Word And SpiritSample

DAY TWO: Can You Have the Word Without the Spirit?

We would not have the Old and New Testaments without the Spirit. The Holy Spirit wrote the Bible. However, it does not follow that the Spirit will always apply the Word.

Sometimes the Holy Spirit applies the Word and sometimes, owing to His sovereign prerogative, He doesn’t. Take note of John 3:16. If the Word and the Spirit were inseparable, then why do not all lost people get saved when they read this? The answer is, because the Spirit does not always apply the Word. Why not? Because God is sovereign.

One would hope for unusual power every time one preaches. However, even the great apostle Paul was acutely aware that he might speak to people without the conscious enablement of the Spirit. This is why he prayed to be given words—utterance, unusual ability to think and preach when the Holy Spirit not only pours thoughts into one’s mind but also grants boldness for which there is no natural explanation. Merely to preach doctrine, however accurate that teaching might be, would not be enough.

In a word: we need not only the Scriptures but also the power of God. It is the conscious power of God that surely every preacher wants.