Preach the Foursquare Gospel: 4 Ministries of Jesus Christ

Summary: Telling others about Jesus Christ becomes much easier, and more effective, if we concentrate on what some have called the foursquare gospel — that is, Jesus Christ as (1) Savior, (2) Healer, (3) Baptizer with the Holy Spirit, and (4) Coming King.

Acts 8:5, KJV  Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ unto them.

Acts 5:42, KJV  And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 1:23  ... we preach Christ crucified...

•• Are we doing that? Are you doing that? That is, “preaching Christ”? Because Jesus is the very essence and focus of each element of "the foursquare gospel."

• Many of you readers, like me, are Pentecostals. Those of you who prophesy, is your gift of prophecy built upon this Scripture — “the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (Revelation 19:10)?

• When you pray for the sick, do you tell them that it is “by [Jesus’] wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24)?

•• Today we’ll look at this all-important question: What should we be telling people about Jesus?

1) Jesus is the Savior.

John 1:29  The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

•• Around you every day are multitudes of people weighed down with the burden and guilt of sin.

•• They desperately need someone (who better than you!) to say to them, “Behold the Lamb of God, Jesus. He’ll take away your sin and make you a child of God!”

•• Paul had an abundance of revelation from Jesus. But His central message was “...we preach Christ crucified”.

• The “gospel” that Paul preached everywhere was: “that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, [4] that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day...” (1 Corinthians 15:2-4).

•• So #1, proclaim Christ as Savior to those around you. Tell them that He is the remedy for the guilt of their sins. Tell them, as Paul did, that “Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us” (1 Corinthians 5:7, KJV).

2) Jesus is the Healer.

Acts 9:33-34  There he found a man named Aeneas, a paralytic who had been bedridden for eight years. [34] “Aeneas,” Peter said to him, “Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and take care of your mat.” Immediately Aeneas got up.

•• “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you!” Peter gives us some important insights here:

1) As you minister to the sick, Jesus is present! Peter remembered Jesus’ promise: “Surely I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20). Remember that, consider that, as you minister to the sick — you are not alone. Jesus is “with you”.

2) Jesus is the Healer. Explaining the healing of another lame man (Acts 3:6), Peter said, “...Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?... [16] By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him... (Acts 3:12, 16)

• Similarly, Peter told the paralytic, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you.”

•• As you minister to the sick, tell them that Jesus “took up [their] infirmities and carried [their] diseases” (Matthew 8:17). He did it then, and He is “the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).

3) Jesus is the Baptizer with the Holy Spirit.

John 1:33-34  “I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ [34] I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God.”

•• Just as you are surrounded daily with unsaved people and sick people, you are also in the midst of multitudes who need the “power from on high” that Jesus promised to His people (Luke 24:49). Where do they find that power?

• In the mighty baptism of the Holy Spirit, the third element of the foursquare gospel — Acts 1:5, 8; 2:4  “For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit... [8] But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” ... [2:4] All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

•• But how did they receive this powerful Holy Spirit baptism? — Exalted to the right hand of God, he [Jesus] has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear (Acts 2:33). As prophesied in all four Gospels by John the Baptist, Jesus is the One who baptizes His people with the Spirit. Jesus is the One who “poured out” the “power from on high” and still does so today.

• Permit me to digress momentarily to an important, related point. Notice from the verses above that when they were baptized with the Holy Spirit, there was a result that those nearby could “see and hear”. That which they heard (Acts 2:4) was the speaking in tongues as evidence that they had been filled with the Holy Spirit.

•• When you minister the baptism with the Holy Spirit to people, always encourage them to receive this blessing directly from Jesus. That helps them focus their attention rightly on Jesus the Baptizer with the Spirit, rather than on you the counselor.

4) Jesus is the Coming King.

Hebrews 9:28  Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

•• It seems to be only infrequently that you hear Christians today talk about this. Jesus is coming again!

• As Jesus ascended back to heaven, two heavenly messengers said to the onlookers (Acts 1:10-11), “This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

2 Peter 3:10-12a  But the day of the Lord [His ‘coming’ — vs. 4] will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. [11] Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives [12a] as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.

•• Are you “looking forward” to Jesus’ second coming? Do you think often about it? Or does it hardly ever cross your mind?

•• Remember, the absolute certainty of Jesus coming again is a strong inducement to living “holy and godly lives”. If we are not “looking forward” to this great event, we are ignoring what the apostle Paul called “the blessed hope — the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13). Our attention can become distracted to our own hurt by the “cares of this life” (Luke 21:34) and that day of His coming “will close on you unexpectedly like a trap” (vs. 34).

• To leave this great truth unspoken deprives people of an incentive to holiness and a source of great hope.

•• As you minister to people, tell them that Jesus Christ is coming back again to earth, so that His followers can “be with the Lord forever” (1 Thessalonians 4:17).

We are called to “preach Christ” to the world (Acts 8:5, KJV), to share with others “the testimony of Jesus” (Revelation 9:10). Tell them what many have termed “the foursquare gospel” — that Jesus is:

• The Savior, who will forgive and take away their sins

• The Healer, the One who will take away their sicknesses and infirmities

• The Baptizer with the Holy Spirit, who will empower them as His ambassadors to a lost world desperately in need of Him

• The Coming King, who will gather His followers to be with Him forever

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Check out our related sermon on Pentecostal Beliefs, Doctrines, and Practices

For more on Jesus the Healer see our large list of Bible Verses about Healing | Faith-Building Scriptures

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©2009, James H. Feeney.
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