Billy Joe Daugherty - The demonstration of the gospel

CONTENTS

What is the Gospel?

The Gospel is good news. In one word, the Gospel is Jesus. In three words, it is God loves you. In five words, it is Jesus died for your sins. John 3:16 puts the Gospel in one verse: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

After Jesus had been tempted of the devil for 40 days, He came to His hometown of Nazareth and went into the synagogue. He took the book of the prophet Isaiah, and He began to read the passage that most clearly explains the Gospel.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me , because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

Luke 4:18-19

The Gospel is a message that produces change. The Gospel is not merely knowledge. The Gospel saves. It heals. It delivers. The Gospel is an action-filled message. The Gospel does something in people's lives. It produces God's desire and original purpose for us.

Tragically, through the centuries, the Gospel has been reduced in many groups to a ritual. It is a form with no power in this style of presentation. As a result, the message has become a dead letter to those hearing it. They see no life or light in the theories and intellectual declarations of those rejecting the miraculous power of God for today.

The disciples in the book of Acts presented the Gospel, not only in a message, but in demonstration. Signs, wonders and miracles followed these first believers, and the church exploded in power and glory. Multitudes were added to the church as they both heard and saw the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

We must return to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel Jesus proclaimed was not only spoken , but it was also demonstrated.

Now Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.

Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them.

Matthew 4:23-24

Notice that Jesus did not just teach and preach. He also healed and delivered the people. He proclaimed the Gospel and then He demonstrated it. To simply proclaim the message and not do it is somewhat like describing a delicious meal to a starving man, yet not giving him anything to eat. God wants people to experience His Kingdom, not just hear about it.

Heaven is a wonderful place where there will be no devil and no sickness. We are going to live with Jesus forever in this wonderful place where there will be no more tears. However, the Gospel benefits are not limited to the time after you die. The good news is that Jesus came that you might have life and have it more abundantly right here on earth in the now of your existence (John 10:10).

The message of the Gospel produces faith in the heart of believers when it is preached as God's Word for today. It is possible to extract faith from people's hearts when preaching that miracles are not for today. However, if the Word is simply preached as it is written, faith will come in hearts to believe and receive the message. The message then is the catalyst for the demonstration. The demonstration is a natural byproduct or end result of the word of faith being preached. The two go together.

Jesus is AliveToday!

Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel.

Timothy 2:8

...He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days...

Acts 1:3

Jesus is alive and doing well! He is no longer in the tomb, but rather, He is released into all believers by the power of the Holy Spirit. His parting words, ...I am with you always, even to the end of the age... (Matthew 28:20) let us know that we are not serving a dead God.

Jesus is not just a figure who lived in history.

He is not just a symbol to place on jewelry.

He is not merely a stained glass figure.

Jesus is not a dead religion.

He is not a philosophy.

He is not a denomination.

JESUS IS

...declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.

Romans 1:4

HE IS ALIVE!

HERE AND NOW!

Since He is alive today, He is still speaking and doing the same things He spoke and did in the time that He walked the earth almost 2,000 years ago.

JESUS CHRIST IS THE SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND FOREVER

Hebrews 13:8

He hasn't changed a bit in His desire for human beings to know and experience the good news. To know something but not act on it is virtually useless. This is why so many have rejected a watered-down half-Gospel that only gives the information, but makes no effort to see that Gospel applied to a person's life.

The Gospel is the Power of God

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.

Romans 1:16

The Gospel is the power of God. It is right now the power of God. It is not just words alone; it is the power of God. The Gospel message contains the power of God. No wonder signs, wonders and miracles follow the preaching of the Gospel. The power of God is released when the Gospel is preached with authority.

The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation. The miracle of the new birth takes place when the Gospel is preached . Faith comes in people listening to the Gospel to believe they can be forgiven, cleansed, and received into God's Kingdom . To proclaim the message and not encourage the hearers to release their faith is aborting the process of the Gospel. The Gospel by design is intended to produce the very truth it expounds in the life of the listener.

Salvation includes forgiveness of sin, deliverance from Satan's bondage, healing of sickness, freedom from oppression and provision of the abundant life in the Kingdom of God. The Gospel is the power of God unto the salvation benefit of healing, deliverance, and provision as well as the new birth. As the Gospel is preached in all its fullness, there will be a demonstration of all the benefits of salvation.

The demonstration of the Gospel will occur where people believe. The Gospel ...is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes...

You must believe the Gospel to see its power released in your life.

A Miracle Testimony

While preaching at an international conference in April of 1989, we witnessed the mighty demonstration of the Gospel. Each night as we preached the Word of God and prayed for the people, God confirmed the Word with signs and wonders.

During the first service on Sunday night, a lady with rheumatoid arthritis for 13 years stood for prayer. She was unable to raise her arms or bend her knees. She moved about with great pain and difficulty. As Sharon sang and I prayed from the platform, believers nearby laid hands on her. The healing power of God went through her body removing the arthritis and releasing movement in the legs and arms. She came forward that night and testified of what had happened. Before we left the conference several days later, word was relayed to us that she was still healed and testifying of what great things God had done for her. Hallelujah!

THE GOSPEL BY DESIGN IS INTENDED TO PRODUCE THE VERY TRUTH IT EXPOUNDS IN THE LIFE OF THE LISTENER.

PROCLAMATION BRINGS DEMONSTRATION!