PREACH THE WORD AND HE WILL COME

And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them. —Mark 2:2

Jesus Christ was and is the greatest preacher of the Word of God. His mission and ministry to a lost and dying world were accomplished through the foolishness of preaching: “And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities” (Matthew 11:1). Make no mistake about it: You can not separate Jesus’ power from his anointed preaching, “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” (Luke 4:18).

How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him. —Acts 10:38

How was this power released? Through the foolishness of preaching: Jesus preached the Word. You can be sure that Jesus preached from Isaiah 35:5 that “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.” How do I know this? Because Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Jesus preached this truth and the blind saw and the deaf heard. How is it that we read that under Jesus’ ministry that the lame walked and the dumb spoke? Because Jesus preached the word: “Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert” (35:6).

Thank God that this preaching ministry of Christ is still the bedrock foundation of the church that Jesus is building: “Upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). Luke and the other gospels was an account “of all that Jesus began both to do and teach;” Acts is an account of all that Christ continued to do. When you read of where Peter and Paul preached the “word of the Lord” it was in all spiritual reality Christ himself preaching through them. Paul confirms this when he testifies, “I live, yet not I but Christ liveth in me.”

Any and all church growth “programs” that does not center on “Pentecostal” preaching as the way to grow a church is missing the mark. The preaching of the cross is the power of God and through the foolishness of preaching men are saved. Search the scriptures and you will find that the baptism in the Holy Ghost is all about the tongue of man being “God possessed” to preach the gospel of repentance to a lost and dying world. On the day of Pentecost the Holy Ghost appeared as “cloven tongues of fire and this baptism was immediately manifested: “They spoke with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.” What happened next? This same exact utterance flowed through Peter as lifted up his voice and preached the gospel and three thousand souls were saved. This same “utterance of preaching” was poured out again after the healing of the lame man and five thousand more souls was saved. Read all the book of Act’s and you will see this is God’s blueprint for building the church.

The preaching of the word is the manifestation of Jesus that the church and the world most desperately needs: “But hath in due times manifested his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Savior” (Titus 1:3). Jesus is the Presence of the Living Word of God which is unto us Redemption, Deliverance, Healing, Salvation, Power, and Peace. Preach the Word and He will come! How dare we build according to any other blueprint!