The Lightning and The Thunder

A man came on one occasion to the great George Whitefield and asked if he might print his sermons. Whitefield gave this reply; he said, 'Well, I have no inherent objection, if you like, but you will never be able to put on the printed page the lightning and the thunder.' That is the distinction - the sermon, and the 'lightning and the thunder'. (Preaching and Preachers by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones p 58)

Lloyd-Jones offers the suggestion that there is a difference between a sermon and preaching. And as Mr. Whitefield put it, that difference is "thunder and lightning". I believe, from a Biblical perspective, what they are getting at is the difference between dunamis and excousia. These are both greek words meaning power or authority. But here is the difference.

Every time the preacher gets up to proclaim the word of God, he should be dripping with spiritual authority (power). But should it be with excousia or with dunamis? The answer is both. Excousia has to do with the power or authority that a king has, or at least an ambassador of the king has. The preacher has this kind of authority if and only if they have crafted their sermon based on the word of God. This kind of authority is evident in someone who has taken time to make sure they are speaking the very words of God. They are an ambassador, a herald for the king. They sound the trumpet proclaiming that the kingdom of God has invaded the kingdoms of earth. This power (authority) is vital. But it is not the thunder and lightning.

Now dunamis. That's the power. Dunamis is where we get our english word dynamite. It is explosive, the power to change things. That's thunder and lightning. Dunamis is the element in preaching that just can't be explained. It's when you say to someone, "you just had to be there." Dunamis is what so many preachers want, but so many are missing. So how do we get the dynamite power of God? By believing it is real. Do you really believe God can raise the dead? Do you really believe He can heal illnesses? Do you really believe He can cure addictions? Do you really believe that He can save sinners destined for wrath? I don't ask if you know these things. I ask if you believe them. Because if a preacher believes them, he will have thunder and lightning.

"Out from the throne come flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God; and before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal; and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind." (Revelation 4:5-6)

What if that was in our preaching?

Unction

Over the next few months I will be devoting my space on this blog to writing ideas that come to me concerning my thesis. My thesis, in its current format, states that the influence of a preacher during the sermon over an audience is directly related to the preacher's spiritual authority which is cultivated by their spiritual formation. A shorter way of saying it is that a preacher will only be able to move people as far as they themselves have been moved by God's Holy Spirit.

In my studying on these subjects, I have discovered this really interesting word. Unction. We don't use it much today, if ever. Older english translations used this word rather than anointing in the New Testament texts, (like I John 2:20.) The dictionary defines this word literally as a religious anointing with oil. However, it is the figurative use of this word that particularly caught my eye. The oxford english dictionary defines it figuratively as, "a spiritual influence acting upon a person." What do preachers lack today? They lack unction.

I have heard many well crafted sermons, I may have even spoken one or two. I have read books upon books about the construction of a sermon. I have observed congregations listen to many sermons week after week. What amazes is me is the amount of devotion given to the actual sermon and yet people can sit there unmoved by the ponderings of the preachers. Or they can laugh at jokes and be enamoured with stories, but at the end of the day they have not been transformed into the glory of God. How does this happen? No unction!

Unction comes when preachers have been silent for long periods of time before God. Unction comes when we have been obedient in the secret things. Unction comes when we have loved our wives well, raised our children properly, confessed our sins truthfully, repented of our lies, and prayed for the power of God to move in our lives. Unction, unlike writing a sermon, can not be conjured up. Unction is supplied from on High. Unction is what causes a tiny little flame like the preacher to spark the hearts of the body of Christ to be exposed to the true Light. Unction makes God really, really BIG and the preacher really, really small.

Oh lord give me unction. Give us all this unction, this anointing. Move our preachers to spend less time crafting clever ideas and more time seeking out your power. Help us to be the kind of men that Paul describes in I Thessalonians 1:5, "for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake." Give us the holy anointing that we might preach in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction!

What Will It Profit A Man...

"Then Jesus said to His disciples, 'If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" Matthew 16:24-26

I've often looked at this verse through very high and holy eyes. "Oh I most certainly would give up the whole world in order to take up my cross and follow Jesus. It will be difficult but I'm willing to go where you will have me to go." But I want to flip this around a little. What would it look like for you to gain the whole world? What would that mean to you?

I think for me it would mean complete and total freedom and power. If I gained the whole world I would have access to the endless accumulation of knowledge. I honestly would want to be the smartest person alive. And not only this but I would want to have the kind of freedom to act like a child, playing childish games, taking in childish pleasures, and just doing whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. I would do everything within my power to return to a simple state of mind, where there are no consequences for my actions. If I could gain the whole world, I would live out a kind of carefree existentialism where nothing and nobody could stop me, because I would be completely unconcerned with others.

What would it mean for you to gain the whole world? I'm sure your vision is different from mine. It's kind of fun and exciting to consider all the possibilities, to be the richest, to be the smartest, to be the sex god, to be the most powerful person, or whatever your concept of gaining the whole world might be. But what would it cost to actually get there? What would it take to achieve your vision of gaining the whole world? Interesting, because it actually may not be that hard for most of us to at least gain a piece of our vision, our dreams.

This is what scares me. What benefit comes from pursuing your vision of gaining the whole world? Some pious and upright people might say, "NONE!" I would disagree. I think I might quite enjoy my life as a slacker with all the potential in the world skating through life without a concern for how I abuse and use others with my superior knowledge. The question may not be benefit but rather gain. What do I GAIN by chasing down the whole world? In the end, the answer to that question is absolutely nothing. We maintain status quo, we keep what we have. We try not to gain anything, so that we don't have to lose anything. We live, we die, eat drink and be merry.

But what if we headed in the opposite direction? What if we decided to give up our pursuits of gaining the whole world? What would that cost us? What would you lose? Here's something we don't talk about much. Most of us, even many of Jesus' believers, live under the pretense of chasing after our vision of gaining the whole world. We put pretty labels on it, like careers, families, security, investment, or sometimes even ministry. But we're really pursuing our agenda for world domination. And yet we feel like we've gotten nowhere, that we've gained next to nothing. Why? Because we haven't embarked on the one journey that really matters, to lose everything.

What a paradox it is to follow Jesus. In order to gain anything, we must lose everything. In order to live in Christ, we must first die in Him. In order to save my life, I have to first lose it. Which direction are you headed in? At the end of your life, (which by the way could be sooner than you think), will you have spent your time trying to live it up, pursuing what you want or will you have lost yourself in Jesus in order to find the kind of true life that only He can give?

The Lord is My Defender

Do not fret because of evildoers, Be not envious toward wrongdoers. For they will wither quickly like the grass And fade like the green herb. Trust in the Lord and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Psalm 37:1-3

Being young and in the ministry, I find myself wanting to prove that I can do it, that somehow I am qualified to do the work. But without fail, one of the constant battles I find myself in is that people are questioning me or seeking my harm through words. In the past I have felt the need to speak up and defend myself, as if I have to prove to them that their perceptions of me are wrong. But lately I have been struck by this realization, when others seek my harm or have ill feelings towards me, only God can be my defender.

If we spend all of our time trying to prove the naysayers wrong, we will inevitably fail. We become self-fulfilling prophets because of our paranoia. We think, "that person is wicked and evil so they will never understand what I am trying to accomplish." And they won't as long as we try to convince them otherwise. Rather than trying to defend myself, I have found Psalm 37:3 to be the best advice.

"Trust in the Lord and do good." Or as Paul tells Timothy in I Timothy 4:12, "Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe." The Lord is my defender. Instead of being concerned with the stinging comments and harsh rebukes of those who are seeking my downfall, I should be focused on trusting in the goodness of God and living a Godly life. God will deal with those who oppose me unjustly. God is not concerned about whether I can defend myself, but rather about how will I respond in the face of opposition. Does my anger control me or does His love? Must I justify my actions or am I willing to lay down my desires for theirs?

When it comes to His church, I can get very worked up about the people involved. But I need to maintain a new posture. Whereas I have been telling people what they need to do to dwell properly in the land, I need to set an example of what it means to dwell in the land. I need to be an example of one who cultivates faithfulness. The Lord is my Defender.