The Gospel Is Always a Blessing - Click Here to Download the PDF Version

 

BIOGRPAHY OF DOYLE DAVIDSON

Doyle Davidson was born on a farm near Sarcoxie, Missouri in 1932. He served as a hospital corpsman in the United States Navy during the Korean War, spending 27 months in Yokosuka, Japan. After his return to the states he was one of thirty students admitted to the University of Missouri, School of Veterinary Medicine in 1958. In August, just prior to entering veterinary school, he was rotating the tires on his car and the presence of God fell upon him and he heard, "I don't want you to be a veterinarian, I want you to be a minister of the gospel." He did not obey God that day and went on to receive a doctorate in veterinary medicine. He moved to north Texas and established a successful equine veterinary practice.

In 1968 God moved in Doyle's life and for two years, the presence of the Lord rode in his car asking him when he was going to preach the gospel. The Lord directed him in 1969 to sell his hospital and practice and obey him. January 2nd, 1970, the sale was finalized, and he drove away not knowing where he was going. Although born again as a small boy, Jesus became Lord of his life that day and he was subsequently baptized in water and the Holy Spirit.

God sent him to Israel in 1974, anointing him to preach the gospel at the Garden Tomb, June 16th, with Acts 1:8 burning in his heart. In 1980, God instructed Doyle to speak to the people of Plano, Texas. He established Water of Life Ministries, and in 1982, closed his veterinary practice.

Doyle is called as a servant and apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. In 2017 the Lord said to him, "I have chosen you, sent you, to the four corners of the earth to deliver my word without despair or fear."

INTRODUCTION

In November 1988, I received a request from a pastor in Africa for some of our tapes. God directed me to send 10 teaching tapes, and I did. We received an additional eight requests for tapes in November and December 1988, and we received 6,000 requests in 1989. Through June 1990, we have sent over 88,000 hours of teaching and worship tapes to 9,000 people in the United States of America and 18 foreign countries.

In August 1989, God directed me to make available on tape the teachings He has given me on "The Gospel and Its Benefits" and "The Blood of Jesus." Since August 1989, we have sent, free of charge upon request, one tape each month for 20 months, beginning with the first tape in the series--"He Rose Again."

God has now directed me to put the teachings from "The Gospel and Its Benefits" and "The Blood of Jesus" in book form and to distribute these books--again, without charge upon request. In I Corinthians 9:9-18, the apostle Paul says:

For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care of oxen (v. 9)?

Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope (v. 10).

If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things (v. 11)?

If others be partakers of this power over you, are not we rather? Nevertheless we have not used this power; but suffer all things, lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ (v. 12).

Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar (v. 13)?

Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel (v. 14).

But I have used none of these things: neither have I written these things, that it should be so done unto me: for it were better for me to die, than that any man should make my glorying void (v. 15).

For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel (v. 16)!

For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me (v. 17).

What is my reward then? Verily that, when I preach the gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that I abuse not my power in the gospel (v. 18).


That is what God has instructed me to do--make the gospel of Christ without charge.

God has revealed these teachings to me over the last 20 years. If you have ears to hear, lay aside your religious pride, your religious tradition, your tradition of man, your denominationalism, your theology, and your bible school teachings. I Corinthians 8:1 tells us that knowledge puffeth up, but charity, or love, edifieth. II John 6 states: "This is love, that we walk after his commandments." And John 14:23 states: "If a man love me, he will keep my words."

If you love God, you will keep His words. If you keep His words, you will keep His commission, and if you keep His commission, you will preach the gospel. If you preach the gospel, God will send you, and if God sends you, you will preach the gospel.

If you preach the gospel, it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes--to the Jew first and also to the Greek. "For therein [the gospel] is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by [His] faith (Romans 1:16-17, quoting Habakkuk 2:4)."

 

 

CHAPTER 1

THE GOSPEL IS A BLESSING



I want to begin by saying that the gospel is always a blessing. In our earlier book, "He Rose Again," we learned that the gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. We also learned that it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes. Now, I want you to know that the gospel is always a blessing.

In Romans 15:29, the apostle Paul said:

And I am sure that, when I come unto you, I shall come in the fulness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ.

Do you see that? The "fulness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ." The gospel is a blessing.

Now, if the gospel is a blessing, then if God makes you sick, sickness must be a blessing. This is not true. God does not make you sick.

One time I heard a preacher ask, "If sickness is a blessing, why are you trying to get well?" Good question, isn't it?

So, the gospel is always a blessing. It is always with power. And it is always "yes." It is very simple. Remember these three things, and you can tell whether you are listening to or seeing the gospel.



CHAPTER 2

THE GRACE OF CHRIST



If the gospel is always a blessing, then we need to be able to recognize the gospel so that we can understand God's blessing. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul is writing to a church that has departed from the gospel. We are going to look at what Paul said to them.

In Galatians 1:6-7, he says:

I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another;...

Notice what he says here: "The grace of Christ." The Galatians were removed from the grace of Christ into another gospel, which is not another.

What was that other gospel? John 1:17 states:

For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

Can you see this? The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. The law is not grace. The law is not truth. The law is the "another gospel" Paul speaks of, which is not another.

Look at Galatians 1:6-7 again:

I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another;...

What happened to these people? How were they removed from the gospel? Galatians 3:1 tells us that they were foolish and did not obey the truth. They started out in the Spirit and were ministering faith, but they put themselves under the law--under the Ten Commandments.

Some That Trouble You

Galatians 1:7 continues: "...But there be some that trouble you..." Isn't that amazing? People trouble you who preach anything but the gospel.

The church is troubled by false teachings such as: "God does not heal;" "God does not cast out devils;" "God does not want you to be prosperous;" "God will not forgive all your sins; He wants you to keep two or three of them around to remind you how bad you were."

I was talking to someone about forgiveness of sins, and the Spirit of God told me to show her Isaiah 43 and 44--to show her that God has blotted out our transgressions. So I did. I was as nice as I could be.

She said, "You're treading on holy ground." I said, "I know, I just read you holy words."

She started telling me how you cannot be forgiven. You always had to be reminded of your transgressions. I spent about 45 minutes speaking the words of God to her, and I convinced her to believe the Bible. People who teach another gospel trouble you.

I Corinthians 15:1-4 tells us that the gospel is that Jesus died, He was buried, and He rose again the third day. The gospel is not: "Thou shall not commit adultery;" "Thou shall not steal;" "Thou shall not bear false witness;" "Thou shall have no other gods before thee;" "Honor thy father and mother." That is not the gospel.

The gospel is this: Jesus died, He was buried, and He rose again the third day. He is seated at the right hand of the Father. Further, God raised you and me with Jesus, and we are seated in heavenly places in Him, this day.

We are at the right hand of the Father in Jesus, far above powers, principalities, dominions, and wicked spirits. In addition, Jesus is making intercession for us today. That is the gospel.


Removed Unto Another Gospel

Paul said in Galatians 1:6-7:

I marvel that ye are so soon removed from the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another;...

In other words, they started out in the gospel, and they went back under the law--under the Ten Commandments. The United States of America may have started out in the gospel, but it has gone back to the Ten Commandments. America is trying to practice the law.

I heard an evangelist say that America's problem is guilt. The reason America's problem is guilt is that he and other ministers of this nation, all my life, have preached, "Thou shall not!"

If they will preach that Jesus died, and He was buried, and He rose again, they will learn that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. I love that man. I love you. I love you enough to read you the Bible that you say you believe every word of.

Why don't you believe it? It is written on a fifth grade level. It does not take a lot of intelligence to read the Bible. It just takes humility. God grants grace to the humble, and He resists the proud all day long. And religious people are proud.


Be a Servant of Christ

Look at Galatians 1:10:

For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

That is powerful, isn't it? God said that if you are going to please men, you cannot be His servant.

If you preach the Baptist doctrine, the Methodist doctrine, the Pentecostal doctrine, if you preach prosperity or healing because it pleases some, Galatians 1:10 tells us that you should not be the servant of Christ.

If you preach the gospel--that Jesus died, He was buried, and He rose again--you are preaching Jesus' words. If you preach John 8:31-32--that if you continue in His word, then you shall be His disciples indeed, and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free--you are preaching Jesus' words.

If instead you preach religious words--traditions of man--you have made the gospel of Jesus Christ of none effect. And if we do that, He said that you and I have no business being a servant of Christ.



CHAPTER 3

THE GOSPEL BY REVELATION



Paul received the revelation of the gospel for the Gentiles. He received it by the Spirit of God. He received it into his spirit as the Spirit of God revealed it to him. It was not taught to him by man. And he received the entire counsel of God.

In Galatians 1:11-12, Paul says:

But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man (v. 11).

For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ (v. 12).


I thank God that He revealed the gospel to Paul by His Spirit and did not have Jesus teach it to him while Jesus was here in the flesh. There was a time in my life when I thought a man in the flesh needed to teach me the things of God. It amazed me to think that Paul received all his epistles by revelation from the Spirit of God to his spirit and that he wrote them all down.

Look at Galatians 1:12 again:

For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.

I can truthfully tell you that I have not been to any man's Bible school. I have not sat at the feet of any man but Jesus. I have been taught the Word by Him.

No man made me. God did. He revealed the gospel to me. And I know one thing. I know the Man I serve.

Traditions of Man

That Man, Jesus, was raised from the dead, after He descended into hell for you and for me, and He makes intercession for us today. Galatians 1:8 says that if we preach any other gospel than the gospel of Christ, we will be accursed. Denominations are cursed because they preach man's tradition. They preach another gospel, which is not another.

Denominations need to repent of their pride, their rebellion, their traditions of man, and their doubt and unbelief. Denominations need to come humbly to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, fall on their faces before Him, and say, "God forgive me for my pride and my tradition of man, for my arrogance, and my self-esteem, and for my intellectual knowledge of the gospel," which is not the gospel. If they do, God will forgive them and set them free.

You may ask, "What makes you think you can teach this?" I cannot. It is Jesus in me Who teaches it. I can only say what Paul said in Galatians 2:20:

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

He is the One Who is speaking out of me. These are not my words. I am not a gift to the human race. I am not a gift to the church. I am only a servant of the Most High God!


You Can Hear God

Paul received the gospel by the revelation of Jesus Christ. The reason that amazed me is that I was so blinded by the god of this world--Satan--that I could not hear revelation from God. Now, God can talk to me for hours. I hear God talking to me all the time. I can be writing letters or taking a walk, and God will be speaking to me. He talks to me all the time.

I was at a meeting in Denton, Texas, and a Spirit-filled Christian said, "I despise people who have a pipeline to heaven." Today, I would stand up and say, "Glory be to God, here is one you despise, because I have a pipeline to heaven!" I would be that bold.

I want the devil to know that I can hear God. You can, too. John 10:27 says, "My sheep hear my voice." If there is anything I have taught people, it is that they can hear God.

I have a friend in Denton, Texas, whom I have not taught in any Bible study since 1975. He said to me recently, "If there is anything I learned from you, it is this, that I can hear God." Anyone can hear God.



CHAPTER 4

CURSES FOR PREACHING ANOTHER GOSPEL



Galatians 1:7 concludes: "...But there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ."

People that teach the Ten Commandments pervert the gospel. People that teach, "Jesus does not heal," pervert the gospel.

Paul continued in Galatians 1:8-9:

But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed (v. 8).

As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed (v. 9).


Curses come from preaching any other gospel. Anything that is not the gospel of Jesus Christ brings curses into your life. That ought to be read in every church in the United States of America every Sunday morning.

A man who preaches, "God does not heal," is cursed. A man who preaches, "God cannot forgive all sins," is cursed. A man who preaches "God does not offer divine prosperity," is cursed. The reason he is cursed is that healing, forgiveness, and prosperity are all benefits of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

How many of us have heard, "God does not cast devils out; God does not heal; God does not prosper us; The only thing God does is save you"? That is what we were taught. The people who taught those things are cursed. They are cursed.

Many preachers and theologians in the United States of America are cursed because they have taught doctrines that are not the gospel. If you can read this and believe, it ought to frighten you enough that you never teach anything other than what is in the Bible. I hope I can convince you of that.


Who Hath Bewitched You?

Look at what Paul says in Galatians 3:1:

O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you,...

Here is a Spirit-filled church bound up by witchcraft.

...Who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth?

What does witchcraft do? Witchcraft keeps you from obeying the Word of God.

Any time a spirit tries to lead you away from the Word of God, it is a spirit of witchcraft. It does not make any difference in whom it is operating. It is there solely to seduce your faith and take you away from the truth.

There are many spirits preaching in the church today, seducing the faith of God's people. Many of them. And you will hear them.

After God has opened your eyes and ears, those spirits will be evident to you. When you get the Word of God in your heart, you will hear them speaking all the time, because they are on every corner, trying to seduce your faith.


Obey the Truth

In Galatians 3:1, Paul told these people that they were foolish, that they were bewitched, and that they were not obeying the truth. Do you want to know what the truth is? It is the gospel. In John 14:6, Jesus said: "I am the way, the truth, and the life."

In Mark 1:14-15, Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, "Repent ye, and believe the gospel." Repent and believe the gospel. Have another mind--change your will--and believe that Jesus died, He was buried, and He rose again the third day.

When Jesus preached the gospel, He had not even died. He still said to believe. "Repent ye, and believe [that I died, and was buried, and rose again the third day]." The church has not believed it yet. Preachers still have not believed.

Do you know what preachers say? "Repent! Repent! Repent, you sinners!" Jesus did not say that. He said, "Repent ye, and believe the gospel."

Do you know what preachers say? "Repent, and join my church. Get into a good Bible teaching church." They are so deceived.

Jesus said, "Repent ye, and believe [that I died, was buried, and rose again the third day]." That is all you are required to believe. Did you know that? Thank God!

You do not even have to believe that you are a sinner. Merely believe that Jesus died, was buried, and rose again.

Did you know that people in the churches of the United States of America have never heard this message? All they have ever heard is, "You are involved in pornography, you are involved in liquor, you are involved in this and that." They have never heard, "Repent and believe the gospel."

Jesus said to repent and believe the gospel because the gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation. The truth that Jesus died, He was buried, and He rose again is the ability of God unto salvation to you who will believe.

You can believe that you are a sinner. You can believe that beer is wrong, that pornography is wrong, and that all those other things are wrong. It does not do you any good. It will not get you anywhere.

If you will believe that Jesus died, He was buried, and He rose again, it will get you to heaven. Not only that, but it is the power of God unto salvation while you live on earth. That is nice to know. Praise be to God!



CHAPTER 5

HEARING OF FAITH



In Galatians 3:2, Paul reminded the Galatians how they received the Holy Spirit:

This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

Did you receive the Holy Spirit by sitting in your church pews, saying, "Thou shall not covet; Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy; Thou shall not murder; Thou shall not steal; Thou shall not commit adultery; Thou shall have no other gods before me"?

Did you get the Holy Spirit by the works of the law? Of course not. You received the Holy Spirit by the hearing of faith.

You may say, "Well, Doyle, are you saying that we can disobey the law?" No, I am not telling you that. I am telling you that if you walk in the Spirit, you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Look at Galatians 5:16 and Romans 8:1 and 8:4 for yourself.

Continue with Galatians 3:3:

Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

The law operates in the flesh. The Holy Spirit comes through faith.

Look at verse 4:

Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain.

"If it be yet in vain." Thank God, there is still a chance. There is still hope. Religious televangelists and preachers in the United States of America taught you and me from our youth, saying "Thou shall not, thou shall not"! Well, my friend, "Thou shall not" has done nothing but bring this nation into bondage and caused us to commit more sin.

The fact is, bringing you to a knowledge of sin is exactly what the law was intended to do. If you knew the Bible, you would know that to teach people the law--to teach them "Thou shall not"--makes them sin more. Read Romans chapter 7 for yourself.

Thank God that we can repent. Thank God that if we are confused, we can turn around and go on. That is what I am teaching you.


Working of Miracles

The Holy Spirit comes by the hearing of faith. So does the working of miracles. In Galatians 3:5, Paul asked:

He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

The answer is obvious--by hearing of faith. All you have to do is say, "Thank you, Jesus, for working miracles," and He works miracles every time. That is the way Jesus works.

One time, Jesus said to me, "I want you to see how I fed four and five thousand people." I saw in Matthew chapters 14 and 15 that He took the fish and the loaves, looked up and blessed them and gave thanks, and then He divided them.

I said, "Why didn't you show us the rest of your prayer? Why didn't you record the prayer you prayed?" I could not believe that anyone could take a piece of fish, look up and say, "Thank you, Father," and start feeding people.

I was a hypocrite when it came to praying. I thought that you needed to speak at least 20 words. Jesus just said, "Thank you, Father," and started feeding the people.

I have learned since then. I say, "Thank you, Father, for working miracles. Thank you for healing. Thank you for the Holy Spirit. Thank you for prosperity. Thank you for forgiveness." That is my prayer. I do not have long prayers anymore. I just thank God. What happens? My prayers work. And that is what Jesus is saying here.

Have you ever gone out and said, "Well, today I want Jesus to heal," and you preach the law--you preach, "I want you not to commit adultery; I want you not to steal; I want you not to bear false witness; I want you not to covet; I want you not to have any other gods before you," and all of a sudden people were healed? Has that ever happened? No! It has not.

But have you ever laid hands on the sick and said, "Thank God that with His stripes, I was healed," and people were healed? Did they get healed when you did that? Yes, absolutely! Do you know why? Because healing is in the gospel and because the gospel brings faith. And without faith, it is impossible to please God.

Religious people have so many things that you cannot do if you want God to bless you. "You cannot do this. You cannot do that. You better not do this. If you do this you are going to get sick. If you do that you are going to die. God won't like you. He will cut you off." They have more "Thou shall not's" than you can think of.

Jesus fed 5000 men by simply saying, "Thank you." When I realized that, I said, "It is easier to remember _Thank you_ than it is to remember all the _Thou shall not's_." So I took the easy way out. But believe me, it was not easy to get the religion out of me.



CHAPTER 6

CURSED UNDER THE LAW



The Holy Spirit ministers by the hearing of faith, not by the works of the law. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God--the gospel. The only thing that comes by the works of the law is a curse. Look at Galatians 3:10:

For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse.

Religionists have put the United States of America under the curse, because they preach, "You cannot drink, you cannot smoke, you cannot curse, you cannot do this, you cannot eat that." The devil has the church of America blinded.

Preachers say, "You cannot eat red meat." But Abraham's servant killed a calf in the heat of the day, Sarah prepared it for Jesus, and He ate it. Look at Genesis 18:7-8. Jesus is my example. If He ate red meat, so can I.

There are many other seducing doctrines: "We cannot do this, we cannot do that." Do you know why? Those doctrines are the works of the law--the deeds of the law.

People in the United States of America are so bound up with the deeds of the law that they are under the curse. The more we hear "Thou shall not," the more ill this nation becomes.

The reason Christians build medical centers is that Christians believe, "Thou shall not." The reason there are so many physicians in this land is that Christians believe, "Thou shall not." The reason there are so many lawyers and courts is that Christians believe, "Thou shall not, or cannot unless I tell you to." Christians do not know the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

I once heard a Baptist lawyer from Houston, Texas, arguing in favor of the inerrancy of the Bible. Simply believe the Bible instead. If you are a lawyer, you ought to be able to read. You are supposed to be educated enough to read simple language. Read the Bible, which is written on a fifth grade level, and believe it.

The reason you do not believe the Bible is that you have been so blinded by the god of this world--by your education, your arrogance, your pride, and your intellect--that you cannot even read the simple gospel: that Jesus died, and He was buried, and He rose again.

Instead, you believe the law--that everyone who drives over 55 miles per hour will get a ticket; that everyone who eats certain foods will get cancer or high cholesterol or have a coronary attack; that every woman who eats certain foods and takes certain drugs is subject to certain types of cancer in her body.

The medical profession in the United States says it will not advertise, but it advertises fear, doubt, and unbelief for the sake of public health: "You better have your X-ray; you better have your checkup; you better have your blood pressure checked." You hypocrites, admit that you say those things for nothing but money. You know it, and I know it, because I was in medicine myself.

Do not try to deceive God. You cannot even deceive me. Everyone who is under the works of the law is under the curse.


Under the Curse

You should not want to be under the law. You have been taught the law in your favorite church and in your favorite denomination, but you should not want to be there. It brings a curse to you.

The fact is, though, that you do not want to believe that Jesus died, and was buried, and rose again for you on the third day. You do not want to believe that His body was made a sacrifice for sin, that the exchange is His righteousness for our sin, His riches for our poverty, His health for our sickness. You do not want to hear that. You want to believe everyone with a Ph.D. or two, even though they cannot even read the Bible written on a fifth grade level.

Lord God, have mercy on America--have mercy on the people in this prideful nation, who cannot believe simple statements which challenge their intellect and their preeminence. Let me say to you, as God spoke to Paul in I Corinthians 15:25, that Jesus Christ shall reign until He puts down all rule, all authority, and all power.

That word "rule" means to be preeminent. Jesus will put down every Ph.D. He will put down every professor and every college. He will put down every judge. He will put down the Supreme Court. He will put down every person who has preeminence, who has a law or word that is above the Word of the living God.

Do not fool yourself, America. Jesus has come to visit you. He will visit you in a way that you will not like. However, if you will humble yourself and receive His instruction, it will be life to your flesh.

Jesus loves you. He died for you. He was buried. He rose again the third day. He is seated at the right hand of the Father making intercession for our rebellion.

I was just as rebellious and arrogant as you. You say, "You still are." That is your opinion, but that is not God's. God grants grace to the humble, and He resists the proud. And He has not started resisting what I say. He has blessed me and encouraged me in the things that I teach. And I will continue to teach as He continues to bless me.

I want to teach you about God's blessing. God is trying to correct the human race. He loves you. He loves you enough to raise someone like me, to take my life and break it into pieces, and to show the gospel to me, to reveal to me the mystery of God, and then to cause me to speak it to the world.


All Nations Shall Be Blessed

Genesis 12:1-3 states:

Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee (v. 1):

And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing (v. 2):

And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee:...(v. 3).


Do you believe that? Praise God! Do you believe that you will be blessed if you bless those who walk in the steps of faithful Abraham? Do you believe that you will be cursed if you curse them? Well, Jesus said it, and you would be smart to believe it.

Look at the rest of verse 3:

...And in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

Jesus said, "In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." You have probably never realized that this is the gospel. Paul says so in Galatians 3:8:

And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.

Notice two things here. First, notice that justification comes through faith, not through the law. Second, notice that God preached the gospel to Abraham before He justified the heathen through faith.

What is the gospel?

...In thee shall all nations be blessed (v. 8).

That is the gospel. The gospel is a blessing. God announced the gospel to Abraham in Genesis 12:3. He preached the gospel beforehand, because He knew that in Abraham everyone would be blessed. He knew that you and I would be blessed through faith.


Blessed with Faithful Abraham

Galatians 3:7 says:

They which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.

Verse 9 says:

So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.

If we do not have faith, we are not going to be blessed. We cannot be blessed by the works of the law. We will never be blessed by the works of the law.

Faith will bless your house. The works of the law will curse you. God did not bring the law for some 450 years after Abraham. He gave the law to Moses, and He brought it for one reason: to be our schoolmaster--to bring us to Jesus.

The law is intended to be our tutor, our guardian, and our manager and to bring us to Jesus. After we come to Him, we are no longer under the schoolmaster. The law shuts up faith!

Teaching the Law is Witchcraft

Preachers in the United States of America have taught us the law. They taught me the law when I was in church. I learned the Ten Commandments. I recited them.

I grew up in a Christian home. My mother and father are both over 80 years old, and both of them have been born again for over 60 years. My mother has Baptist roots, and my father has Methodist roots.

I was taught the law--the Ten Commandments. The school that I attended in Missouri had the Ten Commandments posted on the walls in more than one classroom.

It was an act of God for the United States Supreme Court to declare unconstitutional the requirement that the Ten Commandments be posted in classrooms. Do you know why He caused that to happen? He took away the law and the Ten Commandments that He might establish Christ. It was the mercy of God on this land that He used the Supreme Court to take away the law.

The religious people in this nation came against the Supreme Court and have come against God. They do not know the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They cannot even read the Bible they preach and say they believe every word of.

Why? Because they have departed from the living way, and they have been bewitched. Bewitched! As Galatians 3:1 states: "Who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth?"

The church of America is bound by witchcraft. One of the greatest blessings that could happen to America would be for God to change this nation's attitude toward the Ten Commandments and the law. God told me that. I did not say it. He did. Praise God!



CHAPTER 7

TURN US FROM OUR INIQUITIES


God told Abraham that in him all families of the earth would be blessed. Now I am going to show you how we are blessed. Look at what the apostle Peter said in Acts 3:25-26:

Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed (v. 25).

Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities (v. 26).


God raised up Jesus and sent Him to bless us. God blesses us by turning you and me from our perversities and our iniquities. Until He turns us from our iniquities, the blessings of Abraham will never come upon us. The reason the church is rarely blessed is that people believe they can walk in their own righteousness and not in the righteousness of God.

Look at verse 26 again and see why you should bless your enemies. When you bless your enemies, God corrects them and turns them from their iniquities.

Jesus taught me years back from Luke 6:28: "Bless those that curse you. Pray for those that despitefully use you." I said, "Why? They do not like me." So He showed me that when you bless your enemies, He turns them from their attack and from their iniquities. They stop yielding to evil spirits when you start blessing them. You will have to learn to bless your enemies.

That is why I spend so much time blessing people. Few days go by that I do not bless someone. And I hope all of you bless me every day--three or four times. I do not want to be going the wrong way, either.


The Gate of His Enemies

Jesus blesses us by turning us from our iniquities. He blesses us by possessing the gate of His enemies.

Look at Genesis 22:15-17:

And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time (v. 15),

And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son (v. 16):

That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies (v. 17);


Verse 17 says: "Thy seed"--that is, the seed of Abraham--"shall possess the gate of his enemies." His enemies, not yours.

Continue with verse 18:

And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

You cannot be a blessing to anyone in the earth if you are not obeying the voice of God. You can preach the Bible from daylight until dark and still not obey the voice of God.

Look again at verse 17:

...Thy seed shall possess (take possession of) the gate of his enemies.

In Galatians 3:16, Paul tells us who the seed of Abraham is--that is, who is going to possess the gate of his enemies:

Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

Combine Galatians 3:16 with Genesis 22:17, and you will see that Jesus is the seed and that Jesus shall possess the gate of the enemy. And that is exactly what He did on the day He was raised from the dead. He destroyed the works of the devil.


Attack the Gates of Hell

Jesus possessed the gate of His enemies when He was raised from the dead. Not only did Jesus possess the gate of His enemies, but He promised us that the gates of hell would not prevail against His church.

In Matthew 16:13-18, Jesus and His disciples had come into Caesarea Philippi, and He asked them:

Whom do men say that I the Son of man am (v. 13)?

And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets (v. 14).

He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am (v. 15)?

And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God (v. 16).

And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven (v. 17).

And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (v. 18).


Why will the gates of hell not prevail? Because when Abraham had the gospel preached to him, God told him that his seed--Jesus--would take possession of His enemies.

Jesus will possess sickness. He will possess poverty. He will possess doubt. He will possess unbelief. He will possess any spirit of witchcraft. And it cannot prevail against Him.

Notice, Jesus said, "prevail against." "Prevail against" tells me that you are on the attack. You have to attack the devil. You have to attack the gates of hell. You cannot cross your arms and sit down and be religious. You have to war a warfare. You have to attack Satan. You have to press into the Spirit of God. If you want the devil out of your life, you have to take authority over him and command him out.

God intended for you and me to attack the gates of hell. Torment is hell. Fear is torment. Anything on this earth that brings fear and torment is of the devil. All sickness and disease is of the devil. The church would do well to believe that.

Preachers in the United States of America preach that good Christians can get sick. Jesus said in Luke 18:19: "None is good, save one, that is, God." The only reason Christians get sick and stay sick is because they do not believe God heals. It is that simple!

You can preach what you want to. You can condemn and intimidate people, but you cannot intimidate Jesus. He laughs at you day and night, because you are a foolish preacher when you preach that sickness can be of God. There is no such thing written in the gospel.


Contrary to Peace and Godliness

When I first read Matthew 16 and heard people say, "You have to command the devil out of your life; you have to bind the devil," it was as if they were speaking empty words to me. I would think, "Why would you want to bind the devil? Who is he?"

My impression of the devil was that he was a man in a red suit with horns! I would think, "How could that creature be so effective against anyone?"

My mind was so entangled with medical knowledge that I thought, "Why would you want to bind the devil? Give him some streptomycin or penicillin or tetracycline." God had to deliver me from the bondages of this world so I could see that the devil was the enemy who produced sickness and disease and confusion and poverty and strife and tornadoes and wars and earthquakes and anything else that is contrary to peace and godliness.

The Bible tells us that Abraham's seed shall possess His enemies. Jesus shall possess cancer and heart disease. Take possession of it. Lift it up. Take it out and restore it with new tissue. If He has to, He will put in a new heart.

Spare Parts Room

Someone once told me about a person who went to heaven and saw the spare parts room. I have never heard anything so ridiculous. God creates things from nothing. If He wants to make a heart in you, He does not have to bring a spare heart from heaven.

People tell stories like that so someone will listen to their testimony: "Well, I have been to heaven, and I saw the spare parts room." I am glad God gave me a sense of humor.

I do not believe that God has a spare parts room. A spare parts room is not a blessing. And the gospel is always a blessing.



CHAPTER 8

THE GOSPEL IS "YES"!



You have just seen that the gospel is always a blessing. In this chapter, I am going to show you that, contrary to your religious teaching, the gospel is always "yes."

Look at II Corinthians 1:17:

When I therefore was thus minded, did I use lightness? or the things that I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, that with me there should be yea yea, and nay nay?

Paul asked, "Do I purpose according to the flesh, that with me there should be [yes yes and no no]?"

Did you get that? The Word of God is not "yes and no." Hear the Bible! The gospel is always "yes."


Fleshly Teaching

If you have been taught that the answers in the gospel are "yes or no," or "yes and no," you have been taught fleshly teaching. When I first entered the charismatic wilderness, this "yes and no" gospel was commonly taught: "God answers yes and no, wait and not now, and maybe."

That is not the gospel. That is fleshly preaching. Fleshly preaching is preaching "yes and no." The gospel is "yes"--always "yes." I will show you this. Look at II Corinthians 1:18-20:

But as God is true, our word toward you was not yea and nay (yes and no) (v. 18).

For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea (v. 19).

For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us (v. 20).


A "yes and no" gospel gives religious preachers an escape route for their doubt and unbelief. If you believe the gospel, all of the promises of God will be "yes" and "so be it" in Christ for you.


Promises of God are "Yes"

All of the promises of God are "yes," in Christ. It is simple. The answer is "yes!" So, if you pray according to the scripture and believe God, you always know what is going to happen.

If you pray to receive Christ, and you believe on Him, you are going to receive Him. If you pray to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit, with evidence of speaking in other tongues, you are going to receive the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. You are going to receive it with tongues. Why? Because the promise is "yes." That is the only way the Holy Spirit comes.

If you pray for forgiveness of sin, and you believe that God forgives you when you ask Him, your answer is "yes." He forgave you when you asked Him, and He blotted your sin out of the book. Further, He put it as far from you as the east is from the west, and cast it into the depths of the sea. He does not have any remembrance of it. He is not the one reminding you of it every day.

Reminding you of sin is one of Satan's great games. He seems to know every sin anyone ever committed. I think he works overtime to remember them. When you are following God, Satan never hesitates to try to stop you by reminding you of sin.

Even though God has forgotten your sin, and has blotted it out of the book, and has set you free, Satan still wants to remind you over and over and over. You can tell what spirit you are walking in when you keep remembering your sins. Instead, remember that all the promises of God are "yes," and in Him "Amen," unto the glory of God.

Hypocrisy in Preaching the Word

Preachers in the United States of America need to learn to preach the truth. They will preach one verse exactly as it is written, and argue and debate that it means what it says. Then they preach the next verse, and because that one is contrary to their doctrine, they say it means something else. The reason American preachers are this way is the dishonesty of their hearts.

When I first got into the Charismatic movement in 1970, I set out to find who in America followed God. I saw hypocrisy in American preachers.

I was in Dallas, Texas, in 1973, listening to one of the leading faith ministers in America teaching out of Acts 8:12. He said many of the Samaritans believed and were baptized. The 13th verse says Simon believed also and was baptized.

This minister said Simon was not a Christian. The words "believed" and "baptized" in the 12th verse have exactly the same meaning as the words "believed" and "baptized" in the 13th verse. But because this man is a hypocrite and because of the dishonesty of his heart, he said Simon was not a Christian.

I sat in absolute disbelief and astonishment that a man who called himself a faith minister would be so hypocritical as to claim that the words "believe" and "baptize" in verse 12 changed meaning in verse 13. I was stunned. I could not believe his dishonesty, even though I grew up with people like him.

I do not find many ministers in this land any less dishonest than he. They preach what they want to preach. They do not preach what the Word says.

God have mercy on America--on the hypocrites of this land. They have their own version of the gospel and are afraid to speak the truth:

A PROPHECY

For judgment will come unto them, saith the Lord. And they will receive My correction or they will be cut off. For everyone shall hear My voice. And everyone shall hear My word. And every man shall have the time to consider. For as it is written in My prophets, many shall be in the valley of decision when the great day of the Lord is coming. Many shall be in the valley of decision, and they will have to believe whether My word means what it says or whether their doctrine shall prevail. For My words shall take preeminence in the land, saith the Lord. And the things that I have spoken out of my prophets' mouths shall come to pass. For I have ordained it from My heart, and it has gone forth out of My mouth and it has come to pass that My Son should come into the earth. And that He should die, that He should be buried, and He should rise again. And that the first covenant should be set aside and He should become the mediator of the second. But many have rejected that word, saith the Lord, and they have chosen to speak the words that the people would like. They have chosen to speak a vision of their own heart. And they have not chosen to speak by the Spirit. For they have yielded to their own mind and their own intellect. And they have chosen to exalt their own knowledge and their own opinion instead of humbling themselves and receiving the things of the Lord. But many shall be in the valley of decision, saith the Lord, before that great day of the coming of the Lord. And they shall have opportunity to consider and believe and receive the gospel of My Son. For I have sent Him and He died, and He was buried and He rose again. And He is salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Praise be to God. Thank you, Lord Jesus.


CHAPTER 9

THE GOSPEL IS WITH POWER



I want you to see that the gospel is with power. The gospel is always a blessing. The gospel is always "yes." And the gospel is always with power.

Because the gospel is with power, it will always be "yes." If your version of the gospel is not with power, it will be "yes and no." Furthermore, it will not be the gospel of Christ.

You will not see anyone moving in power who is preaching a "yes and no" gospel. You might as well know that. Preachers will never preach a "yes and no" gospel if they are moving in power. They cannot move in power if they are preaching "yes and no." That is not God's Word.

I Corinthians 2:1-5 are verses God showed me early as a Christian:

And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom...(v. 1),

The word "wisdom" is "skill."

...Declaring unto you the testimony of God (v. 1).

For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified (v. 2).

And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling (v. 3).

And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom,...(v. 4).

"Enticing" words are "persuasive" words of man's wisdom. Paul's preaching was not with persuasive words of man's wisdom, or of man's skill.

... But in demonstration of the Spirit and of power (v. 4):

That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God (v. 5).


Examine these verses carefully. They are very significant to you and me as we walk in the body of Christ. You must understand that preaching as you know it will do nothing for you. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation if you believe. The true gospel is always with power.


The Gospel and the Cross

Paul said first of all that he did not go to the people with excellency of speech or of wisdom--that is, skill. He did not use his own skill. Instead, he declared unto them the testimony of God. Remember I Corinthians 2:2:

For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified (v. 2).

Can you see that? Paul said he determined to know nothing except Jesus and Him crucified. That excludes the law. That excludes the Ten Commandments.

In I Corinthians 15:1-4, Paul said that he delivered first to them the gospel. Here, in I Corinthians 2, he says that he came preaching Christ and Him crucified.

I want you to see that the gospel and the cross are that Jesus died, was buried, and was raised from the dead. If Jesus was crucified--if Jesus died on the cross, then He was also resurrected--He was raised from the dead. The gospel and the cross are the same. Once you receive this in your heart, you will never miss it again.

In the church today, there are "gospel" preachers, and there are "cross" preachers. One group is always preaching the cross. The next group will say, "I do not preach the cross, I preach the gospel."

When I first became a Christian, I met people who said, "Everyone in the church brings us to the cross. We have to leave the cross." So I did. I did not know what the cross was.

Then I started reading in the Bible that the cross is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. My friend, if you ever leave the cross, you have left God. The cross is the gospel, and the gospel is the cross.

The cross and the gospel are the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes. If you ever want anything from God, it must come from the gospel and the cross. Do not ever leave the cross. But do not stay on it.

You must know Jesus--the resurrected Jesus. The cross does not merely include Jesus hanging on wooden timbers. The cross includes the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus.

There are many preachers in America in many denominations who hang you on the cross and leave you there. You are there every day, bleeding, and you never die. You just wish you could. You need to know that the cross is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.


Power of God

The gospel is not in the wisdom of man. Look at
I Corinthians 2:3-4:

And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling (v. 3).

And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom,...(v. 4).


If you see a person preaching man's wisdom, know this, it is not the Holy Spirit. That is devastating to someone who has been studying and developing his own teaching. Preach the Word of God. Consider your own teachings dead--because that is what they are.

Paul did not come with enticing words of man's skill. He did not even come with enticing words. He did not even come with the Word only. Instead, he came, "In demonstration of the Spirit and of power" (verse 4).

How did Paul come? In demonstration. Notice that the demonstration was of the spirit and of power. The word "power" is from the Greek word dunamis and means "ability."

Wisdom of Man

Paul came not with words, but demonstrating the spirit and power. He tells us why in I Corinthians 2:5:

That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

Your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men--in physicians. It should stand in the power of God.

I Corinthians 2:3-5 are the verses that God used to convince me that He never mixed medicine with His healing power. You cannot mix medicine and the power of God because they are incompatible. Paul did not come with enticing words of man's wisdom.

Religionists say, "We have a medical clinic over here. We want all the sick to come. We want to preach the gospel to you and dispense medication. We will bandage up all your wounds. We will give you some splints. We will send you home to die, in Jesus' name." Well, that is all they can do, if a sick person is terminal.

Paul said that he did not come in man's wisdom. He came in demonstration of the spirit and power. Why?

That your faith should not stand in the wisdom (skill) of [a man], but in the power (ability) of God. (v. 5).

Being told to count his wisdom as nothing is devastating to an intellectual person--to a person who has spent any time studying. However, God said to count your wisdom as nothing.

I have almost succeeded in counting my wisdom as nothing, but it has taken time. It is going to take you time, too. You are not going to get out of the wilderness in a day.


Let God Lead You Out

Do not be proud. Do not just decide to get hold of this message and say, "I am going to leap right out of this and be perfect in a day."

You did not start relying on medicine in a day, and you are not going to stop in a day. Let God lead you out. Let Him take you out step by step.

Let him lead you from one miracle to the next, as He led the Jewish people out of the land of Egypt. It took 11 miracles to get them out of Egypt. It will take at least that many to get you out of medicine.

It is incredible how many miracles God did for me before I finally said, "God, you truly do not heal through medicine, do you?" He simply does not.

But, you see, if you come teaching man's wisdom, the faith of the people will be in the wisdom of a man. That is where our faith is today. In the United States of America, our faith stands in the wisdom of men.

Man's wisdom can cause people to have confidence, or faith, in it. However, it is not God's faith, it is your faith. Your wisdom is a vision of your own heart. If we, as ministers of this land, will obey the call God has put on us, and demonstrate the Spirit of God, men's faith will not be in the wisdom of man. Their faith will be in the power of God.

Please do not misunderstand me. If you get sick, go to the doctor quickly. Do not stop going to the doctor until God tells you not to go.

A man used to come to Water of Life Church who thought he was a faith person. He threw his glasses in the trash and flushed his contact lenses down the drain. His glasses lay in an alley three days. The trash people did not even come.

He thought the devil was keeping the trash people from coming to pick his glasses up. He left two hundred dollars worth of glasses lying in that alley. God was trying to tell him, "Go back and get your glasses, you blind person, you. You are going to need them."

He told me this story, and I said, "Oh, my Lord, you're deceived." He said, "What do you mean? I have faith." I said, "You are deceived." The man had no faith.

Not too long after that, he came to me after I taught Deuteronomy 28 and said, "Do not tell me the blessings in Deuteronomy 28 are Abraham's blessings." I said, "Well, whose are they, then?" He said, "Those were Moses' blessings."

I said, "Can't you read that in Abraham all of the world is blessed? That includes Moses. Can't you read that?"

Needless to say, he did not stay in Water of Life Church much longer. People say they believe, but when you talk with them, you find that they believe nothing.



CHAPTER 10

THE KINGDOM IS IN POWER



The kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. The kingdom is not in the preaching of words. It is in publishing, or demonstrating, the gospel--that Jesus died, He was buried, and He rose again.

Look at I Corinthians 4:19-20:

But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power (v. 19).

For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power (v. 20).


The kingdom of God is in power, and the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes. The kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. It is in the ability of God.

"Puffed up" means full of pride--no power, just pride. God will not send you to preach unless there is power. Why? Because He does not want the faith of the people you address to stand in the wisdom of a man. He wants their faith to be in the power of God.

The church Jesus Christ is coming back for will operate in the power of God. Now, church, hold steady, do not get nervous, and do not run out on God. He is capable and able to bring us into the land that He has set before us, if we only believe Him. He will not hurt us, either, while He is bringing us into the land.

After all, God kept the rebellious Jews walking in the wilderness for 40 years, and their shoes did not even wear out. That is a blessing, did you know that? In 40 years, their shoes did not even wear out. They died in shoes that would not wear out.

God will bless you in the wilderness, too. However, just because you are being blessed does not mean that you are obeying God, nor does it mean that God is pleased with you. God is only pleased with people who obey His Word.

God blessed the rebels along with the people who were obeying Him. But rebels have to beg. They have to strike rocks instead of merely speaking to them. They murmur. A few of them die. God has to open up the ground and bury some. Read the Bible and see that these things happened.

Blessings do not necessarily mean that you are obeying God. It depends upon how you obtain the blessings. If you are obeying God, though, you will always have all sufficiency in all things that you may abound to every good work. Read II Corinthians 9:8 and see.

You will always have sufficiency in all things. You will not be up and down. There will not be peaks and valleys. You will always abound to every good work.

I have found this to be true over the years. It has been a blessing to learn to flow in the Spirit--to walk in the Spirit and watch God bring the blessings upon me and overtake me. Believe me, I experienced the alternative, and I did not like it.


Be Led by the Spirit of God

In I Thessalonians 1:5, Paul said:

For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.

Notice how the gospel came:

...Not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy [Spirit],...

The gospel came with the Word and with the ability of the Holy Spirit, and it came led by the Spirit of God. That is how the gospel is to be preached.

Do not take the Bible and preach. Do not even take the Bible with faith and preach. Go when God tells you. Be led by the Spirit, and teach where He tells you to teach.

Demonstrate the power where He tells you. If He tells you not to pray for someone, He means do not pray for them. Yes, God will tell you that.

People who preach the Word and say, "Now I have preached the Word to you; I have done my part; now it is up to God," are deceivers. Their hearts are hard. They are blind guides.

They strain at gnats and swallow camels. Jesus said that--I did not.

The church of America, basically, is led by blind guides who strain at gnats and swallow camels because they do not believe the Bible. They do not know anything about the power of God. If the power of God had been in the church I attended as a child, everyone would have run away.

My mother came to visit Water of Life Church a few years ago, and on the way home she said, "Doyle, you know, when we were worshipping God, something came on me." I said, "What was it, mother?" She said, "I guess it was that Holy Ghost you talk about." Then she said, "Do you want to know something else? It is still on me!"

God was trying to show her that the people at the church she attends do not know anything about the Holy Spirit. They know a little bit about the scripture, nothing about Jesus, and nothing about the Holy Spirit.

When the true gospel is preached, it will not come in word only. It will come in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and in much assurance.


CHAPTER 11

THE GOSPEL IS FULLY PREACHED



When the gospel is preached, it comes in power. When the gospel is preached, it will be fully preached, with mighty signs and wonders.

Paul fully preached the gospel of Christ in places that had never heard the gospel. Look at Romans 15:15-19:

Nevertheless, brethren, I have written the more boldly unto you in some sort, as putting you in mind, because of the grace that is given to me of God (v. 15),

That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost (v. 16).

I have therefore whereof I may glory through Jesus Christ in those things which pertain to God (v. 17).

For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed (v. 18),

Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached (not partially preached) the gospel of Christ (v. 19).


When I first got into the Charismatic movement in 1970, I heard Spirit-filled ministers say, "You cannot teach the full gospel. The church of America cannot receive it."

Well, how do you know they cannot receive it if you never preach it? Those same people say, "Do not go to Africa and preach prosperity." They actually say prosperity is an American gospel.


The Gospel in Africa

In 1985, God sent me to Africa. I wanted to go over there and watch blind eyes open, because eyes are sometimes difficult to open in America. I wanted to see blind eyes opened, deaf ears opened, the lame walk, devils cast out, and other miracles.

The first night I was there, God brought a blind man to us. We laid hands on him, and God healed his eyes. He took the Bible and read it. Glory be to Jesus!

I was so naive that I just handed him a Bible and said, "Read." I did not even know if the man could read. I never thought that he might not be able to read. He started reading that Bible. Five minutes before, he could not see anything.

The second night, God healed more people. The third day, Sunday, God said, "Now you are going to do what I sent you over here for. You are going to preach prosperity to these people." And we cut loose.

We had a six hour service one Sunday, and I spoke three of those six hours--an hour and a half on faith, and the next hour and a half on prosperity. Those people never moved out of their seats. I did not know I could speak that long.

I preached the gospel--prosperity--to people who had never heard it. Our host said, "I have heard many people preach II Corinthians 8, but I have never seen what it says."

Well, those verses are obvious, if you have revelation. But if you are afraid that a poor person cannot receive the gospel, you do not believe in God. Poor people are the ones to whom you are supposed to preach the gospel.


The Gospel in McKinney, Texas

We started a mission in McKinney, Texas. When we went to McKinney and started giving food away, we preached the full gospel to the people right away. I thought, "God, slow down, these people might stone me." Finally, they began to like us.

We fed 108 people one night. Later, the sanctuary was full. They liked the service. They even began to raise their hands. In the beginning, they would not raise their hands. You would tell them to raise their hands, and they would look at you like you were dead.

At the end, though, I got them to raise their hands. Do you know how? I stood up front, raised my hands, and looked them in the eye. You have to be bold when you preach the gospel.

Signs and Wonders

In Romans 15:18-19, Paul says that he did not dare to speak of anything that Christ had not worked in him:

...To make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed (v. 18),

Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God...(v. 19).


Gentiles will never walk in obedience to God without the power of the Holy Spirit and signs and wonders. The reason so few people walk in faith is that they cannot obey the Holy Spirit, and the reason they cannot obey the Holy Spirit is that there are no signs and wonders.

In II Corinthians 10:4-6, Paul talks about pulling down strongholds and casting down everything that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. The church will never be obedient without the power of the Holy Spirit and signs and wonders.

The full gospel of Jesus Christ must be preached. Those who believe will be saved. The Word will be confirmed with signs following.

Spiritual Gifts Establish You

Finally, look at Romans 1:9-12:

For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers (v. 9);

Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you (v. 10).

For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established (v. 11);


That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me (v. 12).

The purpose of spiritual gifts is to establish the church. The church cannot be established without the gifts. That is why the gifts must operate in every service you attend. You must let God have the liberty to do what He wants to do.

The reason the church of America, both denominational and charismatic churches, has not been established is that few spiritual gifts are manifested. Occasionally, there might be some healings, but few devils are cast out. Religionists in America do not believe Christians can have devils.

The church must repent and believe what Paul said in II Corinthians 3:6. Paul says in that verse that God has made us able ministers of the new testament, not of the letter, but of the Spirit, for the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life.

We are to be able ministers of the new testament--the new covenant: Jesus died, He was buried, and He rose again. We are to be able ministers, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. When we obey God, people will receive life. This is the true gospel, and it must be ministered by the Spirit of God.

 

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