Anointing Power in Pulpit — E.A. Johnston

Divine Power Rather Than Human Gifts

What makes some preachers stand out from others? Is it appearance? Personality? Education? Winsomeness? I'm sure all those qualities can play a part. Some men are more gifted than others. But I believe what really distinguishes one preacher from another is a quality that is not human, but divine.

The Need for Power from Above

Jesus instructed his disciples to tarry in the city until they were endued with power from on high. And I believe, friends, this is our greatest need for our pulpits today. We need power from above. Instead of relying on money and manpower to get the job done, we need God and Holy Ghost power.

In Zechariah 4, 6 we read,. Then he answered and spake unto me, saying,. This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. This endowment from on high, this anointing, is a thing worth seeking, friend, like pure gold.

I've known men that have had this anointing, and their preaching ministry stood head and shoulders above everyone else. I want to talk about this power in the pulpit today, friends, for I know there are many of you out there, you preacher boys, who want this power, but it comes with a cost for what cost counts and what counts cost.

Longing, Sacrifice, and the Cost of Anointing

First, there has to be a longing for it, a desire to have it. We have an example of this in Psalm 42, verses 1 and 2, which state, As the heart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.

My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? What the psalmist is picturing here is a deer running through the woods, thirsty, being haunted, totally out of strength, seeking his only help in the water brooks.

He's desperate, he has to find it. And expressing here is a deep desire to know God more intimately, to go deeper with God, for that's where all the power lies anyhow. There has to be a giving up to get, and what that giving up is differs from person to person.

God delights in sacrifice. Did he not sacrifice his only begotten son? And did not Jesus lay down his life on a bloody cross so we could live? But we try to get by and serve God without it. I like the comments of Alan Redpath, former pastor of Moody Church, who said, Today the Christian church is helpless, behind the scenes and away from the public arena.

We are facing powers of darkness too strong for us because somewhere in our personal lives we have forfeited all right to the Spirit's anointing, his authority and his power. In his absence, all we can do is to substitute planning and organization schemes and techniques.

The Church's Loss of Power and Hope of Revival

Well, I agree with Alan Redpath's assessment of the church, and he wrote that, friends, way back in the 1960s. I wonder what the old boy would have to say about it today. We have personalities and performers in our pulpits today, professionals instead of prophets.

We lack power. We lack authority. The world looks at the powerless, impotent church today and laughs. But there was a time in America as late as the 1950s where the church still had influence in the land.

Godless Hollywood on early TV was afraid to put a married couple fully dressed in the same bed because it hinted of an intimate relationship. Hollywood feared the influence of the church in the land. Now Hollywood just mocks it.

But I'm always encouraged by the words of Jonathan Edwards who wrote, We see that God is faithful and never will forget the promises that he has made to his church, and that he will not suffer the smoking flax to be quenched even when the floods seem to be overwhelming it, but will revive the flame again even in the darkest times.

Isn't that encouraging, friends? We need revival today. Adrian Rogers said, We need God-called men who will take the book of God and preach the Son of God with the anointing of the Spirit of God. I knew Adrian Rogers well.

He was my pastor for 20 years, and I often spent time with him. He was a man who had an anointing upon his preaching ministry. I was in Adrian Rogers' office one day, and I asked him about this power in the pulpit that he obviously had.

I said, Dr. Rogers, do you recall the time in your life where you got this power? He thought about it for a while before answering me. Finally, he looked me in the eye and said, It was after my baby boy suddenly died.

It was during that time, after that tragedy, that I went deeper with God. Another preacher I knew who had this power in the pulpit was Stephen Olford. His holy walk with God was the source of his great power in the pulpit.

Dr. Olford saw revival during his ministry time and time again. Stephen Olford was my homiletical mentor. He taught me how to preach, and I was one of the first graduates in his school of preaching. He possessed a tremendous power in the pulpit, but he admitted to the following.

Holiness as the Source of Anointed Preaching

He said, God can only bless with the anointing of His Spirit those who pursue a life of holiness. Go back and study church history, friend, and look at men like Moody and Finney study their lives, and you'll soon see a common denominator of an anointed preaching ministry by the Spirit of God.

Moody received what he termed the second blessing after praying for it several months. It all began when two old ladies in his Chicago congregation approached him one service one Sunday, and they informed Moody that they were praying for him.

Moody replied, Why pray for me? Why not pray for these lost ones instead? They told him they were praying to God to give them a touch from heaven in an anointing. Well, after that day, he met with these two elderly women for prayer months on end, praying for this power.

He even would roll on the floor in agony asking God to give him this power. Then one day, while walking down the street in New York City, he felt God was suddenly upon him. He ran to a friend's house nearby and begged to come into a private room so he could be left alone to pray.

He said that that day is too special to discuss at length, but he said power came over me in liquid waves until I could bear no more, and I asked God to stay his hand. All I know is this. After that experience, I preached the same sermons, but people were broken down by his spirit.

Moody and Finney's Experiences of Spiritual Empowerment

Charles Finney had a similar experience in the study of his law office before he became a preacher. God's spirit came strongly upon him, and he wrote in his memoirs, I want to read you about his experience, friends.

Listen to what he recorded. The impression on my mind was I want to pour my whole soul out to God. The rising of my soul was so great that I rushed into the council room back of the front office to pray.

There was no fire and no light in the room, hence it was dark. Nevertheless, it appeared to me as if it was perfectly light. As I went in and shut the door after me, it seemed as if I met the Lord Jesus Christ face to face.

He stood before me, and I fell down at his feet and poured out my soul to him. I wept aloud like a child and made such confessions as I could with my choked utterance. I received a mighty baptism of the Holy Ghost without expecting it, without ever having the thought in my mind that there was any such thing for me.

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, in waves of liquid love, for I could not express it in any other way.

These waves came over me and over me and over me one after another 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 anymore. After that, God used Vinny in powerful awakenings, in revival, especially in western New York.

Seeking Revival Through Repentance and Self-Emptying

Another evangelist who had this power from on high was John Song of China. One day, he got down on his knees to pray and he wrote in his diary the following words. He wrote, May God confer unto me the same spirit that he had given to Vinny, Moody and John Wesley.

I would rather die if God does not do that. After that experience, God used John Song to shake all of China with powerful revival under his powerful preaching ministry. A minister approached John Song one day and asked, Why are your sermons so powerful?

He replied, The answer is found in my constant repentance. This power, friends, like I said, comes with a cost. First, there has to be a desire for it, then a seeking of it, then an emptying of self. R. A. Torrey told his students at Moody Bible School, If you want more of the Holy Spirit, then the Holy Spirit must have more of you.

The Spirit-Filled Life and God's Use of Consecrated Servants

Well, I hope this little message, friends, on the spirit-filled life has been helpful to you. And I'll end it with the following quote from J. Sidlow Baxter, who knew full well this power in the pulpit.

He wrote, What I give to him, he takes. What he takes, he cleanses. What he cleanses, he fills. And what he fills, he uses.