Will the Body be Restored?*

      David wrote in Psalm 139, "For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well...Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being imperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God: how great is the sum of them!" (v. 13-17).

     Here David was speaking of his own physical body. If the Lord cares this much about our physical body, how much more does He care about His spiritual Body in the earth - the Body of Christ? There was a prophetic word that came forth from Ralph Martin in Kansas City in 1977 that said in part: "Mourn, for the Body of My Son is broken. Come before Me with tears and sackcloth for the Body of My Son is broken. Turn from the sins of your fathers and turn to the ways of My Son. Return to the purpose of your God. The Body of My Son is broken." We need to remember that judgement begins in the House of the Lord, not in Congress or the Supreme Court, and the Lord is expecting His Body to be the Body in the earth as He has purposed it.

     The prophecy above says to return to the purpose of God. As Jesus began what would be called the Church, what was the original plan?  Jesus met with His eleven disciples at a mountain, a location which Jesus had appointed, after His resurrection. This is The Great Commission, or purpose, given to the eleven disciples by Jesus at that time: "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world (age)." (Mt. 28:16-20). The word "power" used here is not the usual word that we see, which is the Greek word dynamis, from which we get the word dynamite, but here the word used is exousia, which means "authority." All of the disciples were given this exousia authority by Jesus "against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease." (Mt. 10:1). With this authority, Jesus told them, "Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses...for the workman is worthy of his meat." (v. 5-10). As they traveled, being supplied by the Gospel they preached, when they entered a town they were to find a house that was "worthy" and stay there and to let their peace come upon that house. However, if the house was not worthy, their peace would remain with them. If there were those in that house or city that would not receive them, they were to depart and "shake off the dust of your feet." Jesus said of those houses and cities: "It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment than for that city." (v. 11-15). Jesus told the disciples that they would be hated, betrayed, and persecuted of all men, being as sheep among wolves for His name's sake, "but he that endureth to the end shall be saved...when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come." (v.16-23). We are already seeing this level of persecution in the world today. When Jesus said "until I come" concerning the reaching of all of the cities of Israel, I believe He was speaking of this generation today who has seen the restoration of the nation of Israel and the Hebrew language and can again reach all the cities of Israel, who will also see His second coming.

     Not only did Jesus give His exousia authority in His name to His to His eleven disciples above, but to the seventy disciples also: "And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. And he said to them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give you power (exousia authority) to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power (dynamis power) of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven." (Lk. 10:17-20). The exousia authority given to the seventy by Jesus exceeded the dynamis power held by the evil spirits. However, even greater was the fact that these disciples' names were inscribed in heaven. We have seen many miracles in this ministry including deliverance from demons. We have sent prayer cloths all over the world according to Acts 19:11-12. However, the Church, the Body of Jesus, is so divided that we don't see the exousia authority being exercised like that throughout the Body of Christ. 

     Paul begged the church in an exhortation to unity and to avoid those who cause divisions: "Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple." (Rom. 16:17-18). We have seen the damage that divisions and offenses cause in the Church but we remain committed to preaching sound doctrine. Rumors and strife are especially directed at the servants of the Lord who are determined to be obedient. Churches have become witnesses to this generation of the acceptance and approval of sinful behavior. They ignore the fact that God loves us enough not to leave us as He finds us, but He desires to conform us to the image of His Son: "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." (Eph. 4:13). This does not include approval of sinful behavior. We love the sinner, as the Lord does, but we call sin the destroying death that it is, as the Lord does.

     In order to accomplish this vital work of unity in the Body of Christ, Paul wrote that Jesus appointed gifts to the Church: "...forbearing one another in love; Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all...And he 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... 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." (Eph. 4:1-13, excerpt). These gifts given to the church to establish the unity of the faith: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, are still appointed and needed by the Church today because we are not yet unified, and we are not yet walking in the stature of the fulness of Christ. When Peter walked down the street, his shadow healed the sick! We have not yet reached even this level.

     Although the Body of Christ is to be a singular unit, it is made up of multiple different parts just like the human body as Paul wrote: "For as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we are Jews or Gentiles...bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many." (1 Cor. 12:12-14). Paul wrote that as with the human body, each individual part of the Body of Christ has a specific function which aids the whole body. Not all parts of this spiritual Body are the same or perform the same function, "But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him."  (v. 15-24). God did this "That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it....And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversity of tongues..." (v. 25-30). These different parts of the Body of Christ were not given to form schisms in the Body, but to ensure that the Body works perfectly as one, with each part doing its appointed purpose. Missing parts, or parts that are out of place because of man's will rather than God's results in a weakened or broken Body. Can we return to unity and maturity accepting that God wants a unified Body according to His Word, and not the words of men or the doctrines of devils? Pray for the unity of the Body of Christ - it is our only hope to walk in exousia authority to tread on serpents and scorpions and to take back what the enemy has stolen.

*Based upon Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson, Jr.'s 6/30//24 message to the church. If you would like to hear the complete message, you can find it on Dr. Stevenson's Facebook page. To contact or support this ministry, or to request prayer, you can write to PO Box 154221, Waco, TX, 76705. To find out more about the Shroud of Turin, and to receive a free e-book now available in several languages, go to http://www.theshroudofturin.org/freebook.