Teaching - Preaching the Gospel

'And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Luke 14 :17-21 in the New King James Version

[This is the 42nd lesson of this series]

In this excerpt taken from the Book of Luke, Jesus of Nazareth, full of the Holy Spirit started to preach the good news of the Kingdom of God.

He walked up and down the Judean region, did so for over three years, and left the charge to His disciples, for them to continue the ministry.

Now it isn't uncommon for followers of Christ to lose sight of what Jesus told them to do. Peter did.

Peter had to fail and Jesus had to reinstate (restore) him to lead the cause of Christ to spread the gospel to all the world. John 21

Missing Ingredient

What is generally missing in the church, is the not the preacher (however eloquent they may be) or the congregation (however numerous the have become), but the most important Person, the Holy Spirit.

He is the promised Advocate - Companion, Helper, Defender, Comforter, Teacher, whom Christ said He will send to His followers when He ascended back to heaven.

Peter wasn't able to lead the church, until the Jesus went back to heaven and more importantly, until the Holy Spirit was upon Him. Acts 2

People Are People

People always want to reinvent the wheel, be in charge, be in the spotlight, prove that they've done something, and take the glory.

Whereas the Advocate always points to Christ, will not speak on its own, and is always loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, humble and self-controlled. Galatians 5

The Holy Spirit gives glory to God the Father and God the Son.

The Holy Spirit is the evidence of God's presence. And without Him a church is not a church, a church leader is not a church leader, a church teacher is not a church teacher. And whatever they may be doing for Christ is religion, or tradition, or mere past practices instituted by men and women who follow the ways of this world and the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. 1 John 2:16

Often times, we know better back when we were children, when the world hasn't polluted us just yet.

Apart from God, we can do nothing.