Ye Are the Body of Christ

By Joel Hilaire M.D.

Ye Are the Body of Christ presents a deep understanding of the human body to explain biblical concepts pertinent to the body of Christ. When the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 12:27 concludes, Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular, this somehow echoes the words of King David in Psalms 139:14, I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. Pauls comparison of the functioning of the natural body to the spiritual one gives insight into the conversations that must have taken place between the apostle of the gospel of uncircumcision and the beloved physician, Luke.

In Ye Are the Body of Christ, a book tagged by some as being the first of its kind, the author skillfully uses his deep knowledge of the human body to prove biblical points concerning the Godhead, the meaning of the Crucifixion, and the biblical heart, and to demonstrate the significance of multiple diseases that have plagued humanity throughout the ages. How important is vision, naturally and spiritually speaking? How does our immune system correlate to the spiritual life? Is leprosy in the Bible the same as modern leprosy? What is the hidden message behind HIV/AIDS? Why do we develop cancer? Will we ever find a cure for cancer? What is the body of Christ? How should the body of Christ function? How should we care for the body of Christ?

It is amazing how the author, who is both a physician and a minister of the gospel, can effortlessly navigate through his understanding of the human body and the magnificence of the spiritual realm. Once you understand the different aspects covered in Ye Are the Body of Christ, your walk with God will never be the same.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Dec 15, 2017
• ISBN: 9781546211549

Joel Hilaire M.D.

Born in Port-au-Prince, on the beautiful and historic island of Haiti, Joel Hilaire studied at some of the best schools in his country namely Notre Dame du Sacr-Coeur (Elementary school), Juvnat Collge and Centre dEtudes Secondaires (High School). He was greatly influenced by the erudition of Dr. Pradel Pompilus, one of his teachers considered along with Father Raphael Berrou as the fathers of the Haitian literature. He pursued higher learning in the medical sciences and in August 1986, he graduated from the School of Medicine and Pharmacy. Dr. Hilaire specialized in Internal medicine before migrating to the United States. For over two decades, he had labored in different areas in the medical field while maintaining an active spiritual life as a student minister in his church. In November 30, 2007 he was ordained as the pastor of Orlando Gospel Assembly. He is in his 29th year of marriage to his beloved wife, Claire.

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© 2017 Joel Hilaire, M.D.. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 12/15/2017

ISBN: 978-1-5462-1153-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5462-1155-6 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5462-1154-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017915353

All scriptures are taken from the King James Version of the Bible

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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CONTENTS

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1 Two Scholars in the Early Church: The Story of a Beautiful Friendship between the Great Apostle Paul and the Beloved Physician Luke

Chapter 2 Symbolism of the Natural Body

Chapter 3 Understanding the Symbolism of Our Body in the Spiritual Realm

Chapter 4 Vision

Chapter 5 The Immune System and Its Function / Spiritual Correlation

Chapter 6 Autoimmune Conditions

Chapter 7 Uncomely Parts of the Body vs. Noble Organs

Chapter 8 The Natural vs. the Spiritual Heart: Where Is the Spiritual Heart Located? How Do We Think?

Chapter 9 Dispensational Diseases and Their Meaning

Chapter 10 Learning to Care for the Body of Christ

Sources

Dedicated to all those who are earnestly seeking for the

truth that was once delivered unto the saints!

AUTHOR’S NOTE

When I was a student at the School of Medicine, University of Haiti, and I heard the story of Frank Netter, the man who gave up the practice of medicine to do medical drawings or illustrations, I was somewhat dumbfounded. How could someone being a surgeon forfeit so many years of studying to switch to doing just paintings of the human body? But such a thing became more understandable when I heard the explanation provided by Netter himself: This was in 1933—the depths of the Depression—and there was no such thing as medical practice. If a patient ever wandered into your office by mistake, he didn’t pay. Painting was more lucrative than the practice of medicine. Once, Netter was called upon to produce five pictures to promote a pharmaceutical product. Due to a misunderstanding, instead of the $1,500 he’d asked for to do the series of illustrations, the advertising manager paid him $7,500—$1,500 each! Netter didn’t hesitate then. He went from the practice of medicine to a career in medical art. What a change! But also what a legacy left behind today, when you consider his four thousand illustrations and his worldwide recognition. Dr. Netter’s contribution to the study of the human anatomy is epochal, said Dr. Michael DeBakey. He has advanced our understanding of anatomy more than any other medical illustrator since the 16th century, when Vesalius introduced drawings based on cadaveric dissections.

As I look at my life today, I see that my situation is no different from Dr. Netter’s. After studying medicine for six years, followed by spending one year in social service and doing a specialty in internal medicine in Haiti, I thought that I was set for a successful career in that field. Instead, life took me on a detour. I spent three and a half years in public health as a psychosocial counselor, providing services to HIV/AIDS patients in Miami. This was followed by almost two years in oncology research at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, before working for five years with an internist in Tampa, Dr. Patrick Watson, and then assisting a man whom I consider to be a prominent cardiologist in that same city, Dr. Sami Elchahal. Until the time I take my last breath, I will always see Dr. Elchahal as a great teacher whom God placed on my pathway to help me with my learning in life. He has been very good to me and has proven himself to be very influential in my understanding of many things.

During these periods of detour, I remained true to my spiritual heritage, serving the Lord faithfully to the best of my knowledge, until I met (in Tampa) Robert Walker, the man who became my pastor and who is currently my overseer.

Even though I grew up in the church and had many pastors to lead me in matters of God, Brother Walker is the one whom God has used for about eleven years to shape my vision of the body of Christ. When the time came, despite my passion for medicine, I found myself, on November 30, 2007, saying good-bye to my colleagues and the other staff members at the Cardiovascular Center of Tampa and driving toward Orlando in order to assume leadership of a church in crisis. With my wife at my side, holding at times my sweaty right hand while I slowly drove with my left hand on a back road before connecting with the freeway, I was like Dr. Frank Netter moving toward another phase of my life, except that I was fighting tears as I was heading to my ordination as the pastor of Orlando Gospel Assembly. So many memories from my growing up in the church were playing in my mind—fun memories, and also painful memories as I thought of unskillful ministers or bad leadership. I realized the full responsibility that was falling on my shoulders: caring spiritually for others. And the thought to me was overwhelming. Later on, people sometimes glanced at me in disbelief, asking, How could you leave the practice of medicine to be … just a pastor? I simply answered, I now have a higher calling in my life. And every step I took in life—including my education at the School of Medicine—was in preparation for the phase I am in now. God has taken the time to mold me and shape my life for His purpose! Glory to His holy name!

This thought became very real to me when in September 2009, I awoke from sleep shaking and speaking in tongues. I felt filled with the Spirit while living through an out-of-the-ordinary experience. I was in New York for an international meeting of the body of Christ, lodging at the home of my cousin Guy-Marie Bolnet and his distinguished wife, Dr. Carolle Bolnet, who was fighting multiple myeloma at that time, until God miraculously intervened for her. Feverishly, I started writing some notes with an internal knowing and understanding of what those notes should be about. I couldn’t explain how, but I suddenly had a clear comprehension of the different steps I’d taken in my life and a revelation of how the human body can display the plan of God. This is what I want to share here with the readers. May the Lord touch your mind and illuminate your understanding as you travel with me through these pages!

PREFACE

Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? asked Nathanael to Philip, without really expecting an answer. Philip had just told Nathanael that he had found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph (John 1:45–46). The northern portion of Nazareth was known as Galilee. The common perception of Galileans at that time was that they were ignorant, rude, and unlearned. Even their dialect, considered different, set them apart from the other inhabitants of Judea (Acts 4:13; Mark 14:70; John 7:50–52). That is why on the day of Pentecost, the devout Jews who traveled to Jerusalem from every nation under heaven were all amazed when each one of them heard the disciples from the upper room speaking in his own language. They marveled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? The disciples were indeed speaking the wonderful works of God, causing those Jews to ask, What meaneth this?

God used Peter that day in a mighty way to address the crowd. Those who heard him gladly received his word and were baptized. That same day, there were added to the church about three thousand souls! Peter became well-known later as the apostle of the circumcision (Galatians 2:7–8).

Bear in mind that this is the same Peter who, at one time, would not hesitate to curse or swear to make his point (Mark 14:71), or who would go naked among his peers while performing his duties as a fisherman (John 21:7). How did he suddenly become so eloquent and knowledgeable about the law and the prophets, quoting the prophet Joel and explaining the words of David? Where did he find the boldness and confidence to answer questions, appeal to people’s hearts, and convince others about the Messiah? In any event, the Jewish leaders who had at first perceived him and John as ignorant and unlearned men marveled. They acknowledged that they had been with Jesus.

Yes, that was the key: they had been with Jesus! That is how the Almighty works. He knows how to choose the foolish things of the world to confound the wise … the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty … and base things of the world, and things which are despised, … yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are (1 Corinthians 1:27–28). He is God! In the mountains as in the valleys, in the day as in the night, He can efficiently use the learned as the unlearned, the mighty as the weak, and the nobleman as the commoner. Paul wrote, Not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called (1 Corinthians 26). Notice that he didn’t write, "Not any wise men after the flesh, not any mighty, not any noble, are called." God can use anyone He chooses to carry out His purpose.

With God’s help, let us explore and discover how He used many knowledgeable people in the past, especially two good friends in the early church.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I thank all of those who, in one way or another, have provided me with their support in the production of this work. My deep and sincere gratitude goes to the following people:

20888.png My precious wife, Claire, for her encouragement and sacrifices when I had to spend hours working on my craft.

20888.png Dr. Ramona Hunt, for graciously allowing me to use her CIBA Collection for my selection of medical illustrations.

20888.png Dr. Carolle Bolnet, my beloved cousin, for taking the time to read the manuscript and provide me with her feedback and encouragement.

20888.png Dr. Elsie Pothel, my colleague and faithful friend, who from the start expressed trust in the depth of Ye Are the Body of Christ, which she called the first of its kind.

20888.png Dr. Maria Altagrace Irmaud Renaud Bastien, for her valuable help in securing copyright information.

20888.png My pastor and overseer, Robert G. Walker, for his enthusiasm to read chapter after chapter and express strong positive feedback regarding the presentation of Ye Are the Body of Christ. His introduction to this volume is by itself a great source of inspiration.

20888.png Worlyns Tresil, my special professional photographer, who tirelessly has assisted me in the presentation of the selected pictures.

May the Lord bless you all!

*     *     *

Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

INTRODUCTION

Ye Are the Body of Christ is a book that takes the understanding of the natural anatomy of the human body and combines it with the anatomy of the spiritual body of Christ. The writers of the Bible made comparisons between the natural and the spiritual. The way Ye Are the Body of Christ is presented, comparing the natural body with the spiritual body, will help us to understand the different parts of the body and their functions, both in the natural and the spiritual.

We will all agree that the better our natural body feels, the more we feel like doing things. It is the same with the spiritual body. We are working on the restoration of the church. The better understanding we have of what we are trying to restore and how each part is special in the operation of the body of Christ, the better we will benefit from it. Ye Are the Body of Christ will be profitable both for the saints and those in ministry. After reading it, you will have a new perspective on your place in the body of Christ and how you are to interact with the other parts. The ministry will have a new perspective on the importance of each part, even the uncomely parts that Paul spoke of.

The early church had Doctor Luke; the Latter Rain Church has Doctor Hilaire. I know many have consulted with Brother Hilaire and sought his advice on sicknesses and other bodily conditions. As Brother Hilaire followed his dream of being a physician, he had no idea that someday he would be helping people not only with the healing of the natural body but also with the healing of the spiritual body. I appreciate his insight regarding how the natural and spiritual parts of the body relate to one another. Each one has a specific responsibility to ensure that the whole body profits.

Ye Are the Body of Christ is very deep and concise in information. It is like the Bible in the sense that we will need to read it several times to glean all that we can. Each chapter will help us to realize that we are wonderfully made. Each chapter focuses on the different parts of the natural and spiritual body. Sometimes healing comes in the form of a greater understanding.

As you read this book, remember that you are the body of Christ!

Pastor Robert G. Walker

Gospel Assembly of Central Florida

CHAPTER 1

TWO SCHOLARS IN THE EARLY CHURCH: THE STORY OF A BEAUTIFUL FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN THE GREAT APOSTLE PAUL AND THE BELOVED PHYSICIAN LUKE

Serving God is a learning experience. This experience consists of yielding to His will by doing justly, loving mercifully, and walking humbly with Him. During the unfolding of this relationship, God reveals Himself slowly to you and fills your life with precious gems as you empty yourself to make space for Him. The more you empty yourself, the fuller your life becomes in Him and with Him.

Contrary to what many believe, you don’t need to be illiterate or uneducated to serve God. He does not discriminate, using whomever pleases Him, whether literate or illiterate, educated or uneducated, bound or free, Jew or Gentile, rich or poor. All lies within the spirit we display and the disposition of our hearts. The Bible is full of knowledgeable educated people who faithfully and wholeheartedly dedicated their entire lives to pleasing God. In fact, all knowledge comes from God and can be used to His purpose.

The ark of Noah, the remains of which were found on the mountains of Ararat (Genesis 8:4), where the Bible reported that the ark came to rest after the flood, was able to float during the flood despite its size, while the Titanic, conceived according to modern technology, sank. Another example on how God efficiently uses people’s skills is the following. The great leader of the children of Israel, Moses, who led the Israelites out of Egypt, was not always just the shepherd of Madian. Prior to the period of special training set by God to tame Moses’s spirit and develop meekness in him, Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds (Acts 7:22). His skills and knowledge qualified him in God’s purpose to become the builder of the Tabernacle in the wilderness with all the accurate details pertinent to God’s plan.

Science is found throughout the Bible. Before what we now know as the science of genetics began in the 1860s, attributed to the work of the priest Gregor Johann Mendel in crossing pea plants, which allowed him to state three laws—the law of dominance, the law of segregation, and the law of independent assortment—a man in the Bible was already well versed in these notions.

The law of dominance states that one factor in a pair of traits dominates the other in inheritance unless both factors in the pair are recessive. The law of segregation states that during the production of gametes, the two copies of each hereditary factor segregate so that the offspring acquire one factor from each parent. The law of independent assortment states that the laws of chance govern which particular characteristics of the parental pairs will occur in each individual offspring. Jacob somehow knew and understood these principles. While at the service of his uncle Laban, he could toy easily with the flock entrusted to him to reproduce at will the specimen wanted, with specific traits of his choice (Genesis 30:25–43). If Mendel is known today as the father of modern genetics, then Jacob can be considered to be the father of basic genetics.

Another clear fact has to do with geography. The New World had to wait for Christopher Columbus to risk his life in 1492 in order to demonstrate that the earth was round and not flat, as was the common knowledge in his time. In reality, in 700 BC, the prophet Isaiah had no doubt that the earth was round. Referring to the Almighty God, he wrote in Isaiah 40:22, It is He that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers. A circle is a round plane figure whose boundary (the circumference) consists of points equidistant from a fixed center.

Other examples include Daniel and the other three Hebrew children Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. The Bible describes them as good-looking, with knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. And when tested by King Nebuchadnezzar in all matters of wisdom and understanding, they were found ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his [Nebuchadnezzar’s] realm. They had ability not only to speak their native language but also to become also well versed in the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans (Daniel 1:4, 17, 20). According to the historian Flavius Josephus, those handsome young men were also made eunuchs in order to be at Nebuchadnezzar’s service (Antiquities of the Jews, chapter X, verse 1). Today, some archeologists have expressed delight with Daniel’s writings, which have helped them solve many mysteries in their quest to find the remains of old cities from past civilizations.

Examples of educated and knowledgeable people abound in the Bible. Therefore, it should not be a surprise to relate the story of two other great men of God, two scholars in the early church who have considerably influenced the Christian world by their understanding of the plan of God. They have left us a world of knowledge and understanding to help us progress in our hope of inheriting eternal life and even immortality. I am referring to the prolific writer of the New Testament, the great apostle Paul, and to his companion on some of his missionary journeys, Luke, affectionately tagged the beloved physician by Paul himself.

Don’t you wish that you could have witnessed a conversation between these two educated men? Wouldn’t you like to understand how they influenced each other in their thinking in order to leave us with a clear picture of who we are as the body of Christ?

In fact, what is the body of Christ? How should we function as the body of Christ? Is the body of Christ healthy today? If not, what would it take to heal this body and bring the glory of God on the scene again, as in the early church?

Considering Luke’s and Paul’s lives, we know that they shared some common characteristics and traits. Neither one was an eyewitness to the Lord’s ministry during His passage on this earth, which makes them both post-Ascension Christians. They were both unmarried and without children. They were both well educated, as we will see later, and strove for excellence.

But they also had differences. For the sake of clarity, let us meet with Luke first, and then Paul, before following them as fellow companions in the mission field.

All we know of the life of Luke is what we glean from his gospel, the book of Acts, and the Pauline epistles. He appears to have been a meticulous person, from his introduction of the gospel carrying his name, and cared to share his findings with a certain Theophilus: For as much as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, even as they delivered them unto us, which from beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; it seemed good to me also, having perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, that thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed (Luke 1:1–4).

Who was Theophilus? Luke’s account of the important events of the book of Acts is also addressed to this same Theophilus, most excellent Theophilus, a Greek name that means friend of God (ami de Dieu):

The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: to whom also he showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: and, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. (Acts 1:1–5)

Commonly thought to be the only non-Jewish New Testament writer, Luke’s name appears to be a shortened form of Lucanus. He was