worldwide in this
country. The number of sick days and the people not coming and not doing their work is taking
money right out of the bottom line of that company, isn’t it? And I assure you, any CEO you
want to talk to, any manager or any overseer, will tell you they want all of their people healthy,
all the time.
What about the Lord? When sickness is riddling the body of Christ, and disease and premature
death is taking people out, does that affect the plan of God? We don’t like to think so, but who is
going to do this? Who is preaching the Gospel? Who is doing the work of God? Who is
accomplishing the plan of God in the earth? Well, if half of the body is sick and not able to
travel, not able to go, and not able to do, is it affecting the plan of God? Is it hindering the work
of God? Certainly it is. The harvest is great. The laborers are few. We need every one of us. We
need every one of us at one hundred percent.
I don’t need to lie in the bed for a month at a time. I need to be out preaching the Gospel. You
don’t need to lie in the bed. You don’t need to be incapacitated. We’re sure it can’t be the will of
God for us to be sick and weak because we have work to do. We have the Gospel to preach. We
have the Great Commission to fulfill.
I just don’t buy it when people try to tell me, “Well, God’s working it out. He put that sickness
on that brother to teach him some things, and he’s been out of circulation in the ministry for six
months. He hasn’t been able to do his work.” Or they say, “He put that on that sister. She’s been
unable to help in the church. Other people have had to come in and do that job of hers.” “God put
that on that brother.” I can’t accept that. I can’t believe that, because there’s too much to be done,
