The Man and His Message — E.A. Johnston

The Need for Spiritual Power Before Preaching

Stephen Olford shared a story with me one time, which has always stuck with me. He said he was at a conference for Campus Crusade, where its founder, Bill Bright, was addressing a young audience of Christian workers.

And Dr. Bright rallied his troops with the following statement. He said, OK, now let's get out there and canvas the streets with the gospel. And later that night, Dr. Olford knocked on the hotel door room of Bill Bright, and he asked if he could have a word with him.

Tarrying for Power From on High

And Stephen Olford said, My dear brother, I feel you erred greatly this evening. You told those young men to go out there and canvas the streets with the gospel, but you failed to instruct them to tarry until they were endued with power from on high.

And I believe that's a valid point, friends, because what gave Stephen Olford his power was an anointing of the Holy Spirit, and what gives the gospel its power is the attendance of the Holy Spirit. In Luke's Gospel in chapter 24, Jesus instructs his men on how to prepare to preach the gospel, and what message to preach.

In verse 49 he states,. And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you, but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high. I believe the missing ingredient in modern preachers is a lack of an anointing of the Holy Spirit, for if we preach without power from on high, we will rely on our personalities and intellects and schemes to hold our congregation's attention, and our preaching won't be transformational.

The Holy Spirit's Conviction in Preaching

What gives the gospel life and power is the attendance of the Holy Spirit. He is the one who brings conviction of sin. If we preachers fail to wait until we are endued with power from on high, our sermons will fail to bring conviction of sin.

But if a man preaches the great doctrines of grace under the anointing of the Holy Ghost, all hell will break loose as men and women and boys and girls come under conviction and feel their need of a savior from sin.

The Spiritual Preparation of the Preacher

I believe the preparation of the preacher is far more important than the preparation of his sermon. If we fail to have a consistent walk with God under the discipline of the Holy Ghost, then we are mere lecturers.

Repentance at the Heart of the Gospel

Secondly, the message of the gospel is laid out here plainly in Luke chapter 24. The risen Christ informs his disciples what doctrine they should preach as seen in verse 47, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

If Christ said to preach repentance at the heart of the gospel, then why do so many preachers omit repentance from their preaching? The message of the gospel is seen clearly in Acts 17 .30 as the apostle Paul states,.

The Necessity of Preaching Repentance

And the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent. I don't believe you can preach the true gospel without preaching man's duty of repentance, and that's why the gospel's not preached much in this country anymore and few are being saved.

The Man and His Message Working Together

Instead, we hear a lengthy discourse to consider. The man and his message go hand in hand like biscuits and gravy. We must preach the right message that drives men out of themselves to Christ, and we must preach it under the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

If we do that, we can always count on a combustion to occur, and maybe somebody who hears us will cry out in agony a soul, saying, What must I do to be saved?