Anointed
Preaching
Preaching is preaching only when the messenger is anointed
with the Holy Spirit.
The apostle Paul tells how he arrived in the city of
Corinth not dependent upon self-assurance, self-assertiveness, or a powerful
personality, “but in demonstration of the Spirit and power” (1 Corinthians 2:4).
In fact, Paul stresses the contrasting difference, “For I determined to know
nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. And I was with you in
weakness and in fear and in much trembling. And my message and my preaching were
not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and power,
that your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God”
(vv. 2-5).
Only the anointing of the Holy Spirit can make great
preaching. Paul was concerned that nothing distract from the message of Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. We live in a day that puts much of the emphasis on the
attractiveness of the clever mind and entertainment.
Lloyd-Jones was a prophet when he wrote in Preaching and
Preachers, that we take “so much time in producing atmosphere that there is
no time for preaching in the atmosphere!” The church has turned to entertainment
“as she has turned her back upon preaching.” The first century preachers
“refused to pander to the tastes of their listeners.” They did just the opposite
by admonishing, warning, rebuking, and reproving their listeners.
Over and over again in the book of Acts we are told of the
preachers “being filled with the Holy Spirit.” They proclaimed their message as
the Holy Spirit enabled them. Their message and deliverance were under the
control of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit had baptized them when they first
believed, and they had been filled on many occasions since then. One baptism,
many fillings is still a Biblical truth for every preacher.
Biblical preaching is still the greatest instrument the
church possesses. Every preacher should ask himself, “Do I have the anointing?”
And “if not, why not?” Unless we have the sweet anointing of God’s Spirit we
cannot bring the message of the Gospel with authority and power. “Am I anointed
by the Holy Spirit?”
When we come with the holy anointing we will be as John the
Baptist saying, “I must decrease; He just increase.” “I am a voice,” and nothing
else.
How do we know when we have the anointing? The apostle Paul
said, “Our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the
Holy Spirit, and in much assurance” (1 Thessalonians 1:5). Who gives the
assurance and the power? Only the Holy Spirit can do that.
But it is not just the preacher who needs to be under the
control of the Holy Spirit. His desire is to fill ordinary people with
extraordinary power. Every anointed preacher longs to have anointed listeners!
We need the continuous infilling of the Holy Spirit in our
lives. Men will listen to what we speak, souls will be saved, and saints edified
when we are “filled by the Holy Spirit.”
“It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save
them that believe” (1 Corinthians 1:21), and it still does.
The anointed preaching God uses is preaching that is
centered in the Bible. It let’s the Bible tell its own eternal message. On the
road to Emmaus the resurrected Jesus explained to two disciples that He was
found in “all the Scriptures.” Thus Biblical preaching is Christ-centered. Since
the sermon is biblical, and the Bible is Christ-centered, then a biblical sermon
is filled with Jesus Christ. Because Christianity is Christ, all anointed
preaching is centered on the person and atoning work of Jesus Christ (John
15:26; 16:14). The Spirit of God is at work whenever and wherever men are being
pointed to Jesus Christ. Anointed preaching declares that God sent Jesus to die
for our sins and calls men and women to turn and put their faith in Him for
salvation (1 Cor. 15:3-6). We need bold, biblical, Christ-centered preaching in
our day. That is anointed preaching.
Selah!
Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006
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