The Spirit Anoints Us For Preaching
The Spirit Anoints Us For Preaching
In the last post we began a consideration of the role of the Holy Spirit in Preaching. We saw how Paul referred to the power in his preaching. In this post we will consider how the Spirit anoints us for preaching to the church.
The Public Ministry of Jesus
Let’s go back a bit to the beginning of the ministry of Jesus. There is a description of what happened in Luke 4. Look with me at verses 1 and 2:
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 where for forty days he was tempted[a] by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
Note that Jesus only faced Satan when he was full of the Holy Spirit. The next verses tell about the days of temptation. Then we read this in verse 14:
14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. 1
The ministry of Jesus was identified as being empowered by the Holy Spirit.
The Anointing For Preaching
Now consider the first sermon of Jesus, as recorded later in Luke 4:
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”[f]
20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down.The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
The Anointing of the Spirit for Preaching
The idea of anointing is described often in the Old Testament. Here’s one description of what the anointing signified:
Kings, priests, and prophets were anointed outwardly with oil to symbolize a more profound spiritual reality—that God’s presence was with them and His favor was upon them (Psalm 20:6; 28:8). While David was still a young shepherd, God told Samuel to anoint him to become king over Israel (1 Samuel 16:3). From that day forward, the Spirit of the Lord rested powerfully upon David’s life (1 Samuel 16:13; Psalm 89:20).
So Jesus’ claim that he has been anointed by the Spirit, means that the Spirit has set him apart and is equipping him for the task of preaching. Think of that for a moment. If Jesus, the Son of God, the Living Word needed the power of the Holy Spirit, so do we.
The Spirit is the one who anoints us for preaching in the ministry. Without the anointing of the Spirit, we will be powerless in our presentation of the Word of God.
Conclusion
If you are going to preach with the kind of power that you want–life changing power–you will need the anointing
The Spirit anoints us for preaching and without the anointing, there is no power.
We’ll continue this in the next post as we look at Paul’s description of where the power for his preaching came from. For the time being, check out this video teaching on the idea of anointing in the Bible.
