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.

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.

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.

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, I 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 I 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 I, 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, I 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.”……………….

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