By Tom Shanklin

For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, (Philippians 1:19, KJV).

Did you know that as a believer there is a supply within you to meet the spiritual needs of others in the Body of Christ?

Yes, God has placed within you a unique deposit of His Spirit to bring edification, comfort, and strength to His church, the Body of Christ. Not only that, but understand, that without your part of the supply of the Spirit, those around you, and the body of Christ at large will never have the fullness that God intended for them to have. You must do your part. You must rise up and take your place in the Body of Christ.

Paul said that the circumstances that he was facing at the time of this writing would “turn to my salvation” (or deliverance) through their prayers, “and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.” In other words, Paul’s partners in Philippi would be the determining factor of victory in Paul’s life.

None of us are an island. Even the greatest man or woman of God has need of the “supply of the Spirit” through his or her fellow believers.

An army must have a supply line. An electronic devise must have a power supply. Every city must have a water supply. Likewise, the church of Jesus Christ requires a a supply of the Spirit from every member of the body.

There are people in our churches today, particularly in the United States, that see the church of God as simply a sort of spiritual restaurant. They have a consumer mentality when it comes to the things of God. They come in on Sunday morning to “get fed” and built up for the next week. When it’s time for the altar call or to pray for the sick, they slip out the back door and go home. But God’s Word says that their is a supply of the Spirit in every believer that needs to be released. Stay and pray for your brothers and sisters. Pray for the lost to be saved. Pray for the backslider to return to the Lord. Pray for your Pastor. When you come to church, don’t just take, but also give. Give a supply of the Spirit!

Jesus said, He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) (John 7:38-39, KJV).

The supply of the spirit comes out of your belly. Out of the innermost of “he that believeth on me.” That includes every member of the body of Christ. When Jesus was glorified, he poured out His Spirit on the whole church, not just the ministry gifts. I encourage you today to let the river flow in your life!

Most believers have failed to recognize their crucial role in the plan of God in the earth. They have recognized the importance of their pastor, or of some great evangelist or teacher, but they have thought of themselves as unimportant, as nonessential or expendable in the plans and purposes of God.

Are you aware of the fact that many to greatest men and women of God in the Bible were not preachers at all, but simply ordinary people who trusted in an extraordinary God.

Abraham, the father of faith, was a businessman. David, a man after God’s heart, was at first a shepherd. Daniel, the great prophet who spoke of things which are only now coming to pass, was a government bureaucrat. Joseph was a slave and later became a prime minister. Mary, the mother of the Lord Jesus, was a just a poor teenage girl. Ananias, the man who baptized the Apostle Paul, was a certain disciple, not a preacher.

Oh yes, thank God for preachers. I’m one, and I magnify my office. Preachers should be respected for the work that they do in the Lord’s vineyard, but understand this, God’s glory is on the entire church. And not only that, but your part, your role, is just as essential as the greatest minister of the Gospel on the face of the earth.

In fact, what God is doing in these last days will require not only mighty ministers of the Gospel called into the fivefold ministry offices, but it will require a “supply of the spirit” from every man and women, boy and girl in Christ’s glorious body, the church.

I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, (Ephesians 4:1, KJV).

The word “vocation” means calling. Paul was writing to the church at large about the things that God had called them to do. He was encouraging them through his own example as a “prisoner of the Lord” to walk worthy of their calling.

Did you know that people are looking at your life? They are looking to see if you practice what you preach. They want to know if this Christianity is real. And they will determine the answer by looking at the only living example that they have—you.

You are the answer to the problems in families, in your workplace, in your community. You shall be witnesses. You are a royal priesthood. You are the body of the Anointed One. You are the hands and feet of Jesus. Walk worthy!

With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:2-3, KJV).

One thing about a body, it only has life when it is together. When a physical body is broken in pieces through natural disaster or an accident, it is no longer capable of sustaining life. Likewise, Christ’s body must be united to sustain life.

We must endeavor (labor earnestly) to keep the unity of Spirit and the bond of peace, because Satan will do every thing he can to destroy the unity of the body of Christ. We must quit competing with one another, judging one another, criticizing one another and start working together for the common goal of reaching the world for Jesus Christ.

The message of love is essential in this day and hour. Unless we learn to walk in love, we will end up destroying one another instead of our adversary, the devil.

God has ordained the local church, as a place for fellowship in the Spirit, a place where unity can be maintained, a place where the life of Christ can be fleshed out.

The body of Christ has been compared to an army. . .but what a strange thing for a soldier to be a part of an army and to not have a battalion, an outfit, and a commander over him.

Likewise, we in the body of Christ, need to be part of a local church. The Lord Jesus Christ is our commander-in-chief and he has ordained officers to maintain order under his command. We all need a church and we all need a pastor to aid us in growth and maturity.

In the book of Ezekiel, chapter 37, God showed the prophet about a valley of dry bones . . . these bones speaking of a broken-down, hopeless, defeated people. Only God can look at such bones and see potential.

I’ll tell you, your life may be dried up spiritually, your hope may be crushed, your heart may be broken, but Almighty God has a plan for you. He wants to bring you together with his body and breath life into you.

God called the old prophet to speak to the bones:

Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. (Ezekiel 37:4-7, KJV).

Hear the word of the Lord, you dry bones, you may be broken, you may be dry, but breath shall enter into you and you will live.

Listen  friend, you have a future in God. You have purpose in the divine scheme of things. You have a part in this last-days revival. You may not be a worldwide evangelist. You may not be a superstar pastor. . .but hear the word of the Lord, “You will live and produce a ‘supply of the Spirit’ in these last days.”

God did not, at first, breathe life into the bones, but when the old prophet began to speak “the bones came together.”

Hear the word of the Lord, God is calling you to come together with Christ’s body, the church. Get over the hurts, get past the flesh, quit living in the past, get in the Spirit of God and move with God’s plan for this last days.

Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army. (Ezekiel 37:9-10, KJV).

Oh God, may the wind of the Spirit return to your church in this hour. As in the day of Pentecost, may your wind blow with power in the churches of our nation, in the churches of the world. May we yield to your mighty gales of life. Breath life into your church in this hour, O Lord we pray.

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. (Ephesians 4:4-6, KJV).

Did you know that as a born again believer, your purpose in life is in alterably linked to the entire body of Christ in the earth today? You cannot separate yourself from any part of Christ’s body, even those with a different name on their church door.

Their success is your success. Your success is their success. . . and you will never find fulfillment in life outside of the purposes of God for you in His church.

Your calling is forever tied to the plan of God. . . and you will only become mature and fully developed as you find your place in Christ’s body and function there. Don’t try to copy someone else. Don’t try to flow in someone else’s calling and anointing. Find your place and function there. You will be satisfied, the body will be edified and God’s purposes will be accomplished in the earth.

You are the great plan of God. Yes, that’s right. If you want to know what God is doing in this hour, look in the mirror. You’re it! Your all He’s got. Whatever God is going to do, He will do it through you. Believe it! Confess it! Receive it! Do it!

But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.) (Ephesians 4:7-10, KJV).

Understand now, the supply of the Spirit that is in you came from heaven. . . and it came with great cost. God sent his only begotten Son, who was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died on the cross of Calvary for our Sins and was buried. It says he went into the lower parts of the earth where He took the keys of death and hell.

Thank God, that life from heaven didn’t stay in the grave.  He rose from the dead victorious over sin and ascended into heaven. From that position, far above all things, He poured out “gifts unto men.”

That’s you! You’re the man or woman that He has given the privilege to receive of His Spirit. Special gifts and anointings have been given unto you to pray, to help in the church, to show mercy, to manifest the gifts of the Spirit, to minister, to serve. These various gifts are given “according to the measure of the gift of Christ.” Each one of use has unique gifts suited to our special calling in Christ.

You see, the Bible tells us that Jesus was anointed without measure when He was on the earth. There was no limit to anointing on His life. He had every one of the fivefold ministry gifts, every gift of the Spirit, and every office of the believer’s ministry found in Romans 12. He was fully charged with every available anointing from heaven.

He said that we, the believers, would do the works that He did and greater works. However, we can only do these greater works as we come together. . . for the total anointing does not lie within us individually, it is within us corporately.

This is why we need one another. I need the anointing that is in you. You need the anointing that is in me. We can only function in the fullness of Christ as we come together. Each of us must provide our part of the supply of the Spirit.

For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. (Habakkuk 2:14, KJV).

God’s plan through Christ Jesus is to use you and me to “fill all things.” The entire body of Christ is the “fullness of Him that filleth all in all.” He promised that “the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” We are the instruments of the revelation of God’s glory in the earth. Without you, it won’t happen.

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: 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 fullness 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: (Ephesians 4:11-15, KJV).

There are five ministry gifts that Jesus gave to the church. The purpose of these gifts was not to “be” the church or to “do” all the work of the ministry. These gifts were given to perfect (or mature) the saints, so that “they might do the work of ministering toward building up Christ’s body, the church.” (Amplified version)

In other words, the fivefold ministry is to help God’s people mature in their gifts and callings as believers. All of the fivefold ministry gifts (apostle, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers) are essential to this process. Without all these gifts, the body will remain immature and we will never achieve “the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”

In this hour, God is using the fivefold ministry gifts to bring the church out of babyhood, childhood, adolescence and into full maturity. We are being developed in our faith, in our love walk, in our anointings, in our ministry gifts, so that the Lord can use His church to bring a spiritual revolution to the world.

It is time to be bold and strong in our preaching, teaching, prophesying and in all ministry to one another, so that by speaking the truth in love, we may grow up. . .”

As long as we have compromise, church politics, and weak incipient preaching in the pulpits, we will have immaturity and ineptitude in the pews. The people of God will remain on a carnal level until the fivefold ministry gifts take a strong stand and minister out of a pure flow of the anointing of God.

We can no longer play church. The hour is too late. The need is too great. We must preach the Word, that is, the Word of Christ. We must preach it just like Jesus, and Paul and Peter and all the men of God throughout all ages, who preached a strong accurate word.

Ministry to please man, to appease boards and councils and committees will not bring forth mature saints and produce the work of Christ in the church. It’s time for the fivefold ministry to operate in the absolute ministry of Christ, for the sake of Christ’s precious body and the cause of Christ worldwide. We must be strong leaders, and bold in our commitment to be first of all, servants of Christ.

The church has been tossed to and fro with all sorts of strange doctrines, all sorts of schemes and tactics of man, but after all is said and done, God will have His way. He’s giving us a vision of His plans and purposes and through the anointed ministry gifts He is preparing us to do our part.

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. (Ephesians 4:16, KJV).

The glory of the body is the head, Jesus. The supply of the Spirit comes from Him and is ministered through the individual members.

The needs of the body are met and the glory of the body is released  “according to the effectual working in the measure of every part” not just through the preachers.

Are you a part? Well then, the body will only be edified by a supply from you. You cannot continue to sit on your blessed assurance and expect God’s power to flood the earth through someone’s great ministry.

And the Spirit will be supplied in relationship. . . relationships in a local church. . . and relationships in the body of Christ at large. A joint is a connection between two parts. It’s only as we connect, that a supply is produced. It may be a special relationship of trust with another believer. It may be a relationship of financial giving and prayer with a particular ministry. It may be intercession for someone in you local church or for your pastor and his family.

You may be used to bring encouragement, or teaching or to show mercy or help. Your particular anointing us essential to the work of God in your local church and in the body of Christ at large. Stir up that gift within you. Quit buying the lie that you are not needed. . . that nobody cares. That’s Satan’s trap to fool you into missing your destiny. Assemble yourself with other believers on a regular basis. Quit running off to the campground or to Aunt Martha’s every weekend and get yourself and your family in church on a regular basis. Rise up and get with the program, in Jesus name. Without you, it won’t get done. You are God’s supply line. The supply of the Spirit will come through you. What a high calling! What an awesome privilege!