How to Preach with Power

Vance Havner told the story about how when he was a young man, he met an old man while traveling on a train. Havner recognized the white bearded man immediately. It was R.A. Torrey, who was D.O. Moody's colleague and friend.

Vance Havner slowly approached R.A. Torrey and asked him if there was any advice he could give a young preacher boy like himself. With steely eyes and a shaky voice, Torrey answered, Always remember, you can have as much of the Holy Spirit you want so long as he can have as much of you as he wants. I don't think we preachers today appreciate that remark, at least not on a personal level.

There is a dearth of authoritative preaching in the land. The generation of preachers who knew about the Spirit's anointing are long gone from our midst. We have an abundance of personalities in the pulpit and are shared professionals.

But where, oh where, is the prophet of God today who has God's mantle of authority? In the book of 2 Kings, we read in chapter 2, in verses 8 and 9, And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters. And they were divided, hither and thither, so that they, too, went over on dry ground. And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee.

And Elijah said, I pray thee, let a double portion of the Spirit be upon me. And we see, friends, over in verse 13, He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan. And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, O where is the Lord God of Elijah? And when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither, and Elisha went over.

We need that kind of power today, friends. I want to relate to you what my homiletical mentor, Dr. Stephen Oford, once shared with me. And if anybody ever heard Stephen Oford preach, you knew he was a man with the Spirit's anointing upon him.

His preaching was transformational to many who heard him. He related to me one day the following advice. He said, The Word of God cannot be mastered until we are mastered by the God of the Word.

There's a lot in that statement, friends. When I was writing the authorized biography of J. Siddall Baxter, I came across something he wrote in his personal papers. And I want to share with you today because it fits nicely into our subject.

Dr. Baxter wrote, What I give to Him, He takes. What He takes, He cleanses. What He cleanses, He fills.

And what He fills, He uses. I like that because it's true. And I agree with R. A. Torrey's advice to Vance Havner that we can have as much of the Holy Spirit we want so long as He can have as much of us as He wants.

I like another remark by Siddall Baxter which states, How can a man full of himself preach to Christ who emptied himself? When I think of someone God used in an incredible way, it was David Brainerd, the missionary to the Indians in New York. Brainerd was a special man because Brainerd had the power of God upon him. Reading David Brainerd's diary is a profitable exercise for any Christian who wants to go deeper with God.

I highly recommend it to you, friends. Anyway, Brainerd preached with power from on high because he was a man empty of self. He wrote in his journal, Went to the meeting house, ashamed to see anyone come to hear such an unspeakable, worthless wretch.

However, God enabled me to speak with clearness, power, and pungency. It is my prayer that some young preacher boy will go get along with God and ask God to get a hold of him and fill him with His Holy Spirit so he can preach God's Word with God's authority to God's people for our day. Let us pray.