The FULL Gospel

Perhaps you have heard the Gospel, but have you heard the “FULL Gospel”? The Full Gospel or the Four Fold Gospel as some people call it means four things; Jesus is our savior, healer, baptizer in the Holy Spirit, and soon coming king! You may have already been told, Jesus is your savior. The Bible says in John 3:16,

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

The Bible says that all have sinned and have fallen short of God’s glorious standard (Romans 3:23), and that there is not even one person who is righteous in God’s sight (Romans 3:10). Your sin will keep you out of Heaven. It is not God’s will however, that anyone should perish.

He could have left us to die in our sins but instead He sent His Son Jesus Christ to take the punishment for our sins by dying on a cross. Then He rose from the dead proving that He is God, defeating death, and obtaining eternal life for all who put their faith in Him.

They replied, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved-you and your household.”  -Acts 16:31

That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord”, and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  –Romans 10:9

Jesus is our savior. Jesus is also our healer. We have way too many people on our prayer lists. We can trust God to heal us of our infirmities just as much as we can trust Him to forgive our sins. For that matter, healing is just as much a part of salvation as forgiveness is. Healing is part of the atonement! Psalm 103:2-3 says,

Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits- who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases.

God doesn’t just forgive your sins, He heals ALL your diseases. Healing is part of the Gospel. If healing isn’t being preached when the Gospel is being preached, then only part of the Gospel is being preached. The same scripture that says, “He was pierced for our transgressions” also says, “by His wounds we are healed”. Matthew 8:16-17 says,

When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases.”

Jesus didn’t just carry your sins to Calvary, He carried your infirmities and diseases. Jesus is your savior, and Jesus is your healer. Jesus is also your baptizer in the Holy Spirit. When a person gets saved, the Holy Spirit comes to live in their hearts, but there is another experience separate and after salvation called the “Baptism in the Holy Spirit.”

This experience is given to all believers by Jesus so we can be empowered to be His witnesses.

I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.  –Luke 24:49

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. –Acts 1:8

My life changed when I became a follower of Jesus Christ. But my relationship was transformed when He baptized me in His Holy Spirit. It was like being completely immersed and overwhelmed with the Spirit’s presence and power. My prayer life became fervent and full of life. The Word became alive, and I was filled with a passion and zeal for the Lord and to reach the lost. I spoke in tongues which is the initial physical evidence of the Spirit’s baptism (Acts 2:4. Acts 10:44-46. Acts 19:7). If you have not received this “second blessing” you have no idea what you are missing. Seek Him today!

Jesus is your savior, healer, baptizer in the Holy Spirit, and He also is your soon coming king.  This world is getting darker and darker every day. The news is getting more and more gloomy. Violence is not only spreading, but increasing in severity. A couple decades ago, school shootings rarely happened. Now they happen multiple times every year.

Sin and immorality is running rampant in our society. War is breaking out everywhere it feels like. Earthquakes and diseases seem to be increasing. We have hope in all this turmoil.
For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and remain will be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air and so we will be with the Lord forever.  -1st Thessalonians 4:16-17
The word Gospel means “Good News”. Jesus as savior is good news for our souls. Jesus as healer is good news for our bodies. Jesus as baptizer in the Holy Spirit is good news for our calling. Jesus as soon coming king is good news for our world and its future. Don’t settle for a partial Gospel. Make sure you are hearing, believing, and proclaiming the FULL Gospel!

The Reason for Signs and Wonders

We all love some “good preaching”, but how do we know it's true? God left us His holy Word to teach, rebuke, correct, and train us (2nd Timothy 3:16), but did He also leave a way to confirm that Word? He most certainly did; miracles, signs, and wonders.

Before the Lord Jesus left this earth, He commanded His disciples to go preach the good news to all creation (Mark 16:15). After He said this, He said that certain “signs” would accompany the work.

“And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well”.  -Mark 16:17-18

After the Lord Jesus ascended into heaven, these “signs” were given to confirm the preaching.

“Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.”  -Mark 16:20

Notice that signs and wonders did two things when it came to the preaching of the Word; they confirmed the Word, and they accompanied the Word. This continued in the book of Acts.

“Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.”  -Acts 2:43

“So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders.”  -Acts 14:3

When the Word is preached, we know it is true because the Lord confirms it with signs and wonders (Hebrews 2:4). What makes a sermon great? Diligent preparation? Eloquent speaking? Great communication skills? Illustrations that connect the hearers with the message? What about the ability to make the Word relevant and applicable to everyday life? Personally I want to be able to say what what the Apostle Paul said,

“My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power”  -1st Corinthians 2:4

Let me ask you, when you hear the Word preached, is it a “demonstration of the Spirit’s power”, or just a “good sermon”? Does God confirm the Word with signs and wonders? When the Word is preached, signs should follow just as Jesus said they would.

Educator and Assemblies of God Executive Presbyter D.W. Kerr said, “A signless gospel is a spineless gospel.” When someone walks into your church, they come hungry for a word from the Lord that will change their life. If we are not allowing the Holy Spirit to supernaturally use us and display His power in our services, our preaching will be empty and fruitless, and so will their response to our message. If we allow the Holy Spirit to move however, their response will be like those who heard Philip.

When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said. With shrieks, evil spirits came out of many, and many paralytics and cripples were healed. So there was great joy in that city. –Acts 8:6-8

I am personally believing that will happen for Columbia, Tyrrell County, and all of Eastern NC. When we preach with the Spirit’s power, and allow the Lord to confirm His Word with miracles, signs, and wonders, the multitudes will pay close attention to the Gospel and there WILL be GREAT JOY in this city!

This community, which others have said is a “dying community” will experience the resurrection power of Christ and suddenly be a LIVING community! Join me in this prayer saints; Lord, enable your servants to speak your Word with boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and do many miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your Son Jesus Christ! Amen.