February 27th, 2024
I want to share something that gripped my heart recently. I believe we often overcomplicate the gospel, but Jesus made it simple. He even went so far as to say that we had to become like children to receive it (Mark 10:15). How could a message be so simple that a child could receive it, yet so profound that scholars couldn’t figure it out? It’s because the Gospel is only revealed by the power of the Holy Spirit! When we share the message of Christ to the world, we must carry the power of God, or our message will fall on deaf ears.
2 Corinthians 4:3-4 says,
“And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
It’s only by the power of the Gospel and faith that the veil is removed and people can behold Jesus (2 Corinthians 3:16-19)! The Holy Spirit will confirm the word of God when the Gospel is delivered and that’s something the early church understood!
1 Thessalonians 1:5 says,
“Our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.”
We aren’t meant to just be theologians or good religious people, who talk about a lot of things but do little of consequence. Our knowledge of the word of God must lead to a demonstration of its reality or we’ll just become puffed up in our own understanding. We won’t win the world with arguments about Jesus because the Gospel is folly to those who don’t know Him.
1 Corinthians 1:17-18 says,
“For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
The message of the cross of Christ carries power in and of itself! Our job is to lift Him up and walk in the power of the Holy Spirit, and the He will draw men to repentance! Jesus said in John 12:32,
“I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
Once the veil is removed, we do partake of the wisdom of God and the meat of His word, but that’s not how we win the world.
1 Corinthians 2:6-7 says,
“Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.”
God’s wisdom is far above ours, and we will never exhaust the depths of His Word, but He
makes it accessible to children, because His Word isn’t received with our heads. It’s received by faith in our hearts.
1 John 3:1 says,
“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and, so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.”
One of my favorite modern examples of this is in the lives of TL and Daisy Osborne. The Osbornes were evangelists and missionaries for decades in the 1900s and into the early 2000s. They were truly a demonstration of the Kingdom of God. However, the beginning of their story has always impacted me. They were a young couple with a heart for the nations and they went to India to win the lost. His own account of this experience is so powerful:
‘Daisy and I went to India when we were only twenty and twenty-one years of age. We did not comprehend the miracle part of Christ’s commission. He had said to “go into all the world” (Mark 16:15), and we had obeyed. But His words “these signs shall follow them that believe” (Mark 16:17) were beyond our grasp because we had not yet learned that miracle faith is simply acting on God’s word of promise. Supernatural confirmation of our preaching was not witnessed. We led a few souls to Christ, but for the most part our mission was a disheartening experience for us…Without miracles, there was no way that we could prove to people of other faiths that the Bible is God’s word.’
There was so much religious confusion in India that they couldn’t win souls without a
demonstration of heaven. They returned home from the mission field defeated and began to fast and pray. After a series of events (I really recommend reading their story in its entirety), TL had an encounter with Jesus that changed his life forever and launched their ministry to the nations. His account of the experience is as follows:
“The next morning at six o’clock, Jesus Christ walked into our bedroom. When I saw Him, it
seemed as though all physical strength left my body. I lay there as though paralyzed, unable to move a finger or a toe. Water poured from my eyes, though I was not conscious of weeping. I do not know how long I gazed into His penetrating eyes before He faded from my sight, nor how long it was before I could move from my bed onto the floor where I lay before Him, face down, until the afternoon. When I walked out of our room that day, I was a new man. I had beheld my Master.”
They went back to the mission field differently after that experience and saw mighty results for God’s glory. Throughout their ministry they held crusades in over 90 nations and saw millions come to Christ with thousands of documented miracles, signs, and wonders. The Gospel, without power, wouldn’t convince the religious hearts of India or anywhere else. It’s the Gospel accompanied with His power that wins people to Jesus!
This week, I want to remind you that it is not by might, or by power, but by the Spirit of God (Zechariah 4:6), so that no one can boast (2 Corinthians 12:9). We hold the treasure of God’s kingdom in jars of clay (2 Corinthians 4:7), so that the world may know that His power alone changes lives. This applies to our own lives as well! We can strive to make things happen and push for the breakthroughs we want to see, or we can seek Him, and see His Spirit do what we could never do in our strength! The Gospel of Jesus Christ is as powerful today as it was the moment the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples in the upper room. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in You. The same Holy Spirit that baptized and allowed his shadow to heal the sick is in you. Don’t you want to see and do everything God says you can? His Word still works powerfully and it’s for us!
2 Corinthians 4:3-4 says,
“And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
It’s only by the power of the Gospel and faith that the veil is removed and people can behold Jesus (2 Corinthians 3:16-19)! The Holy Spirit will confirm the word of God when the Gospel is delivered and that’s something the early church understood!
1 Thessalonians 1:5 says,
“Our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.”
We aren’t meant to just be theologians or good religious people, who talk about a lot of things but do little of consequence. Our knowledge of the word of God must lead to a demonstration of its reality or we’ll just become puffed up in our own understanding. We won’t win the world with arguments about Jesus because the Gospel is folly to those who don’t know Him.
1 Corinthians 1:17-18 says,
“For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
The message of the cross of Christ carries power in and of itself! Our job is to lift Him up and walk in the power of the Holy Spirit, and the He will draw men to repentance! Jesus said in John 12:32,
“I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
Once the veil is removed, we do partake of the wisdom of God and the meat of His word, but that’s not how we win the world.
1 Corinthians 2:6-7 says,
“Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.”
God’s wisdom is far above ours, and we will never exhaust the depths of His Word, but He
makes it accessible to children, because His Word isn’t received with our heads. It’s received by faith in our hearts.
1 John 3:1 says,
“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and, so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.”
One of my favorite modern examples of this is in the lives of TL and Daisy Osborne. The Osbornes were evangelists and missionaries for decades in the 1900s and into the early 2000s. They were truly a demonstration of the Kingdom of God. However, the beginning of their story has always impacted me. They were a young couple with a heart for the nations and they went to India to win the lost. His own account of this experience is so powerful:
‘Daisy and I went to India when we were only twenty and twenty-one years of age. We did not comprehend the miracle part of Christ’s commission. He had said to “go into all the world” (Mark 16:15), and we had obeyed. But His words “these signs shall follow them that believe” (Mark 16:17) were beyond our grasp because we had not yet learned that miracle faith is simply acting on God’s word of promise. Supernatural confirmation of our preaching was not witnessed. We led a few souls to Christ, but for the most part our mission was a disheartening experience for us…Without miracles, there was no way that we could prove to people of other faiths that the Bible is God’s word.’
There was so much religious confusion in India that they couldn’t win souls without a
demonstration of heaven. They returned home from the mission field defeated and began to fast and pray. After a series of events (I really recommend reading their story in its entirety), TL had an encounter with Jesus that changed his life forever and launched their ministry to the nations. His account of the experience is as follows:
“The next morning at six o’clock, Jesus Christ walked into our bedroom. When I saw Him, it
seemed as though all physical strength left my body. I lay there as though paralyzed, unable to move a finger or a toe. Water poured from my eyes, though I was not conscious of weeping. I do not know how long I gazed into His penetrating eyes before He faded from my sight, nor how long it was before I could move from my bed onto the floor where I lay before Him, face down, until the afternoon. When I walked out of our room that day, I was a new man. I had beheld my Master.”
They went back to the mission field differently after that experience and saw mighty results for God’s glory. Throughout their ministry they held crusades in over 90 nations and saw millions come to Christ with thousands of documented miracles, signs, and wonders. The Gospel, without power, wouldn’t convince the religious hearts of India or anywhere else. It’s the Gospel accompanied with His power that wins people to Jesus!
This week, I want to remind you that it is not by might, or by power, but by the Spirit of God (Zechariah 4:6), so that no one can boast (2 Corinthians 12:9). We hold the treasure of God’s kingdom in jars of clay (2 Corinthians 4:7), so that the world may know that His power alone changes lives. This applies to our own lives as well! We can strive to make things happen and push for the breakthroughs we want to see, or we can seek Him, and see His Spirit do what we could never do in our strength! The Gospel of Jesus Christ is as powerful today as it was the moment the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples in the upper room. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in You. The same Holy Spirit that baptized and allowed his shadow to heal the sick is in you. Don’t you want to see and do everything God says you can? His Word still works powerfully and it’s for us!
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