Holy Spirit's Anointing Lesson Three — E.A. Johnston

The Spirit’s Dunamis Power for Gospel Ministry

I like what Vance Havner once said. He said, If we serve such a dynamite God, then why are so many of us living firecracker lives? Our word dynamite comes from the Greek word dunamis, which means force and power, and in spiritual terms, it means the power imparted by the Spirit that gives one an anointing and authority in preaching the gospel of the Son of God.

Receiving Power Through the Holy Spirit

We see this word over in Acts 1 -8, which states,. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

For a Christian worker, to attempt to further the gospel without this power or anointing from the Holy Spirit is to live like Vance Havner's comment, a firecracker life. And that's why so many preachers today are duds.

There's no heavenly spark or flame to their ministry. But over in Luke's gospel, we read of John the Baptist in Luke 3 -16. He says, Indeed baptize you with water, but one mightier than I cometh, the lachet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose.

He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. I have known some men who have possessed this holy fire, this power, this authority in preaching. Two men come to mind, Adrian Rogers and Stephen Olford.

Holy Fire and Conviction in Preaching

They both understood the necessity of having smile upon their ministry, and it was evident in their preaching. Let me ask you, friend, what does a fire do? It awakens and alarms when one sits under a preacher who has an anointing from on high.

Then the Holy Spirit can go to work and bring conviction to awaken a sinner to his lost condition and show him his need for a savior from sin. I'll never forget sitting in a seminary classroom for preaching where the professor was emphasizing the need to project one's voice and personality to reach an audience.

Jonathan Edwards and the Nature of Spirit-Empowered Preaching

And a young student sitting near me raised his hand and he said,. When I read historical accounts of revival, I see men like Jonathan Edwards who preach with power because he had a special anointing of the Holy Spirit.

Then the seminary professor expressed a look of disgust on his face as he replied in a condescending tone, Young man, you are no Jonathan Edwards. Well, maybe that seminary student wasn't Jonathan Edwards, but he knew more about preaching than that arrogant seminary professor.

Surrender, Faith, and Prayer for Spiritual Power

We need power to preach the Word of God, and we need dunamis power from on high in an anointing of a mantle of authority. This anointing comes from a complete surrender to God with a deep desire to be more useful for God.

It is appropriated by waiting upon God, appropriated by faith and prayer. Jesus said in Luke 11, 13, If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?

The Second Blessing and Empowerment for Ministry

Sometimes a special experience of God will accompany this endowment from on high, and this anointing at times is referred to as a second blessing birthed from that special experience of God. There have been men, mightily used to God, who have spoken of this experience in their life where they wrestled with God in prayer and came away with a touch from Heaven and new life to their ministry.

Historical Testimonies of the Spirit’s Anointing

Men like Duncan Campbell, Stephen Olford, D .L. Moody, and Charles Finney each mentioned instances in their lives of the Holy Spirit's anointing on their life for service where they were endued with power from on high.

Stephen Olford’s Experience of Divine Empowerment

Stephen Olford said of his experience of being holed up in a bed and breakfast in Wales as a young believer that once he knew he had received the Spirit's blessing as he was checking out of his room. The lady who owned the hotel remarked that he looked like someone who had just come out of the Welsh Revival which she had witnessed as a young girl.

She remarked that young Stephen Olford seemed as if he just came from the presence of Almighty God. And after that experience, Stephen Olford had the smile of Heaven upon his ministry and countless lives were transformed.

Charles Finney’s Account of Holy Spirit Baptism

The D .L. Moody story is well known and we've already touched on it in our introduction to our flame series on the Holy Spirit. I want to take this time now friends to read you Charles Finney's account of this anointing taken from his memoirs.

He writes,. But as I returned to the front office to take a seat by the fire, I received a mighty baptism of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Spirit descended upon me in a manner that seemed to go through me, body and soul.

I could feel the impression like a wave of electricity going through and through me. Indeed, it seemed to come in waves and waves of liquid love, for I could not express it any other way. And yet it did not seem like water but rather as the breath of God.

I can recollect distinctly that it seemed to fan me like immense wings. And it seemed to me as these waves passed over me that they literally moved my hair like a passing breeze. No words can express the wonderful love that was shed abroad in my heart.

It seemed to me that I should burst. I wept aloud with joy and love. These waves came over me and over me and over me, one after the other, until I recollect I cried out, I shall die if these waves continue to pass over me.

I said to the Lord, Lord, I cannot bear any more. Well, that was Finney's remarkable account, friends, of his experience of the baptism of the Holy Ghost. If we are serious about serving God, we need to wait upon God in prayer until we are endued with power from on high.

Dependence on Christ for Effective Ministry

Jesus said in John 15, 5,. For without me ye can do nothing. Let us pray.