EVERY PART SUPPLIES
By Derwood Stewart
Peace be unto such as read this Message. It is not my intention
to offend but to stir-up the mind of the Body of Christ that ALL
might be edified and Glorify our Heavenly Father and His Son
Jesus.
Do you want to see revival? Would you like to see the Body of
Christ edified? Would you like to see souls saved? Do you want to
see the sick and afflicted healed and set free?
If your answer to these questions is yes, then the Church may
want to reconsider their attitude and their By-Laws and endeavor
to come together with other Believers in the UNITY of Faith in
Love and in the Spirit of Truth.
Through the years there have been many Church groups that have
rejected or refused to receive Ministers that proclaim the Word
of God because of that person not being an official member of
their group or for one reason or another.
In light of this, I have decided to note some of the Scriptures
that relate to the subject titled: "Every Part Supplieth".
The Apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:11-16:
"And he (Jesus) gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and
some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the
perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the
edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of
the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect
man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and
carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men,
and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But
speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things,
which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly
joined together and compacted by that which every joint
supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of
every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of
itself in love."
The first thing we need to notice about this Scripture is that
the Apostle Paul said that Jesus set the standard for the Bride
of Christ, His Body, for the purpose of edifying of, or
building-up of and/or perfecting of the Saints, that we ALL might
be One in Unity in Him.
The Apostle James in James 2:1-10 wrote:
"My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Lord of glory, with respect of persons. For if there come unto
your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and
there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; And ye have
respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him,
Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou
there, or sit here under my footstool: Are ye not then partial in
yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? Hearken, my
beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich
in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them
that love him? But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men
oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats? Do not they
blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called? If ye
fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love
thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: But if ye have respect to
persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as
transgressors. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet
offend in one point, he is guilty of all."
Every part of the Body regardless of how insignificant it might
seem to be, supplieth a viable function. And without any one part
of the Body, the Body is incomplete. Even a nasal hair has an
important function in the human body as does the seemingly least
significant part of the Body of Christ.
Have you ever had a long nasal hair hanging out of your nose and
pulled it out because you didn't like how it looked? If you have,
you know that it can hurt a little and it can even leave a sore
spot in your nose. That too can happen when a member of the Body
of Christ is rejected or removed.
In Psalms 116:13 King David said, "Precious (or costly) in the
sight of the LORD is the death of His Saints." The cost for a
Saint was the crucifixion of Jesus, God's only begotten Son.
Besides the importance of the effect that rejection may have on a
single individual member, the possible effect that it has on the
Body as a whole may be even more costly.
Consider Rejection
Let's consider a few examples of rejection by those that were
called of God to Minister to His Children.
In Genesis 3:1-13 we read where Adam and Eve rejected the Word of
God by partaking of the Forbidden Fruit. Their action cost more
than mankind could pay. The end results of their action cost God,
Heaven's Best.
In 1st Samuel 8:6-7 the Prophet Samuel wrote that the Children of
God said, "Give us a king to judge us." And Samuel prayed unto
the LORD. And the LORD said unto Samuel, "Hearken unto the voice
of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not
rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that 1 should not reign
over them."
I think it brought great sadness to the Heart of God when His
Children rejected Him through rejecting the Minister that He had
chosen to guide His People. Don't You?
There are, no doubt, many reasons why people reject or will not
receive some of the Ministers of the Body of Christ. Some are
rejected because they do not for one reason or another want to
join an organization. Others are rejected merely because of their
appearance, they don't wear a tie, they have a beard or they are
of the wrong gender.
The Apostle John in St. John 1:11-13 wrote:
"He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many
as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God,
even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of
blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but
of God."
Don't you know this truly must have grieved the Heart of Jesus?
The Spiritual Leaders of the Church of that day refused to
acknowledge Jesus when He wanted to Minister to them. Had they
truly been willing to listen to the Message that Jesus wanted to
share with them, they would have been better informed and more
able to render an edifying decision.
King Solomon in Proverbs 18:13 said: "A fool answereth a matter
before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him." In
essence, this is what the Religious Leaders did during the time
of the Ministry of Jesus when they rejected or refused to hear
Him.
In St. Matthew 10:40 it is written that Jesus said: "He that
receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth
him that sent me."
When Jesus abides in the Soul of a person, that person is a
representative of Christ even as the Heavenly Father abode in
Jesus and He was/ is His Minister. Therefore, when anyone
rejected Jesus, they were rejecting the Heavenly Father. In like
manner when anyone rejects a Believer/a Saint, they in essence
are rejecting Jesus and His Father.
On the other hand, in St.Mark 9:37 we read where it says,
"Whosoever shall receive one of such children (Child of God) in
my name, receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth
not me, but him that sent me." This statement is also backed-up
in St.Luke 9:48.
The Apostle John in St.John 13:20 reported that Jesus said,
"Verily, verily, 1 say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I
send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that
sent me."
How can we know whether or not a person has been sent if we do
not take the time to hear what they have to say?
In 3rd John 1:9 John said, "I wrote unto the church: but
Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them,
receiveth us not."
When considering who to receive and/or not receive, we do not
want to be like Diotrephes and do things for the wrong reason.
Let's consider this Diotrephes character on a little different
angle. The Apostle Paul addresses another situation that may be
applicable when thinking about the Diotrephes problem and the
separations in the Body of Christ.
In 1st Corinthians 1:11-13 we read where the Apostle Paul wrote:
"It hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which
are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.
Now this 1 say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I
of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided?
Was Paul crucified for you? or Were ye baptized in the name of
Paul?"
And in 1st Corinthians 3:1-4 where he wrote:
"And 1, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but
as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with
milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear
it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal: for
whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions,
are ye not carnal, and walk as men? For while one saith, I am of
Paul; and another, 1 am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?"
This to me sounds like having respect of persons which brings
divisions instead of unity. If we have truly accepted Jesus as
our Lord and Saviour then, we are ALL one in Him.
The Apostle Paul in Romans 15:7 instructed the Saints in saying,
"Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to
the glory of God" Romans 10:17.
And in Romans 14:1 the Apostle Paul wrote, "Him that is weak in
the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations."
A person is weak in the Faith when they have a limited knowledge
of the Written Word of God. Because, "Faith cometh by hearing and
hearing by the Word of God."
We do however, read in Acts of a place where the Apostles were
accepted. Acts 13:14-15 says:
"But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in
Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and sat
down. And after the reading of the law and the prophets the
rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, Ye men and
brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say
on."
Isn't this the way it is supposed to be? Aren't we supposed to
listen to, hear and observe the Message God gives his Ministers?
God has given us a method whereby we are to determine whether or
not the Message a Minister gives is from Him or not.
Let's take a look at Deuteronomy 13:1-18. You can read the entire
Chapter but to conserve space, we will only note a few of these
verses.
Verses 1-3 reads, "If there arise among you a prophet, or a
dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, And the
sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee,
saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known,
and let us serve them; Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of
that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God
proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all
your heart and with all your soul."
Verses 6-8 reads, "If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy
son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend,
which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us
go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy
fathers; Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about
you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of
the earth even unto the other end of the earth; Thou shalt not
consent unto him, nor hearken unto him."
And verses 12-14 read, "If thou shalt hear say in one of thy
cities, which the LORD thy God hath given thee to dwell there,
saying, Certain men, the children of Belial, are gone out from
among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city,
saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known;
Then shalt thou inquire, and make search, and ask diligently;
and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain. Then you know
what you are to do."
In the writings of Mark and Luke we find a situation where the
Disciples came across something that displeased them; which they
did not handled properly. Jesus set them strait.
In St.Mark 9:38-40 we read, "And John answered him, saying,
Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he
followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us.
But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall
do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me. For
he that is not against us is on our part."
And in St.Luke 9:49-50 we read, "And John answered and said,
Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name; and we forbad
him, because he followeth not with us. And Jesus said unto him,
Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us."
We, as Ministers of the Gospel, do need to take caution to not
allow the Body of Christ to be deceived as it is written in
Proverbs 19:27 where it reads, "Cease, my son, to hear the
instruction that causeth to err from the words of knowledge."
However, we don't want to cut off our nose to spite our face.
Another Scripture that will help one to determine if a Minister
is God sent is, Isaiah 8:20 where it reads, "To the law and to
the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is
because there is no light in them."
However, one must hear a Minister speak or at least check the
Minister out in order to know whether or not a Minister is of
God. We especially want to make sure that we do not judge a
person wrongfully but according to the Written Word of God.
In the 2nd and 3rd chapters of Revelation John reported that the
angel of the Lord said in essence, "I have somewhat against
thee." I think the same applies to Churches today.
There are also a few Scriptures that mention a negative reaction
as a result of something like:
"whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words,"
St.Matthew 10:14, St.Mark 6:11 and St.Luke 9:5 and 10:10. We
don't want to be accused of being one of these groups.
I am using this next Scripture for the simple reason that all too
often rejection comes from, within the Body of Christ, the
Saints. "A man's foes shall be they of his own household" Matthew
10:36.
We, as men and women of the body of Christ, the Saints need to
always prayerfully consider that our actions are conducted
according to the Written Word of God.
May the Heavenly Father richly bless and keep you and cause you
to prosper and be in good health as you follow on to know and
serve Him in Spirit and in Truth. Praise His Holy and Righteous
Name!
Derwood A. Stewart, Minister
......
Taken from "Acts" magazine - April 2010 - a publication of the
General Council of the Churches of God, Seventh Day, Meridian,
ID. USA.
Note:
As Paul admonished, "Prove all things and hold fast to that which
is good" (1 Thes.5:21).
As Isaiah was inspired to write (quoted above) 8:20 we must go to
the Word of the Lord to see if what is being preached and taught
is according to the truth of the word (John 17:17).
We are to hunger and thirst after righteousness - then we shall
be filled as Jesus promised.
Sometimes it takes time, effort, and searching the Scriptures as
the Bereans did (Acts 17) when Paul and Silas came teaching the
word of the Lord among them.
Remember this: if you love the truth; want the truth; desire the
truth with all your heart and mind, the Spirit will guide you
into all truth (John 16:13). It may not (seldom is) be given to
you all at once; it may even be over a lifetime. But if you want
truth, you can have it! That is a promise from Jesus!
Keith Hunt
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