And there sat a man in Lystra who could not use his feet. He was crippled from birth and had never walked. He listened to Paul speaking. And Paul, looking intently at him and seeing that he had faith to be made well, said in a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And he sprang up and began walking. (Acts 14:8-10)
The miracle in Lystra was not the result of Paul offering a prayer, laying hands, or using a special gift of healing. It was the result of preaching that created faith in the listener. The man was crippled from birth, with no natural expectation of walking. Yet when he heard Paul proclaim the gospel, something took root in his heart. Paul perceived that he had faith to be made well. He did not have faith in human skill, in medicine, or in Paul as a man. His faith was in the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was this faith that Paul recognized and acted upon, and the man walked for the first time in his life.
This is the purest and most powerful model for ministry. Faith came directly from hearing the gospel, not from being worked into an emotional state, not from being coaxed into believing, and not from a staged display of spiritual theatrics. The gospel itself carried the power, and the man’s response to it brought him into contact with the living Christ. Paul’s role was to speak the truth and to discern faith when it appeared. Once he saw that the man had faith, the command was simple and immediate: Stand upright on your feet. The gospel had already done its work.
This is the kind of preaching that should define our ministry. If the gospel is preached as it is revealed in Scripture, it will bring faith for salvation and for miracles. It will confront the lies and limitations that people have lived under for years. It will replace resignation with expectation, hopelessness with confidence. This is why the crippled man in Lystra could suddenly expect to walk. The gospel revealed a Christ who saves and heals, and that revelation demolished the assumption that his condition was permanent.
When the gospel is altered or diluted, the result will be equally altered. Preaching that merely produces a vague acceptance of spiritual sentiments, or that leaves people in depression and passivity, is not the same gospel. A message that tells people to accept their afflictions as God’s mysterious will is a different gospel entirely, with a different object of faith. It directs trust toward resignation instead of toward God’s promises. It creates faith in the wrong thing, teaching people to believe that they should expect nothing from God. This is unbelief dressed in pious language.
The gospel of Jesus Christ, when preached as Paul preached it, never produces such unbelief. It calls people to believe that God will act according to his word. It demands that they take him at his promise. The crippled man in Lystra was not told to endure life as a cripple for the glory of God. He was told, by the gospel itself, that Christ had authority over his condition, and that Christ was willing to make him whole. This is why faith rose in him as he listened.
Ministers must learn from this pattern. If we want to see faith rise in those who hear us, we must preach in a way that makes faith the only reasonable response. Destroy doubts and counterarguments before they have a chance to settle in the mind. Expose the emptiness of religious clichés that excuse failure and explain away the promises of God. We must make clear that God has spoken, that his word is final, and that he will not fail to keep it.
In ministry, this approach should come first. Before we lay hands, before we pray, before we engage in any other ministry act, we should preach in a way that brings faith. If we do not do this, then our prayers might be hindered by the unbelief of those who hear us. They will not be ready to receive, because we have not confronted their doubts and replaced them with conviction. But if the gospel has produced faith, then prayer will have something to act upon.
For those who hear the gospel, the same lesson applies. Listen to preaching that brings faith. Do not waste your time on sermons that glorify doubt or that teach you to live as if God’s promises were uncertain. The crippled man in Lystra would still be sitting if he had listened to such preaching. He walked because he heard the truth and believed it. Faith does not come from entertaining speculation about whether God will act. It comes from hearing what God has said and believing that he will keep his word.
God has not changed. The gospel that healed the crippled man still carries the same power. When we believe what God promises, we receive from him. When we treat his word as certain, we will see results that match his character. Faith is not wishful thinking. It is the conviction that God is as he has revealed himself, and that he will do what he has said. Preaching that produces this conviction will always be the most effective preaching.
This is the best way, because it gives people a direct relationship with Christ. The crippled man in Lystra did not need to depend on Paul for the rest of his life. His faith was not in Paul’s continued presence or in some spiritual gift. It was in the Christ he met through the gospel. That faith remained with him after Paul left, because it was grounded in the word of God, not in the personality or charisma of the preacher.
Preaching that brings faith is preaching that introduces people to the Christ who is present and active. It shows them that he has the authority and the willingness to meet their need now. It leaves them with a foundation they can stand on when the preacher is gone and the crowd has dispersed. It equips them to receive from God without depending on the presence of any human minister.
The ministry that follows this pattern will produce believers who are strong and independent in their faith. They will not be tossed around by the next fad in religion or discouraged by the next wave of adversity. They will be anchored in the unchanging promises of God. And when they face various needs, whether for salvation, healing, provision, or wisdom, they will know how to approach God directly, believing that he hears them and will act in line with his word.
This is the work we are called to do. Preach in a way that brings faith. Hear in a way that receives it. Believe what God has promised, and act on it. The gospel is the power of God for salvation, and salvation includes the works of God in every area of life. To believe this is to open the door for his power to be revealed, just as it was in Lystra when a man who had never walked stood upright on his feet and walked for the first time.