UNDERSTANDING THE GOSPEL

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth..." (Rom. 1:16).

Several years ago, the Lord spoke to me, and He said: "The gospel is the hope of man". This means that man is hopeless, and helpless, and at the mercy of the devil without the gospel. It also indicates that man will spend an eternity of anguish and sorrow in hell without the gospel!

From the Greek translation of the new testament, the gospel means goodness. The goodnews of Satan's absolute defeat! The one who held mankind under his captivity since Adam. Secondly, it's a goodnews of God's redeeming love, grace, mercy and forgiveness extented to mankind at Christ's expence. "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom.5:8).

The amazing fact is that, God's power is tucked away in the gospel - the goodnews - His Word. The gospel is the power of God! A renowned minister of God once said: "Many creatures think they need more power, when indeed, they need more gospel! The gospel is the power! It is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes.

The Word "Salvation" means more than salvation from sin and hell. It's an all-inclusive word which comprises all the redemptive acts of God through Christ. It was derived from the Greek word "Sozo", and it implies the idea of healing, deliverance, safety and soundness to everyone that believes.

Now, one of the characteristic-features of the gospel is that, it always bring men to a point of decision, either to accept Christ or to reject Him. The multitudes who heard Peter preach the gospel on the day of Pentecost "were cut to the heart", and t

hus brought to a point of decision to accept Christ (Acts 2:37-41). It's only the gospel that has the ability to bring men to a point of decision to accept Christ, and not motivational speaking, tales by moonlight, or some religious education. I

We live in a time of great distraction, and loss of focus in the Church world. It's like the devil has lulled the Church to sleep in the cradle of materialism. A lot of folks are dying in sin, and heading towards hell, and we seem to be contented with our little religion. More Churches are springing up almost daily, and yet there has never being a generation that is in dire need of the gospel than this generation. The whole concept or idea about "Church" in some quarters is more of a worldly business outfit, instead of a mission-oriented unit. Jesus said, "...as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you" (Jn.20:21).

The Church becomes irrelevant and out of place, if it's no longer serving the kingdom purpose. We are sent to preach the gospel to the lost, and not to engage in sheep stealing or church transfer; moving folks from their Church to your Church. Remember, we are all going to give account of our deeds, and our works shall be "tested by fire" to find out what stuff it's made of! (1Cor. 2:11-15).

The saddest part of it all, is that some folks in some congregations are are lost, and heading towards hell because they've never heard the gospel preached to them. All they have ever heard is some cold and dead religious homily nicely packaged, and hurled at them week after week, and the heart of the Saviour bleeds at this.

"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto nations, and then shall the end come" (Matt. 24:14). We are already approaching the close of the age, and the Lord has entrusted us with a noble responsibility. We cannot afford to fail in our responsibility.

The Gospel Is The Power Of God Unto Deliverance And Healing

"Then Philip went down to the City of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed" (Acts 8:5-7).

Philip was a typical example of an authentic new Testament Evangelist. The Bible says that he "went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them". Preaching Christ means preaching the gospel. Notice, he didn't go into that city to fight territorial spirits. That won't be necessary, because they are already defeated; they are dethroned powers! Philip didn't go into that city to yell or shout after demons and family altars. Doing that would be ignorance gone to seed! And you will be amazed at the high level of ignorance being exhibited in some quarters. Someone said oh, it's working isn't it? But the mere fact that it is working doesn't make it right if it is not in agreement with the Bible.

In most cases, familiar spirits are ready to accommodate anyone who moves out of the arena of God's Word. That's why they can still have some weird manifestations even when the Spirit of God is not moving, and some folks don't seem to know the difference!

God is not under obligation to protect you, if you step out of the arena of His Word or the specific instructions that He gave you. This explains the reason why some of our dear ones are exposed to demonic attacks, and their lifes and ministries are suddenly cut short.

Then we wonder why God took them away at an early age. No, it wasn't God who took them away. They violated divine instructions; they opened the door to the devil, so to speak.

Now, don't misunderstand me. I know we are suppose to cast out demons, but the preaching of the gospel remains our top priority. In Mark 16:15-18, the preaching of the gospel comes first before the casting out of demons.

When Philip got to that city, he preached Christ or the gospel unto them, and there was result, because the gospel is the power of God unto Salvation - healing, deliverance etc. The Bible says, "And there was great joy in that city" (Acts 8:8). This city and the inhabitants who were held-bound by demonic forces were set free by the power of God through the preaching of the gospel. The Lordship of Jesus Christ was declared over the city, while satan's defeat was enforced by the preaching of gospel. The gospel is the power of God unto Salvation to everyone who believes!