A while back I was having a conversation with a dear brother
in the Lord discussing having “Kingdom Vision” and seeing the big picture. When
to my surprise, a scripture that I had not been meditating on, or even heard a
sermon or teaching on that I could recall, rose up out of my spirit and came
out of my mouth. Since that day however, I think about and meditate on it quite
frequently. I am reminded of a statement that a man of God from my past used to
make: “The main thing is to keep the main thing, the main thing!” Sometimes I
think we lose sight of what the main thing is. This Blog is meant to stir up
your remembrance to the main thing.
“And it came about that when Jesus finished giving
instructions to His twelve disciples, He departed from there to TEACH
and PREACH in their cities. Now when John (the Baptist) in prison HEARD
OF THE WORKS OF CHRIST, he sent word by his disciples, and said to Him,
‘Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?’ And Jesus
answered and said to them, ‘Go and report to John what you hear and see: the BLIND
RECEIVE SIGHT and the LAME WALK, the LEPERS ARE CLEANSED and
the DEAF HEAR, and the DEAD ARE RAISED UP, and the POOR HAVE
THE GOSPEL PREACHED TO THEM.’” Matthew 11:1-5 NASB (emphasis mine)
Several things in this text strike me. First it was John who
boldly declared:
“Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the
world.” John 1:29 NASB
John seemed to be the only person alive at the time of the
beginning of the earthly ministry of Jesus who had a revelation of who He was.
He was also the one who declared:
“After me One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am
not fit to stoop down and untie the thong of His sandals. I baptized you with
water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” Mark 1: 7 & 8
NASB
You would think that John because of being the greatest
prophet under the Old Covenant (see Luke 7: 24-28), next to Jesus, and the
revelation that he walked in, surely understood who Jesus was and what He was
all about. Yet from our text we see that even he had doubts if Jesus was indeed
The Messiah, The Christ, and The Anointed One!
I believe that when John declared: ‘behold the Lamb of God’
he was speaking from the anointing of his office as Prophet; and when he asked
are you the one he was speaking from his depression and flesh while
incarcerated. It could also perhaps be that John became unsure of who Jesus was
because like the other Jews of his day he was looking for The Messiah to come
and deliver them physically from the oppression of the Roman Empire. They were
a people who were more concerned about physical oppression while Jesus was more
concerned about spiritual oppression. Remember the Apostle John wrote in his
Epistle:
“The Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might
destroy the works of the devil.” 1 John 3:8 NASB
Jesus did not come to establish a physical kingdom in His
first coming that will be established in His second coming. They knew that
Messiah would establish a physical kingdom, but did not understand that the
enemy had to be dealt with first, before that physical kingdom could be set up.
They did not have the benefit that we do of Apostolic writings of the New
Covenant like:
“For we not fighting against people made of flesh and
blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against
those mighty powers of darkness who rule this world, and against wicked spirits
in the heavenly realms.” Ephesians 6:12 NLT
So it could be that because
of this John was asking are you really the one? In essence he was saying Jesus,
what is your proof?
The next thing that strikes me is what Jesus said His proof
was. We see the answer to this in the words that He spoke to John’s disciples.
In actuality we could sum up what Jesus said His proof was in two words: POWER
and PREACHING. Notice that the first things that Jesus talks
about are the miracles of healing and deliverance that are taking place in His
ministry. He speaks of healing of the blind, lame, lepers, and deaf while even
the physically dead are being raised. This is always the first proof of Jesus,
the demonstration of the power of God! The second proof was that He was
preaching the Gospel.
I cannot help but wonder if we as the body of Christ in the
earth today are supposed to be carrying out the same ministry that He began
2000 years ago, what would be our proof that we really are His ambassadors. If
Jesus could say His proof was the power of God that He demonstrated and His
preaching of the Gospel, we should be able to say the same thing, however in
most cases I really don’t believe that in reality we could without being guilty
of lying. This should not be! Either the Word of God is true or it isn’t. I
believe we need to go back to the basics of New Testament Christianity and keep
the main thing, the main thing. Jesus said:
“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has
come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all
Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” Acts 1:
8 NASB
Jesus also said:
“Truly, truly I say to you, he who believes in Me, the
works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do;
because I go to the Father.” John 14:12 NASB
Either what Jesus said is true or it isn’t! Where is our
proof?
Unfortunately, I think we have been drawn away from the
basics of things that we used to hold dear and be excited about. We have
allowed culture and intellect to play a greater role in our thinking and
expectancy than the power of God, which should never be! We need to be reminded
of the words of the Apostle Paul:
“My teaching and preaching were not with words of human
wisdom that persuade people but with proof of the power that the Spirit gives.
This was so that your faith would be in God’s power and not in human wisdom.” 1
Corinthians 2:4 & 5 NCV
Jesus said:
“Believe Me when I say that I am in the Father and the
Father is in Me. Or believe because of the miracles I have done.” John
14:11 NCV
The point is simply this, if we don’t preach the Gospel in
the power of the Spirit with signs and wonders accompanying us we have no
proof. Jesus had proof! Most of us don’t! The sad indictment of the body of
Christ that I see in the earth today is that we have in general become the
church that Paul warned his spiritual son Timothy to stay away from:
“Holding to a form of godliness, although they have
denied its power; avoid such men as these.” 2 Timothy 3:5 NASB
Let us purpose in this hour to not be that church anymore.
Let us be like Jesus who boldly declared:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed
Me to preach the Gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the
captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are
downtrodden, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.” Luke 4:18
& 19 NASB
God give us a generation who will in holy boldness preach
the Gospel and demonstrate the Gospel. That is what this world is looking for.
When Jesus commissioned His disciples in Mark chapter 16, He told them to go
preaching everywhere to every creature and to demonstrate God’s power by the
signs that would follow them.
“And they went out and PREACHED everywhere, while
the LORD WORKED WITH THEM, AND CONFIRMED THE WORD BY THE SIGNS THAT FOLLOWED.”
Mark 16:20 NASB (emphasis mine)
Let it be said of us that we have Jesus’ proof, they Preach
the Gospel, and demonstrate God’s Power, for that is New Testament Christianity
at its finest.
