The Gospel of the Kingdom Matt 4:17, From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Matt 4:23,And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. Mark 1:14-15, Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. repent, and believe in the gospel." The word gospel comes from the Greek word "euaggelion" and it simply means a good message. Jesus went about preaching the good message of the kingdom. His good message of the kingdom was exactly what He performed healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. His good message of the kingdom was that heaven was here to heal the sick and set the captives free. This is the word of God that Jesus proclaimed and it is also the word that the disciples proclaimed that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Matt 10:7, And as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' Luke 9:2, He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. This good message that Jesus and the disciples proclaimed and performed has widely been lost and we have replaced it with a scripture message that is nothing to do with the good message of the kingdom. There is only one message of the kingdom and that message is the kingdom of heaven is at hand to heal the sick, to heal the broken hearted and set the captives free. This message of the kingdom is the heartbeat of heaven to destroy the works of the enemy and lift up the name of Jesus Christ throughout the world. Matt 12:28, But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. Luke 10:9, And heal the sick there, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.' Luke 11:20, But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. Here we see Jesus explain what the kingdom of God is by telling us that casting out demons setting the captives free and healing the sick is the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven as it is also referred to is demonstrated following the announcement of the good message that the kingdom is here to deliver and heal the sick. This is the word that was preached and performed by Jesus and His disciples. This is the same word that we are to proclaim and perform healing the sick and casting out demons. Everywhere we see Jesus in the scriptures defying the natural laws of this world by healing the sick, casting devils out from the oppressed, feeding of the five thousand, calming the storm or walking on water. This is Jesus demonstrating the kingdom of heaven at hand. This message that is the gospel message is the message that empowers the believer to do the work of the ministry spoken of in Eph 4:12. Ephesians 4:12-15, for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of Christ, that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head - Christ How can we come to the unity of the faith when we have not understood the good message (Gospel) of the kingdom. How can we do the work of the ministry when we have not understood the good message (Gospel) of the kingdom. This is the message that the Holy Spirit will confirm as it is proclaimed or preached to the sick and the oppressed because it is the message or the word of the kingdom. We have confused what the message or the word truly is by not understanding and have called all scripture the word. Yes the scripture is the written word of God but not all the scripture is the word that is called the Gospel. Many have preached the scriptures but not the good message (Gospel) of the kingdom as we see Jesus and His disciples preached. We also see this is the same message that the early church continued to preach in the book of Acts. Acts 8:12, But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. Acts 19:8, And he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God. Acts 20:25, "And indeed, now I know that you all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, will see my face no more. Acts 28:31, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him. This good message of the kingdom is also known as the Gospel of Christ and the Gospel of grace. The word gospel is once again simply the good message of Christ and when we translate the word Christ it is the anointing or the anointed one. We then translate this to mean the good message of the anointed one and then we need to understand what the anointed one or anointing truly is. If we just simply look at the life and miracles of Jesus we understand that is why He was declared the anointed one and in Luke 4:18 He declared that He was the anointed one. The anointing is the yoke destroying, burden removing power of God that heals the sick, delivers the oppressed and performs the miraculous. But it is not merely a power but is seen as a power, it is the person and Spirit of Christ the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of Christ the Holy Spirit is also mentioned in scripture as the Spirit of grace. This is where the understanding of the gospel of grace is mentioned and it is the good message of the Spirit of grace we see performing the ministry of the good message of the kingdom. For grace is not merely a message but a person and that person is the Spirit of Christ the Holy Spirit. Gal 1:7,which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. Rom 1:16,For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, Rom 15:29, But I know that when I come to you, I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ. Heb 10:29,Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? Luke 4:18-19,"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."
We must understand this truth to be equipped with the message of the kingdom to become fruitful for the kingdom. In the parable of the sower Jesus explains this. Matt 13:18, Therefore hear the parable of the sower: "When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. You see in this verse that it is the word of the kingdom that Jesus is referring to not merely the scriptures. In verse 23 Jesus is still referring to this word of the kingdom and says that he who hears this word and understands it is the good ground that bears fruit. Matt 13:23, But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundred fold, some sixty, some thirty.