When is the right place and right time to preach the Gospel, and to whom?And what is this Gospel we are supposed to bring?
When the Gospel is to be ministered there are always a number of questions that people come up with to substantiate their unwillingness or indifference.
Typically these include where, who and what?
In this blog post I will be dealing with the where-part.
But before we get to the where-part, I should deal with the what-part.
The what-part
What is the Gospel?
The Gospel is the Good News. The Gospel is the better-than-the-best-news-you-can-ever-hope-for, the news of Jesus Christ as your Saviour.
It is the Good News that says:
You are completely forgiven. (Col 3:13)
You are completely set free. (Rm 6:22)
You have been redeemed from the curse of the law. (Gal 3:13)
You have been sanctified. (Heb 10:10)
You have been made whole, healed and justified. (Rom 5:1)
You have been made Holy. (Heb 10:10)
Is there any bad news in the Good News?
It is the Good News wherein there is NO bad news.
If it contains any bad news, then it is not the news of our Saviour. If it motivates by fear and punishment it is not God's message. The one who motivates by fear is the devil.
If it is bad news, it is the devil's news!
That is why preaching hell-fire and condemnation is not of God. Jesus never did this. Our focus should always be on His Goodness. He is the Good News. Remember our post on being simple concerning evil?
And the application of the Gospel?
Look at this. Whenever Jesus sends His apostles, He sends them (us) with the Good News to start of with.
In each instance when Jesus commissions His disciples He says to begin with the Gospel ... and only thereafter to heal the sick, set the captives free, etc. You can check it out, for real.
In His great commission, just before His ascension, Jesus sends us out in the same fashion, saying Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature ... (Mark 16:15)
The Gospel is the power of God onto Salvation! (Rom 1:16).
How do we get people saved or healed or set free or provided for ...
We give them the Gospel!
Let's dive down to the origin
In Greek the Gospel is euaggelion, which means to bring good news, to announce glad tidings.
It is a compound word from the word eu, meaning to be well off, fare well, prosper and the word aggelos, meaning messenger, envoy, one who is sent, an angel, a messenger/message from God.
Now that we know what exactly the Gospel is, let's turn to the where-part ... within context, that is ...
Jesus made a profound statement about the Gospel and the anointing ...
Wherever
She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying.
Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world,
this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.
And Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went unto the chief priests, to betray him unto them. Mar 14:8-10
What did she do?
Jesus says wheresoever the Gospel of His Salvation is preached, the anointing of the woman will be conveyed.
It is a faithful, prophetic action when this woman applied the embalming medicines to (anointed) Jesus. She treated his body with the anointing ointments, acknowledging His death on the cross. But not just His death ... also His resurrection and what His death accomplished.
How is this possible?
It is possible because it is prophetic. And it conveys the whole of the Gospel.
There are three main purposes for embalming - (1) disinfection, (2) preservation and (3) restoration.
Disinfection is prophetic towards what Jesus did. He took away all sins and made us whole.
Preservation is prophetic towards what Jesus did. He preserved life for all Mankind.
Restoration is prophetic towards what Jesus did. He resorted mankind to it's original purpose to have relationship with Him and to have dominion and rule in the kingdom of God.
It is the anointing
Wherever
She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying.
Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world,
this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.
And Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went unto the chief priests, to betray him unto them. Mar 14:8-10
What did she do?
Jesus says wheresoever the Gospel of His Salvation is preached, the anointing of the woman will be conveyed.
It is a faithful, prophetic action when this woman applied the embalming medicines to (anointed) Jesus. She treated his body with the anointing ointments, acknowledging His death on the cross. But not just His death ... also His resurrection and what His death accomplished.
How is this possible?
It is possible because it is prophetic. And it conveys the whole of the Gospel.
There are three main purposes for embalming - (1) disinfection, (2) preservation and (3) restoration.
Disinfection is prophetic towards what Jesus did. He took away all sins and made us whole.
Preservation is prophetic towards what Jesus did. He preserved life for all Mankind.
Restoration is prophetic towards what Jesus did. He resorted mankind to it's original purpose to have relationship with Him and to have dominion and rule in the kingdom of God.
It is the anointing
Anointing in the Greek is murizō - to anoint the body to apply (perfumed) unguent Probably of foreign origin to treat with myrrh, ointment.
The anointment lives right inside of you. Remember when Jesus was handed the book of Isaiah in the synagogue in Nazareth, He read from Isaiah 61:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he hath anointed me
to preach the gospel to the poor;
he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives,
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty them that are bruised,
To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. (Luk 4:18-21)
Well, the Anointed One lives right inside of you!
Where?
In the church-building?
Whenever we feel anointed?
No!
Wherever!
... Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world ... (Mark 14:9)
Wherever in Greek is hopou, meaning what (-ever) wherever, at whichever spot, in whichever place, where you find yourself.
The Anointed One, God Himself, Who lives inside of you is always ready to bring the better-than-the-best-news-you-can-ever-hope-for to anyone!
You are well-enabled and well-equip to bring this message wherever you go.
No wonder God called for this ministry to be named whereverwhosoever.blogspot.com
Please join me in my next post when I will be dealing with the whosoever-part.