Spirit-Anointed Preaching - Part 2

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Friday, October 9th.

What is the most essential quality for effective ministry leadership? Stay with us to discover the difference between a well-delivered message and a sermon that truly transforms lives.

Charles Stanley (0:19)

Spirit-Anointed Preaching is preaching that has the touch of God upon it. And when I think about how often times men stand behind pulpits and just talk, and they talk about many things other than God, can you tell me a greater subject than God? A more profound subject than God? A greater needful subject than God himself? And you see, Spirit-Anointed Preaching compromises no truth, avoids no subject, and fears no reaction. And when men stand in the pulpits and look at deacons or elders and think, well, shall I say this or should I say that? I want to tell you, the anointing leaves you the moment you begin to compromise what you know is the gospel truth. God never called you to please anybody but Him. And when the first time you begin to seek to please men, I want to tell you what you do. You step down from the exalted position of a servant of God who has been anointed by the Holy Spirit to lead that fellowship into a deeper relationship to God. Don't ever step from that exalted position. To do so, my friend, is to step down from what God has called you to do. Jesus said, I am anointed to preach the gospel, the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, let's face it. God's not going to anoint but one kind of man. That's a man whose life is clean. I didn't say perfect, but it's gotta be clean. He's not going to anoint, preaching from a man who is rebellious, who is proud, who is egotistical, who is sensual, who is dishonest, who's lost his integrity, and who's full of the world. He's not going to do it. Neither will you hear Spirit-Anointed Preaching come from the lips of a man who doubts the integrity of the Word of God. God is never going to anoint doubt and unbelief, and especially a man who stands before others and begins to talk about all the things in the Bible that possibly are not true. Friend, the moment you begin to doubt the Word, there is no unction in your life. There's not going to be any anointing. And listen, you can dress up in all kinds of robes, you can get into all kinds of rituals, but there is no substitute for the anointing of the Spirit of God in your life. No substitute whatsoever. And the question is, are you committed to allow God to do whatever is necessary in your life to bring you to become the maximum that God knows you're capable of being? Well, the second thing you and I might ask is this. You say, well, you know, I can agree with all that. But first of all, you might ask, how will I know what Spirit-Anointed Preaching is in the first place? I want you to turn to Acts chapter 2 for a moment because I want to talk about the characteristics of Spirit-Anointed Preaching. Now, to ask that question, you might say, well, first of all, I have to have a Spirit-Anointed Preacher. Then I have to have a Spirit-Anointed Sermon. So where am I going to find one of those? Well, the best place to find one is in the Bible. Listen, it is centered in the scriptures. You'll notice in verse 17 that Peter begins to quote Joel, it shall be in the last days, God says, I will pull forth my Spirit upon all mankind. If you move down to verse 25, he says, for David says of him, I was always beholding the Lord in my presence. If you'll move on over to verse 34, for it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make thine enemies a footstool for thy feet. Listen, God, I believe, wants us to center the message in the scriptures, whether it is an expository sermon, a topical sermon, a textual sermon. It should be loaded with the scriptures. It should be founded upon the Word of God, not something you got somewhere else, and scratch up a few verses here and there to fit around a beautiful story, a real tearjerker that you've heard somewhere, and focus that on your people. That's not preaching the gospel. If you're going to preach the gospel, you've got to proclaim Jesus Christ. He's got to be at the heart of what's going on. So first of all, it has to be scripturally centered. That is, you get the message out of God's word. Secondly, I believe it should be custom designed to meet the needs. Now listen, these folks said, these men are drunk. They've been drinking at this early hour of the morning. And Peter begins his sermon in order to meet a need, to expound the truth of what was happening at Pentecost. Now listen, once in a while, I hear somebody say, well, you know, folks just won't come and I'm having a hard time. I want to give you a simple little principle that always works. If you will preach to meet people's needs, you'll never have to beg for a congregation. People are hurting everywhere. I mean, they are hurting desperately. They're lonely. They're frustrated. They're trapped. They're in bondage. They're divorced. Their kids are on drugs. They're living with somebody else.