Lesson 10: Spirit-Anointed Preaching

By the end of this lesson, the student should:

(1) Appreciate the importance of the Spirit’s anointing in preaching.

(2) Know the importance of personal preparation for preaching.

(3) Understand the Holy Spirit’s role in preparing the preacher and the listener.

In this course, we have studied the art of communication.[1] We have learned how to prepare sermons, techniques for effective teaching and human relations, and skills for cross-cultural communication and better listening. All of these techniques are important for the Christian worker. As Christian ministers, teachers, or leaders, we should do everything in our power to communicate effectively.

However, after we have done all we can do, we rely on the Holy Spirit for spiritual anointing. In this final lesson, we will study the role of the Holy Spirit in preaching. We will focus on preaching, but these principles apply to teaching and other types of Christian communication as well.

[1]As a minister, you have many different responsibilities, but none are more important than your call to preach. Through preaching, God speaks to the people he has placed in your care. Because the ministry of preaching is so important, Satan will do all he can do to distract you from effective preparation. If you want to be effective in fulfilling your call to preach, you must take time for adequate preparation. Preparation of the preacher is even more important than preparation of the sermon.

The Preacher Must Prepare Himself through Private Prayer

For effective preaching and teaching, we must understand that before we speak in public to people, we must talk in private with God. Power in preaching comes through the anointing of God’s Spirit. Our preparation for preaching must include time with God.

Jesus is the great example of this truth. The gospels report that Jesus repeatedly spent nights in prayer. Before an important decision, Jesus spent the night in prayer (Luke 6:12-13). If the sinless Son of God, who lived in communion with his Father, relied on prayer, how much more we need prayer to be effective in ministry!

Through prayer, we take up the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6:13). Through prayer, we are equipped for effective ministry. Our preparation for ministry must include earnest prayer.

The Preacher Must Prepare Himself through Personal Integrity

► Read 1 Timothy 6. What does this chapter teach about the character of the pastor?

God doesn’t anoint programs or plans; he anoints people. Throughout scripture, we see that God’s anointing falls on those whose hearts are prepared for service. Haggai spoke to people who were trying to do God’s work but who were not living in obedience to God’s law. God said, “What they offer there is unclean” (Haggai 2:14). Spirit-anointed preaching comes through preachers who refuse to compromise their integrity.

The ministry of many preachers has ended in scandal through a loss of personal integrity. Financial and sexual scandals have ended the ministry of well-known pastors and evangelists. Other ministers and leaders have avoided public scandal, but they have been ineffective in ministry because of hidden sin.

Paul wrote to Timothy, a young pastor at Ephesus. He told Timothy that he must maintain personal integrity as a minister. Paul’s challenge to Timothy shows the type of person we must be in order to be effective in ministry (1 Timothy 6:3-11, 2 Timothy 2:22).

Paul told Timothy that he must flee:

• False teaching

• Conceit

• Controversy and quarrels

• The love of money

• Youthful passions

We must flee sins and distractions that hinder ministry. The church is brought to shame by preachers who are quarrelsome, immoral, unfaithful to truth, motivated by personal pride, or in love with money.

Paul told Timothy that he must follow:

• Righteousness

• Godliness

• Faith

• Love

• Steadfastness

• Gentleness

• Peace

We must follow the inner qualities that equip us for ministry. Note that the qualities Paul listed are not primarily outward; they are qualities of the heart. One of the challenges to the personal integrity of the minister is that we tend to focus on outward appearance instead of inner qualities. “For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). If we desire the Spirit’s anointing, we must develop a heart that God can bless.

Paul told Timothy that he must fight for the faith (1 Timothy 6:12).

Paul reminded the Corinthians of the importance of the gospel. It is the gospel that brings us to salvation.

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you – unless you believed in vain (1 Corinthians 15:1-2).

Jude called preachers to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 1:3). The minister must never allow other issues to replace the centrality of the gospel in his preaching. Whether political issues, social issues, or doctrinal controversy, Satan delights to sidetrack ministers from a focus on the gospel message. As a minister, you must fight for the faith. The gospel must be at the center of your preaching.

As preachers, we must do our best to prepare for ministry. However, ultimately, we rely on the anointing of the Holy Spirit for power in preaching.

The Holy Spirit Gives Illumination to the Preacher’s Mind

► Read the following verses: Psalm 119:18, 33, Ephesians 1:16-18, 1 Corinthians 2:9-16. What do they teach us about our understanding of scripture?

Illumination is the Holy Spirit’s opening of our understanding. This is more than the results of our study of the text; it is a divine work. The illumination of the Holy Spirit does not replace the need for careful study, but it goes beyond what we can find through study alone. Every preacher should pray for this illumination!

The Holy Spirit Gives Power to the Preacher’s Message

Just as Jesus modeled the importance of prayer in preparation for preaching, he modeled the importance of the Holy Spirit in ministry. At his first sermon, Jesus said,

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor (Luke 4:18).

Jesus demonstrated that the key to effectiveness in ministry was the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus sent his disciples to preach the gospel around the world. However, before they were ready to preach, they had to have the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Jesus would not send his witnesses into the world until they were empowered by the Holy Spirit.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8).

It is through the Spirit’s illumination alone that we interpret scripture properly. Then, it is through the power of the Spirit alone that our preaching or teaching reaches the hearts of our listeners. It is through the Spirit that the Word of God pierces to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerns the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12).

Jesus gave his disciples a wonderful promise. Preparing them to testify to hostile audiences, Jesus promised, “For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you” (Matthew 10:20). This does not mean that study and preparation is unimportant. Jesus was not telling us to avoid study, but he was assuring us that we speak in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Paul testified to this power when he said, “And my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power” (1 Corinthians 2:4). Paul studied diligently. Paul was a brilliant scholar, but he knew that ultimate power in preaching comes from the Spirit, not from human effort.

To be effective teachers and preachers of God’s Word, we should study to understand the text. We should pray to be anointed with God’s Spirit. We can then trust God to speak through us to bring his Word to his people. This will give true power in preaching.

Not only does God prepare the preacher, he prepares the audience to receive the truth. Although the preacher must prepare himself for ministry, we can rejoice that the Holy Spirit prepares the listener for ministry. When we preach or teach, we are not on our own.

Paul reminded the Thessalonians that the impact of his preaching was based not on his own speaking ability but on the power of the Holy Spirit. “Our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction” (1 Thessalonians 1:5). The Holy Spirit took the apostle’s words and applied them to the hearts of the Thessalonians with power and conviction.

Until the Spirit empowers preaching, listeners can agree mentally while their hearts remain untouched. It is the Spirit that convicts listeners of their need and draws a deep response.

This truth should be a great encouragement to each of us who preach. We do not rely on our own ability; we preach in the power of the Holy Spirit.

In July 1741, Jonathan Edwards preached a sermon titled “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” at a church in Enfield, Connecticut. This was during the Great Awakening, one of the most intense outpourings of God’s Spirit in American history. God’s Spirit was working throughout the colonies.

Edwards had preached the same sermon to his own congregation with little effect, but he felt God leading him to preach the sermon at Enfield. Edwards was not an impressive preacher. He read his sermons in an even voice. He did not speak loudly or use any dramatic demonstration. Nothing in Edwards’ style of preaching would inspire a great response.

However, on that day, God’s Spirit moved among the congregation. An eyewitness wrote, “Before the sermon was done, a great moaning and crying went out through the whole house…. People cried out, ‘What shall I do to be saved?’ ‘Oh, I am going to hell!’ ‘Oh, what shall I do for Christ?’ and so forth. The minister was forced to stop preaching as the astonishing power of God was seen.”

Edwards had prepared in study; he had prepared in prayer; he had maintained personal integrity. All this was important, but the ultimate power came from the Holy Spirit.

[1]If the anointing of the Holy Spirit is so important, why do so many preachers settle for anything less? Perhaps one reason is that we are unwilling to earnestly pray for anointing.

We have seen that the Spirit’s anointing will cost prayer. E.M. Bounds wrote, “Prayer, much prayer, is the price of [anointing] in preaching.”[2]

Prayer shows our humble dependence on God. If we feel that we are capable of preaching in our own power, God will allow us to do so. If we are preaching for our own glory, we will not have the Spirit’s anointing. God said, “My glory I will not give to another” (Isaiah 48:11). Our motivation for seeking God’s anointing must be God’s glory, not our own.

(1) You will take a test based on this lesson. Study the test questions carefully in preparation.

(2) Using the principles you have learned during this course, preach a 15-20 minute sermon in class. Each member of the class will complete an assessment form found at the back of this course book. By comparing your classmates’ assessments of this sermon to their assessments of your earlier sermons, you can evaluate your improvement in your ability to communicate effectively.

(1) Name two ways a preacher must prepare himself for effective ministry.

(2) What did Paul tell Timothy to fight for?

(3) In what two ways does the Holy Spirit prepare a preacher?

(4) Define illumination.

(5) What is the key to effectiveness in ministry as demonstrated by Jesus?

(6) According to E.M. Bounds, what is the price of [anointing] in preaching?