TOPIC: THE EQUIPMENT OF THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST.
If we are to preach the gospel effectively, we must be properly equipped.
The most essential tool for this is revelation, just as Paul received the revelation of Christ.
Acts 9:3-9(KJV)3 And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.7 And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.8 And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.9 And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.
This revelation becomes a vision , which Paul used as a guide, activating his faith to bring what he saw into reality.
Acts 9:15-16(KJV) But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:16 For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake.
Acts 26:19(KJV)19 Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision:
When the word of God is mixed with faith, it produces spectacular miracles – Heb 4:2(KJV)2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
All of these spiritual tools are housed within the war room of faith – and the name of Jesus is a key element of that faith.
2 Cor 10:3-6(TLB)3 It is true that I am an ordinary, weak human being, but I don’t use human plans and methods to win my battles. 4 I use God’s mighty weapons, not those made by men, to knock down the devil’s strongholds. 5 These weapons can break down every proud argument against God and every wall that can be built to keep men from finding him. With these weapons I can capture rebels and bring them back to God and change them into men whose hearts’ desire is obedience to Christ. 6 I will use these weapons against every rebel who remains after I have first used them on you yourselves and you surrender to Christ.
Contained within the word of faith are powerful spiritual weapons enabling the accomplishment of every task through supernatural means. – the name of Jesus, the blood of Jesus, and the word of faith which serves as both a shield and the sword of the spirit.
From here, we come to the zone of the supernatural miracles.
Like Paul in Acts 19:11
(NIV) -God did extraordinary miracles through Paul,
(KJV)And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul:
(Amp)And God did unusual and extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul,
Acts 19:11-20(TLB)11 And God gave Paul the power to do unusual miracles, 12 so that even when his handkerchiefs or parts of his clothing were placed upon sick people, they were healed, and any demons within them came out. 13 A team of itinerant Jews who were traveling from town to town casting out demons planned to experiment by using the name of the Lord Jesus. The incantation they decided on was this: “I adjure you by Jesus, whom Paul preaches, to come out!” 14 Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish priest, were doing this. 15 But when they tried it on a man possessed by a demon, the demon replied, “I know Jesus and I know Paul, but who are you?” 16 And he leaped on two of them and beat them up, so that they fled out of his house naked and badly injured. 17 The story of what happened spread quickly all through Ephesus, to Jews and Greeks alike; and a solemn fear descended on the city, and the name of the Lord Jesus was greatly honored. 18-19 Many of the believers who had been practicing black magic confessed their deeds and brought their incantation books and charms and burned them at a public bonfire. (Someone estimated the value of the books at $10,000. ) 20 This indicates how deeply the whole area was stirred by God’s message.
Acts 5:12-16(NLT)12 The apostles were performing many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers were meeting regularly at the Temple in the area known as Solomon’s Colonnade. 13 But no one else dared to join them, even though all the people had high regard for them. 14 Yet more and more people believed and were brought to the Lord—crowds of both men and women. 15 As a result of the apostles’ work, sick people were brought out into the streets on beds and mats so that Peter’s shadow might fall across some of them as he went by. 16 Crowds came from the villages around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those possessed by evil spirits, and they were all healed.
We must pray and believe in the power of God’s Word spoken from our mouths. This is the vision—see it as you pray, preach, and minister deliverance..
Acts 14:8-13(NLT)8 While they were at Lystra, Paul and Barnabas came upon a man with crippled feet. He had been that way from birth, so he had never walked. He was sitting 9 and listening as Paul preached. Looking straight at him, Paul realized he had faith to be healed. 10 So Paul called to him in a loud voice, “Stand up!” And the man jumped to his feet and started walking.11 When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in their local dialect, “These men are gods in human form!” 12 They decided that Barnabas was the Greek god Zeus and that Paul was Hermes, since he was the chief speaker.
The quickening power of the gospel brings the supernatural into the natural realm before you. This is the essence of the gospel being preached.
Acts 3:1-11(KJV)Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.2 And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple;3 Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms.4 And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us.5 And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them.6 Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.7 And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.8 And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God:10 And they knew that it was he which sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple: and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him.11 And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon’s, greatly wondering.
Spectacular miracles and prayers that produce it.
Acts 12:1-11(TLB)About that time King Herod moved against some of the believers 2 and killed the apostle James (John’s brother). 3 When Herod saw how much this pleased the Jewish leaders, he arrested Peter during the Passover celebration 4 and imprisoned him, placing him under the guard of sixteen soldiers. Herod’s intention was to deliver Peter to the Jews for execution after the Passover. 5 But earnest prayer was going up to God from the church for his safety all the time he was in prison. 6 The night before he was to be executed, he was asleep, double-chained between two soldiers with others standing guard before the prison gate, 7 when suddenly there was a light in the cell and an angel of the Lord stood beside Peter! The angel slapped him on the side to awaken him and said, “Quick! Get up!” And the chains fell off his wrists! 8 Then the angel told him, “Get dressed and put on your shoes.” And he did. “Now put on your coat and follow me!” the angel ordered. 9 So Peter left the cell, following the angel. But all the time he thought it was a dream or vision and didn’t believe it was really happening. 10 They passed the first and second cell blocks and came to the iron gate to the street, and this opened to them of its own accord! So they passed through and walked along together for a block, and then the angel left him. 11 Peter finally realized what had happened! “It’s really true!” he said to himself. “The Lord has sent his angel and saved me from Herod and from what the Jews were hoping to do to me!”
The gospel is a warehouse of miracles. You can’t separate them
Miracles of Jesus:
Mark 8:22-26(NLT)22 When they arrived at Bethsaida, some people brought a blind man to Jesus, and they begged him to touch the man and heal him. 23 Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. Then, spitting on the man’s eyes, he laid his hands on him and asked, “Can you see anything now?” 24 The man looked around. “Yes,” he said, “I see people, but I can’t see them very clearly. They look like trees walking around.”25 Then Jesus placed his hands on the man’s eyes again, and his eyes were opened. His sight was completely restored, and he could see everything clearly. 26 Jesus sent him away, saying, “Don’t go back into the village on your way home.”
John 5:1-15(NLT)Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days. 2 Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. 3 Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches. 5 One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?” 7 “I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.”8 Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!” 9 Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking! But this miracle happened on the Sabbath, 10 so the Jewish leaders objected. They said to the man who was cured, “You can’t work on the Sabbath! The law doesn’t allow you to carry that sleeping mat!”11 But he replied, “The man who healed me told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.'”12 “Who said such a thing as that?” they demanded.13 The man didn’t know, for Jesus had disappeared into the crowd. 14 But afterward Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, “Now you are well; so stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you.” 15 Then the man went and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had healed him.
Mark 7:31-35(MSG)31 Then he left the region of Tyre, went through Sidon back to Galilee Lake and over to the district of the Ten Towns. 32 Some people brought a man who could neither hear nor speak and asked Jesus to lay a healing hand on him. 33 He took the man off by himself, put his fingers in the man’s ears and some spit on the man’s tongue. 34 Then Jesus looked up in prayer, groaned mightily, and commanded, “Ephphatha! — Open up!” 35 And it happened. The man’s hearing was clear and his speech plain — just like that.
Deut 10:21-22(NLT)21 He alone is your God, the only one who is worthy of your praise, the one who has done these mighty miracles that you have seen with your own eyes. 22 When your ancestors went down into Egypt, there were only seventy of them. But now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky!
Jer 32:27(KJV)27 Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?
