Boldness is the only way and boldness is full of risk. Preaching the kingdom of God in relationship to his healing grace is necessarily difficult, as the New Testament does not give us precise enough definitions against which to teach the restorative nature of its atmosphere.
Therefore it would be better to teach about the King. Unless we teach the Jesus that gives grace and healing to all who come, we will be teaching a different Jesus than the one in the Gospels.
Teaching about the One revealed in Scripture raises expectancy and builds the necessary faith environment both around and within the preacher for miracles to happen.
It is also essential that we address the sort of everyday doubts that afflict the Christian mind, doubt being the force that is so obstructive of miracle working, as it reduces expectancy. One teaching pattern worth examination would be that of Elijah on Mount Carmel.
His first priority was to build an altar, and this can be done today by preaching Jesus as faithful and reliable Saviour, healer and Lord.
The preacher, on their own part, has to believe it absolutely.
In the taunting of the opposition and in the watering of his own sacrifice, Elijah deliberately sets out to address the doubt of the unbelievers. The result was staggering.
The people’s doubt and unbelief was forcibly squashed by Elijah’s down–to–earth comments and the fire came from God.
Elijah did not waste time with a long theological treatise, neither did he soften and fudge any part of the issue to make his message more palatable. He spoke simply and precisely.
In the same way, when we preach Jesus as the ultimately reliable healer and miracle worker, and talk in common sense ways to address people’s doubts, we make it easier for them to receive God’s Grace.
Elijah did not climb Mount Carmel to pray for the people. He did not just offer to put king Ahab on his prayer list. He did not invite eight hundred and fifty false prophets to go up with him simply to preach to them.
He took them to see the power of the living God.
