The Help of the Holy SpiritBy Jesse MorrellThis article is non-copyrighted Life, with all its many vanities can be so overwhelmingly and desperately empty. There are vanities on the left of us and there are vanities on the right of us. They can be found in front of us and in back of us. But is there a greater vanity this side of eternity then to preach a message, supposedly of God, that in reality is completely void and without the help of the Holy Spirit? To sing out of tune or without a melody is quite an awful noise and can hardly be tolerated by sensible ears, and yet churches all over the world are full of those who tolerate listening to sermons week after week that have absolutely no anointing or touch from God in them at all. Preachers spout out their own words and their own thoughts and wonder why we go without the power of God. If God is not in the end, it may be because He wasn't in the means. The first foundation truth any preacher must learn is that to preach without the anointing of the Holy Spirit is not preaching at all. It is vain utterances and useless ramblings. If God is not in a message, a preacher must not deliver the message. The words of men do not produce the effect and the fruit which the Lord desires. It is the words of God that speaks into the darkness and produces the light, the words of God which calms the storms, the words of God that raises Lazarus from the dead, and the word of God that pierces and slays the hearts of men with godly sorrow leading to repentance. I believe that one of the greatest sermons John Knox ever preached was when He didn’t preach at all. He told his congregation on one occasion to go home because he didn't have a word for them from the Lord. If more preachers were as honest and sincere in their labors as John Knox was, our churches would be quite empty every Sunday. Preachers are so caught up in the presence of men, how could they be caught up in the presence of God to get a message? A man may be a great communicator or a great orator without the Holy Spirit, but he can never be a great preacher. You’re leaning on a broken cane with a pointed edge if you lean on your own understanding. Only God’s design or ministerial purposes can bring about God glory as adequately as He deserves. If we dare to perform ministry simply the way we desire or see fit in our own eyes, which ends up being outside of the will of the Lord, then God will never, and can never, be glorified in it. The foundation of the Holy Spirit in our ministries is of such importance that without Him in our ministries our ministries cannot stand and will come to nothing, in reality revealing what many of them truly are; nothing. There are thousands of preachers all over the world standing up on Sunday and are preaching messages that do not have the anointing of the Spirit. Are they not also like whitewashed tombs? With their polished words and eloquent vocabulary, and yet are barren in the Spirit. Genesis sets the pattern; everything gives birth to its own kind. And dead preachers give birth to dead converts. To give birth to death is such a horrifying concept. This clearly is not of God and must be hated by all who love life. One has to wonder how many sermons a man can preach without the help of the Holy Spirit in it at all. Although I cannot think of any preacher who would set out to make sure that he preaches without the help of the Holy Spirit; I know that there are those who do not set out to make sure that they have His help. That is where the problem is. The absolute necessity of having the Holy Spirit I can see in my minds eye the average preacher, consumed with preparing his message as well as his many other responsibilities, that he pushed prayer aside or at least cuts short God’s time with him. Only then to deliver the average sermon which lacks the anointing of God that comes only through the Spirit. Jesus fasted for forty days before he preached his first sermon which had him nearly thrown off a cliff. There was power in His preaching! Jonathon Edwards fasted for days before he preached “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” which shook the very depths of his congregation, the end result of which was revival. There is no substitute for the Holy Spirit in our preaching. The Lord Himself did not preach without the Holy Spirit being upon Him. Christ declared “the Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel”. I have to wonder how many preachers would be speaking the truth if they said that today. Sure God may have called them to preach, but have they allowed the Holy Spirit to minister to them the truth which they must minister to others? It is all too possible to write and preach a sermon without the help of the Holy Spirit and have nobody in the audience even notice or slightly suggest it. In the busyness of the preacher he must never neglect searching, waiting, and longing for a message that is straight from the throne room of God. We can get caught up in books and tapes when we need to be caught up in God. It’s said of the old puritan preachers that they would spend six days a week in eternity and then would come down into time one day a week to tell the people about it. Men who walk with God will know God and those who know their God will do great and powerful exploits for Him. But those preachers who do not walk closely with God will do great damage to the Kingdom. Even their gain will be considered loss when the fire comes to their works. Unless the Lord builds the house, the house can not stand. And how terrible it will be for those standing inside that house! Preachers have a great responsibility to God who entrusted them with the ministry, and to the men who trust them enough to be fed by them. John the Baptist had the Holy Spirit in his preaching. In fact, John was full of the Holy Spirit since birth! He “was a man sent from God”. If that is not what we need today, then I don’t know what we need. The church and the world are in a desperate drought of preachers who enter into the pulpit after being in the presence of God. But John was “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: make straight the way of the Lord.” If ever we lived in a wild time, we live in a wild time now. And if ever we need voices, not echoes, who will declare the straight and narrow way, we need them today! It was Moses who dared not move without the presence of the Lord. And because of this desperate dependency which Moses had upon God, and refused to move unless the Lord moved, “the skin of his face shone while he talked with” his people. Because the early Methodist churches had no heating devices, they used to say that the fire from the preacher would have to suffice to keep everyone warm. We need preachers today who refuse to do anything without the Lord going with them, who shine with the glory of God after being lavished in His presence, and will burn and be consumed by the fires of the Holy Spirit. The power that comes in having the Holy Spirit \tThe surest sign that preachers are preaching without the help and favor of the Holy Spirit is the lack of power that there is in our meetings to convict, convert, and cleanse the spirits and hearts of men from “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life”. Those who fill our churches sit in their seats year after year and do not grow spiritually. It is in the very nature of a plant to grow, and it is in the very nature of those who are genuinely born-again to grow in grace. If Gods hand and help were in these meetings, His power would be in them too. But sinners are not being lead safely and soundly in the pathways of purity as we have seen are possible from the examples of the past. The hearts of men are not being gripped with fear at the reality of the anger of God and the existence of hell. So why would they ever follow the command to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling”? Our people aren’t afraid and trembling at our altar calls. They may be weeping because they feel they are victims and have been miss treated, but not because they have been made aware that they are criminals and have been mistreating Christ and His blood. Our preachers do not “save with fear, pulling them out of the fire” and so the masses utterly perish without as much as a helping hand from most of the church. These are indeed hard truths, and that is exactly why our hearts must be broken. I take no pleasure at all saying that many of our preachers are “serving themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead , pulled up by the roots; raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.” What a serious offense and crime it is to stand in the pulpit, where nothing but what is from God should be declared, and speaking anything which the Lord has not said. So much of what is preached on TV, in conferences, and in churches is soft and smooth and easy for anyone to take and believe. Not even sinners object to the messages certain preachers preach today. Yet the way Paul preached when he was full of the Holy Spirit was nothing of the sort. Who would be daring enough to be biblical and follow in Paul footsteps? It says in Acts 13:8-10 “But Elymas the sorcerer (for so his name is translated) withstood them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. Then Saul, who also is called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, ‘O full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord? And now, indeed, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time.’ And immediately a dark mist fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand.” Paul, who was once blinded by the power of God, also blinded another with the power of God. Now let’s think about this. Would the current church be fond of Paul if he were alive today and pulled something like that? When were you last in a church service where you heard the pastor calling people sons of the devil or enemies of all righteousness? Or when did you hear a preacher preach as James did when he said “cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” That wouldn’t due in our time. Preachers like that would be kicked out of churches in our day just as these men were kicked out of the temples in their own. The partnership and relationship that the preacher has with the Holy Spirit is so intricately and intimately woven together that they must never be divorced. Christ said, that when the helper comes (the Holy Spirit) “he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment” Then we see how Paul, full of the Holy Spirit, ministered “concerning the faith of Jesus Christ” when “he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come”. And so we see how the Holy Spirit confirms the preacher, and the preacher confirms the Holy Spirit. They work hand in hand, running perfectly parallel each other. A preacher must get his words from the Holy Spirit, or he must not preach at all.The point is that with the help of the Holy Spirit there is power and without His help ministry is futile all together! God has the power to make people blind, and the power to make people see! There is no need to fear if you find that you have no power within yourself. If you felt adequate enough to look to yourself, you would see no need to look up to God. If you can’t imagine God using you, take comfort because our God is a God of miracles! If it wasn’t for that truth, not much would get done for the Kingdom. The power of the Holy Spirit obviously does not come from us, but it comes only through the Holy Spirit Himself. Anything else is a passing shadow, a dim reflection, or an ungodly counterfeit. We have had enough shadows, mere reflections, and counterfeits! It’s time for the real deal. Many, although it hurts to say, have not “preached the gospel…by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven”. It may be an unpleasant thought, but it is far greater then that. It is a deadly reality! The importance of having the Holy Spirit\tThe importance of having Gods help in our preaching cannot be adequately expressed. It is not only greatly important, but it is incredibly vital, that is, if we truly want our ministering to matter. The greatest importance of it would be for guidance. Our world is drowning in heresies and falsehood today because many preachers are not being lead by the Spirit of God. Many ministries are full of heresies, blasphemies, and trickery. \tSome time ago while I was attempting to find something wholesome on the television, I stopped clicking around to listen to a television preacher on a secular channel. I soon found out why he was allowed on secular television, his sermon was called “How to never be hurt again”. Then he gave six or so steps that you can take in order to “never be hurt again”. A painless life! How wonderful! How amazing! How awesome! And yet, how false and unrealistic for Christians or any man for that matter. Making money off lies is big business today. All you have to do is become an itching ear preacher, telling everyone what they want to hear, and you can be driving around in a fancy car, wearing the most expensive suits, and wearing expensive watches. However Jesus, who had to borrow a donkey to make his big appearance in Jerusalem, knew nothing of this painless life. Christ was “a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief”. Dying an agonizing and torturous death on a cross after a ministry of rejection is far from the picture that this TV preacher was painting. Maybe Jesus should have known these “six easy steps”. Then he could have taught his disciples and the majority of them wouldn’t have gone to jail and died the death of martyrs. Many thoughts occurred to me while watching this false teacher. Did he know the bible? Did he know God? Does he really follow in the footsteps of the “man of sorrows”? How could he preach like this? Why don’t we ever hear a message on TV on “How to never go to Hell”? Its one hard, life taking step: being born-again. When these preachers become lead by the Holy Spirit, they will start preaching repentance. On another occasion I was attending a youth event where there was a well known “prophet”, or so he called himself. This man even trained and studied under the ministry of another well known pastor and author who has thousands flocking to him every weekend here in America. This “prophet” did a great performance on stage. He was a great entertainer, running around and yelling and doing what they do. Everyone was wiled up as he preached a message on being in the presence of God. He said, “If you are in the presence of God then you will be blessed, your family will be blessed, your friends will be blessed, even your little dog at home will be blessed.” Then after preaching an entire message on blessing which never mentioned hell, judgment, sin, repentance, or even the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, this self proclaimed prophet gave an altar call. His altar call went like this: “If you want to be blessed, if you want your family to be blessed, if you want your friends to be blessed, if you simply want your dog to be blessed, come to this altar so I can pray for you.” Who could turn down an altar call like that? Not many because thousands rushed to the altar. This is when the worst manipulation came into play. What did he have the people do when they came to get a blessing? He led them in “the sinner’s prayer”. But these people didn’t come to repent! These people didn’t come to be born-again! These people didn’t come to “flee from the wrath that’s to come”! They came so God would bless them and bless everyone they know. The first time that this man mentioned the name of Jesus was in the “sinner’s prayer”. If you don’t preach a message on the gospel and on repentance, you have no right to give an altar call! I watched all this happen and it seemed as though I was the only one disturbed by it in the entire conference! Those who put on the conference must have thought to themselves, “Wow look at how successful and anointed this man is! Look at how God is blessing this mans ministry! Look at all those people getting saved! We better book him for our next event.” But I watched as thousands left the altar believing God is now going to let them into heaven, when in reality, God is going to bind them hand and foot and cast them into everlasting flames. How bitter those people will be when they enter back into a fallen world of hardships, pains, sufferings, and death. How eternally angry they will be with that man when they one day awake in the other world to face their punishment for the sins they’ve never turned from. I wouldn’t want to be that “prophet” even for a second on judgment day. \tIt was in the days of Jeremiah the prophet when he declared repentance towards God, least Israel be taken captive into Babylon, while the other prophets declared “peace, peace! When there is no peace”. Many preachers today are telling thousand upon thousands that they have peace with God, when they have no peace. They are still enemies of all righteousness and enemies of God. Jeremiahs message was “amend your ways and your doings and I will let your dwell in this place.” Today, our message must be that of our Lords, “unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” Jeremiahs message was so strong and yet perceived as so strange because of the messages of the other prophets. Salt preachers look odd when compared to sugar preachers. But just as in Jeremiahs day, the Lord has not sent these prophets who declare “peace, peace! When there is no peace.” Preachers would preach truth, if they were in tune with the “Spirit of Truth”.\tBecause many preachers do not know God, they do not preach the truth of God. Many aren’t even talking about the biblical Jesus when they preach about Jesus. “The many Jesus today are soppy, sentimental, and self-serving.” Art Katz has said. We are so far removed from the truth that the Spirit of Truth is so far removed from us! Here is a revelation for some of you preachers: when the bible says what a man sows he shall surely reap, it is not talking about money! In context that scripture is referring to the wrath of God! Although God may bless your giving, I have never heard that scripture used in context. We have twisted, corrupted, and manipulated the bible to make it as “seeker sensitive” and as sinner friendly as possible. 2 Timothy 4:2-5: “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” Yes, many are not lead of the Spirit, but let that never be said of us. Yes, many are lead by other spirits preaching lies. But as for us, we must be lead of the Holy Spirit and preach the truthThe solution is in essence this: we must know the scriptures and we must know the Spirit. If we know the scriptures, then we must preach the scriptures. If we know the Spirit, then we must be lead of the Spirit. Preaching is far too great of a responsibility to be treated lightly. So before a man enters a pulpit or ministers to another he must be well rooted in the scriptures and well rooted in God. Until a man is like that, he must never preach. I fear that preaching without the Holy Spirit is so common and unrecognized while the dangers of such a scenario are so immeasurable, so unthinkable, and so unconceivable, we will never see this catastrophe for what it truly is until we reach the Judgment Seat and all things are made known. God forbid that we wait until it is too late and can do nothing about it when we can do something about it now.Quotes: Art Katz in “The Cross” compilation at www.sermonindex.net
