Jesus began his ministry by preaching and teaching the Kingdom of God. The miracles of healing marked him as the long-promised Messiah. When his emphasis changed to one of suffering and death, many of his followers stopped following him (John 6:66). Even his disciple Peter tried to prevent him from suffering and death.
Jesus then spoke of the necessity of accepting him as personally as their Lord and Saviour. (Note the three-time use of “from that time”, each one marking a change in emphasis.)
Another shift is seen in the narrative of the Book of Acts, in that the kingdom, though present in power, did not appear fully, and of course will not until the Second Coming of its King. But wherever the apostles preached, the kingdom of God was present in miracles of healing as Jesus worked with them, “confirming the word with signs following” (Mark 16:20).
It is imperative that we preach the Full Gospel. Not a quarter gospel, or a half gospel, nor even a three quarter one! “You get what you pay for” is a true saying and likewise every church gets what its pastor preaches. The Lord cannot confirm what is not preached. Which is why most people who attend non-charismatic churches get saved but few of them get healed physically.
To be fair, nowadays fewer charismatic churches call for sinners to be saved and instead preach much on healing (and I think overmuch on personal blessing). God’s desire is to heal and bless everyone, but He desires to save them first.
Jesus did however refer to physical healing as “the children’s bread” (Matthew 15:26). Healing is a Covenant Right of his people (Exodus 15:26), but it’s not for anyone. The Gospel message never changes, but its application varies according to the need and the willingness of those who hear it to receive it — whether saved or unsaved.
Paul did not preach “Christ crucified” to the Athenians, as he did in Corinth, a little later, but instead took his preaching cue from a note on a statue dedicated to “the unknown God” worshiped by them — likely a ‘just in case’ form of spiritual insurance.
I once preached on Acceptance to a group of Filipinos in an isolated village that might just as well have been named Nowhere. Everyone in the group of thirty or so villagers responded in tears to my message: “Can Anything Good Come Out of Nazareth?” It sure did that day!
Are you preaching those aspects of the message of Jesus Christ that those listening most need to hear? I once spoke to a group of professional sales persons in at a breakfast in Brisbane, and the one man who then gave his life to Jesus is still “going on with God” after thirty-plus years.
It was a sacred moment at a secular event! Whatever. Preach to the perceived Need. When all is said and done, the everlasting message is that God is Good and that Jesus is Lord!