I like what Vance Havner once said.
He said if we serve such a dynamite
God Then why are so many of us
living firecracker lives?
Our word dynamite comes from the Greek word
Dunamis, which means force and power and in
spiritual terms It means the power imparted by
the spirit that gives one an anointing and
authority In preaching the gospel of the Son
of God We see this word over in
Acts 1 8 which states But ye shall
receive power After that the Holy Ghost is
come upon you and ye should be witnesses
unto me both in Jerusalem and in all
Judea and in Samaria and unto the outermost
part of the earth for a Christian worker
to attempt to further the gospel without this
power or anointing from the Holy Spirit is
to live like Vance Havner's comment a Firecracker
life and that's why so many preachers today
are duds There's no heavenly spark or flame
to their ministry but over in Luke's gospel
Reread of John the Baptist and Luke 3
16 He says and deed baptize you with
water But one mightier than I cometh the
lancet of whose shoes I'm not worthy to
unloose He shall baptize you with the Holy
Ghost and with fire I Have known some
men who have possessed this holy fire this
power this authority and preaching two men come
to mind Adrian Rogers and Stephen Alford they
both understood the Necessity of heaven smile upon
their ministry, and it was evident in their
preaching Let me ask you friend.
What does a fire do it awakens and
alarms?
When one sits under a preacher who has
an anointing from on high Then the Holy
Spirit can go to work and bring conviction
to Awaken a sinner to his lost condition
and show him his need for a savior
from sin I'll never forget Sitting in a
seminary classroom for preaching where the professor was
emphasizing the need to project one's voice and
Personality to reach an audience and a young
student Sitting near me raised his hand and
he said When I read historical accounts revival,
I see men like Jonathan Edwards who preached
with power Because he had a special anointing
of the Holy Spirit Then the seminary professor
Expressed a look of disgust on his face
as he replied in a condescending tone young
man You were no Jonathan Edwards Well, maybe
that seminary student wasn't Jonathan Edwards But he
knew more about preaching than that arrogant seminary
professor We need power to preach the Word
of God and we need dunamis power from
on high in an anointing of a mantle
of authority this anointing comes from a Complete
surrender to God with a deep desire to
be more useful for God It is appropriated
by waiting upon God appropriated by faith and
prayer Jesus said in Luke 11 13 if
ye then Be an evil know how to
give good gifts onto your children How much
more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy
Spirit to them that ask him?
Sometimes a special experience of God will accompany
this endowment from on high and this anointing
at times is referred to as a second
blessing birth from that special experience of God
There had been men Mildly used to God
who have spoken of this experience in their
life where they wrestled with God and prayer
and came away With a touch from heaven
and new life to their ministry men like
Duncan Campbell Stephen Alford DL Moody and trolls
Finney each mentioned instances in their lives of
the Holy Spirit's Anointing on their life for
service where they were endued with power from
on high Stephen Alford said of his experience
of being holed up in a bed and
breakfast in Wales as a young believer that
once he knew he had Received the Spirit's
blessing as he was checking out of his
room The lady who owned the hotel remarked
that he looked like someone who'd just come
out of the Welsh Revival which she had
witnessed as a young girl she remarked that
that young Stephen Alford seemed as if he
just came from the presence of Almighty God
and after that experience Stephen Alford had the
smile of heaven upon his ministry and countless
lives were transformed DL Moody story is well
known and we've already touched on it in
our Introduction to our flame series on the
Holy Spirit I want to take this time
now friends to read you trolls Finney's account
of this anointing Taken from his memoirs.
He writes But as I returned to the
front office to take a seat by the
fire, I received a mighty baptism of the
Holy Ghost 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 and waves of liquid love For
I could not express it any other way
and yet it did not seem like water
But rather as the breath of God I
can recollect Distinctly that it seemed to fan
me like immense wings and it seemed to
me as these waves Passed over me That
they literally moved my hair like a passing
breeze No words can express the wonderful love
that was shed abroad in my heart It
seemed to me that I should burst I
wept aloud with joy and love These waves
came over me and over me and over
me one after the other Until I recollect
I cried out I should die if these
waves continue to pass over me I said
to the Lord Lord, I cannot bear anymore
Well, that was Finney's Remarkable account friends of
his experience of the baptism of the Holy
Ghost if we were serious about Serving God
we need to wait upon God in prayer
Until we are endued with power from on
high Jesus said in John 15 5 for
without me you can do nothing Let us
pray