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In other words, Jesus always put preaching and teaching first. Why? Because He knew that “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17); and faith is what connects people with God’s supernatural power. It’s what enabled those who heard and believed the message Jesus preached to receive from Him the healings, miracles and deliverance they needed. Even when Jesus was physically present on earth, He couldn’t do the mighty works of God for people who were in unbelief. (He couldn’t do much of anything for the skeptics in Nazareth, for example.) So, His first priority in ministry, wherever He went, was to produce faith by preaching The WORD. “But Brother Copeland, couldn’t He do that by working signs and wonders too?” No. Signs and wonders don’t produce faith. They attract people so they’ll come and hear the gospel. They serve to confirm The WORD of God that’s being preached. But hearing The WORD itself is what causes faith to come. That’s the reason after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, when the disciples picked up His ministry, they followed the same pattern He did. They put The WORD first. “They went forth, and preached every where,” as Mark 16:20 says, “the Lord working with THEM, and confirming the word with signs following.” Look again at the phrase “the Lord working with THEM.” The word THEM is italicized there because it was added by the translators. It doesn’t appear in the original manuscript. The original text says “the Lord [was] working with and confirming the word.” Do you see the difference? God wasn’t doing miraculous works through the early disciples to confirm them and their ministries. He was confirming the message they were preaching and teaching. He was working with and supernaturally confirming The WORD. Same Message, Same Power What WORD was it exactly those first apostles and disciples preached? They preached the same good news Jesus did. They preached the good news about the Anointed One and His Anointing! You can see that by reading the message Peter preached to the Gentiles in Acts 10. Remember what happened there? Peter was invited to the house of Cornelius, a God-fearing Roman centurion, because Cornelius had been visited by an angel. He’d been instructed by the angel to send for Peter because he had “words” from God. Peter, having been told by God in a vision to set aside his religious prejudices against Gentiles, arrived at the house to find an entire group of them gathered there to hear his message. So he opened his mouth and said: “The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:) That word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout all Judaea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached; 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” (verses 36-38). Think for a moment about how Peter began his message there. He basically said, “I’m preaching to you the same WORD of God that was preached by Jesus. I’m preaching ‘peace by Jesus Christ.’” The word Christ translated into English is the word anointed. We don’t hear it much today, except in the context of the Bible, so we tend to think of it as holy. But really, it’s not. It simply means “to pour over, to smear or rub into.” When I was a kid and got a cold, for example, my mother used to anoint me with Vicks® salve. She would smear it all over my chest, then take a little dab and stick it up my nose. When she was done, I was anointed. I wasn’t any holier. I wasn’t anointed to preach. I was just anointed to smell and not to have a cold. When the Bible talks about Jesus being Anointed, on the other hand, it is referring to something holy because He’s Anointed with the Holy Spirit. After He was baptized by John in the Jordan River, the Person and the power of God’s Spirit was poured over Him and came upon Him to empower Him for supernatural ministry. * * * * article continues on p. 11 * * * * ****************************************** ********** ADVERTISEMENT ********** Timeless revelations from the Spirit of God! For five decades, Kenneth and Gloria Copeland have persevered in their God-given commission to teach the uncompromised message of faith. Although their revelation has grown, the foundational messages remain the same. The Classic Series 8 messages on 1 MP3 disc now $14.99 reg $30 #B191001 kcm.org/mag 1-800-600-7395 (U.S. only) FREE standard shipping included. Offer price valid until Oct. 31, 2019 ******************************************* 10 : BVOV

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