Stewardship equals distributorship; to manage or look after another mans property, especially over a large house or an estate. One who is given care over provisions to distribute according to owners specifications. A stewardship in scripture is also translated dispensation, and means to dispense, to distribute and administer.
Paul said that “we are stewards of the mysteries of God”. (1 Corinthians 4.1) A dispenser of invisible to the human eye things of God. Paul says that he is a dispenser of these things through the gospel. He has been entrusted a distributorship, that he is not to abuse his distributorship of the gospel. (1 Corinthians 9.17-18)
Galatians 4 says that we are under guardians and tutors/dispensers, same Greek word. It is the ministers of God that distribute the goods of the Father and NOT dispensed by time. There is a “Dispensation of the fullness of times”. But don’t let that distract you as though God is not dispensing and gifting to us what He has for us right now. Do not be found waiting for another event to fulfill the scriptures in yourself because even now”The Kingdom of God is at hand”.
SO HERE IS OUR QUESTION TO YOU!
Is it the gospel message of “The kingdom of God” that is dispensed and revealed by faith? Or by time, meaning days, months, seasons and years as the 2nd coming end time sensationalist believing ministers preach? Didn’t Paul say to those in Galatia “But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods. 9 But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage? 10 You observe days and months and seasons and years. 11 I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain.” They discredited the true line of conveyance of Gods things to us and put it on a time frame as though time is the steward of Gods things. That God is bound by time and matter? So that we must wait? He who said “The Kingdom of God is at hand”? Took it back to return it later?
I mean we just looked at the true distributor of the things of God, of the mysteries Paul wrote “before in just a few words” That these things are distributed through the preaching of the gospel. That is why he said “woe is me if I preach not the gospel.
It is the gospel that is like a conduit as a delivery mechanism, being the true words of Christ from The Father, that are reiterated and repeated by the stewards and dispensed throughout time, so that the hearer of the gospel being under tutors and distributors, may receive the thing that is said and dispensed as being reachable and relevant when they first hear it. That as you are able to believe, you are able to receive it to learn to activate it. Even as Paul said, that “I reach out to lay hold of why Christ laid hold of me”. Which is the complete salvation package. The complete saving process start to finish, from faith to faith. That’s it. It is there for the taking. “I am not ashamed of the Gospel message of Jesus Christ, for it is the power of God for salvation, from faith to faith. As it is written “the just shall live by faith”.
It is our old person who lives “by bread and water. But we have “the bread of God that comes down from Heaven”. The “hidden (to the carnal senses) manna”.
Jesus spoke of the continuance of this stewardship, dispensation and distributorship saying “I do not pray for these alone, (meaning the 12) but also for those (you and me) who will believe in me through their word” that they may believe in the words of Christ reiterated. Not to be misconstrued as thinking He needs to come back and repeat Himself or to do another observable work because “He is seated in the heavens waiting for His enemies to become His footstool, which are your doubts and fears. These are His enemies. He already defeated Satan, sin and death and now awaits your arrival to His reality, being seated with Him Ephesians 2.6. For He is the gift given through THE GOSPEL, to the Elect for all time. As 2 Peter 1.3-4 said, we have been given everything that pertains to life and godliness (by way of and dispersed) through the knowledge of Him, whereby (because of this) we are (NOW) partakers if the Divine nature having (past tense) escaped the corruption that is in the world through lusts”. Lusts being a delivery mechanism of other things. But we reiterate “The Gospel.
This conveyance of the things of God is not as the Greek to English translators say “the dispensation of the fullness of time” as though time is the keeper of the things of God. That God is restrained by the thing that is made? That is just carnal nonsense. God is not wringing His hands waiting to come back to fix things. He is waiting for you to believe. Like John says “we have come to know and believe that God has sent His Son as Savior of the world”. Can you confess and profess that too as having happened? Then you too are a conduit for gospel message through the Holy Spirit, the wind that blows through the conduit. In this case, the wind through our human vessel.
Christ said “It is “those who will believe in me through their (the disciples) word” that WE believe the same word AS IF Christ just spoke it for the first time, as fact for us to participate of the oneness in the Father and the Son, the koinania. As Christ said to the Father “for them to be one with us, for those in the world to believe. (John 17.21)
This is the objective and the conclusion of the gospel and ministered, distributed, dispensed and dispersed, given to us by the re-utterance of the words of Jesus and received in us by faith. The is completed.
Christ does not need to repeat Himself as though He must continue to work for He is seated, calling you to Himself. He does things once. He does things right then He sat down (Hebrews 1). The gospel repeats Him, the stewards do, we do. And it is through the gospel that “the Kingdom of God is at hand” anytime and all the time, dispensed and absorbed by the renewed mind of faith, to those who follow the spirit, “so that where I am they may be also” as Jesus said, for His words are spirit and they are life NOW. And it is from faith to faith for the just shall live by faith. NOT from faith and finished by watching a calendar of events for a second coming, as though time is the steward of eternity.
Think about how backwards that sounds. Shall the thing that is made tell the One who made it “no, you have to wait, I am not ready”? This is what Paul meant when he said “you observe days , months, seasons and years, I am afraid that I have labored for you in vain”. His stewardship and distributorship of dispensary of the mysteries of God had been circumvented by the thinking that something else has to happen. That there is another distribution event of the things of God other than the cross in the future. But nay. Time is subservient to God, not the other way around.
Here then is another misunderstanding by the 2nd coming seekers that time is in control of God. That God must wait. So they wait for “the coming one whose work is according to Satan with all lying signs and wonders. Yes, a delivery mechanism and conduit has people waiting for their deliverance from this age for another event with another event. In other words that message doesn’t take you any where but keeps you in limbo and keeps you out of “The Kingdom of God at hand” NOW!!
Even as with the raising of Lazarus when Christ said “these things have happened for the Glory (the unbound, unfettered word) of God to appear”. But Mary said “Yes Lord, I know you will raise Lazarus up AT the last day” instead of TO the last day. That is why Jesus went on and said “Mary! I am the resurrection” as if to shatter all time barriers because He, meaning Jesus which means Christ, which means Savior and One who saves. Meaning, YOU DON’T HAVE TO WAIT! He said “I AM” the last day, “whoever shall believe and me shall never die believe you this”? And you should ask yourself. Are you in Adams “in the day you eat you shall surely die”? Or in “The Day of the Lord” in which you live? In Christ. The old creation, or the new.
Joseph and His Steward
So lets look at this stewardship in the light of Joseph in the old testament. Joseph was left by his brothers for dead in a pit, to be raised (resurrected) out, endure prison then (ascended) out to be put in the place of prominence having control over ALL the goods of Egypt. Being a type of Christ He had power over “ALL things” as Christ said “ALL things have been delivered to Me by My Father”. He is at the helm. This is as Jesus said to His disciples first and then to us through their word “You shall not follow me now, meaning death and Hades, but you shall follow me after”, meaning to ascend to the Father. It was only Joseph who went to the pit symbolizing what Christ did for us. It was Joseph who had “a coat of many colors”. Like Christ where they cast lots for His garments. And as Joseph was thrown into the pit. It was Christ who went down to the under world, to those who died in the days of Noah. That Christ preached the gospel so that they (too) may live according to God in the spirit”. Did you get that?? What a thorough gospel message.
And this is what is depicted and dispensed through the gospel account in Joseph of things that are “from the beginning” not a second coming end time thing but through the gospel even for those who read and understood this account in the book we call Genesis before Christ walked the earth. The gospel is a timeless, eternal message without beginning or end, from the timeless, eternal entity called God we call Father.
Now let us look to Joseph who had instructed His steward things concerning His brethren who did not recognize Him, who left Him for dead and later coming to Him for food for there was a famine in the land. The steward was told “Take these men to My home and make ready for today they will dine with Me. This is the first distribution. Today is the day of Salvation.
“Today” at His house in His kingdom. If you can hear this, for “Behold I stand at the door and knock! He who answers will dine with me and I with Him. Rev 3.20
When they drew near to the house, the steward was standing at the door. And this is the position for every good steward of Christ and the purpose of the gospel. For us to be the entrance point to bring people into the kingdom through the word. And as it was said of Josephs steward “having made ready”and “all things are now ready” (Mt 22.4 and 25.34) He brings them in and away from the nay sayers.
Josephs brothers then go through a whole plethora of reasons and excuses for their imposition and the steward/distributor dispenses goods simply saying “Peace”. This is what the new testament epistles open up with, Peace and goodwill from God toward man.
The steward having made ready the things of Joseph/Christ, having separated them from the Egyptians (carnal seekers) and taking them into the house to sup with Joseph/Christ then said to them and us now “do not be afraid, God has given you treasures in your sacks” meaning your lungs with your mouth. Which is reiterated by Paul saying “if you believe in your heart (sack) and confess with your mouth” you shall have the thing that is said. “Whatever you ask in my name that I will do for the Father to be Glorified.
Meaning that if they only knew the power of repeating Gods word with their own mouth, then Joseph’s brothers would’ve known it was in the mouth of their sacks and WOULD’VE NEVER HAD TO OF GONE BACK TO JOSEPH FOR THEIR SUSTENANCE. The lesson here for us is that you don’t have to be in the presence of a physical Jesus because you have what you need in the mouths of your sacks. Just speak the promises you get from scripture. It’s easier than adding hot water to noodles. Do you get it?
This is what the gospel teaches that you are given everything from the beginning,, and you just don’t know it. It is in the mouth of your sack for you to confess now and grow in understanding while dining with Christ (Word) “For in doing so an entrance is supplied abundantly for you into the Kingdom of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ”. And time has nothing to do with this for “in doing so”? “Today, if you will hear His voice”. And when doing that, “grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
This is the chain and links of the distribution and the dispensation of the things of God through the gospel and not time as if a second coming is the dispenser. Wrong gospel. Even in Joseph the gospel message is preached to be received by faith back then.
We receive His words in our hearts, our sacks and as displayed by Josephs brother saying “when we came back to our camp we opened our sacks and each mans money was there in full weight”. That’s right. The price was paid by another and put in their sacks by the steward and the dispenser of words for Joseph.
Like Jesus who was committed to the pit, so too with Joseph who after His brothers had come to Him, that they separated themselves from the Egyptians, meaning the carnal thinking that time and matter is the steward of Gods things. Blasphemy! And it was the steward who prepared and orchestrated this whole event at the directive of the Holy Spirit. Glory to God and thanks to Him who has given us provisions in our sacks, the word of faith. The stewards to prepare our meal with Him so that He can reveal, or unveil himself through the gospel, revealing what is just beyond the veil of human perception. Are you getting this?
So having supt with His brothers and revealing Himself, the steward, the distributor, was instructed to “fill the men’s sacks with as much as they can carry. And put each mans money with as much as they can carry in the mouth of their sack. And this is as Jesus said “I have many things to tell you (and to give you) however you are not able to bear (or carry) them” These men are gifted when they visit, and when they leave to come back they see that they already had what they thought that they needed. This is the gospel, the word of God reiterated but not just freshly spoken, just reiterating the things that are already there. We look to His word like a mirror and remember; oh ya. That is who I am in Christ.
Here then in Joseph we can see the purpose of Christ and the purpose of the steward or minister being the distributor and dispenser and preparer of the things of God for the revelation not of Joseph but of Jesus Christ. The gospel is the unveiling, not time and matter.
Understanding this, why in the world would one want to depart our God given calling, and follow father time? “God forbid that I should glory in anything except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ”. To us who believe the gospel is “once and for all delivered to the saints” that brings us into the Kingdom not time.
The kingdom of God is at hand. The next Jesus does not bring it. The gospel does. Amen!!!
