The Anointing of the Holy Spirit on the Servants & Ministry of the Word

Posted by John Reuther on February 19, 2010

Anointing Oil Clipart In this article, I am identifying the main passages in the New Testament, beginning with Acts, where we see the Holy Spirit anointing the Apostles and others. Under each passage I list the main features of the anointing. May God use this display of Holy Spirit power in the New Testament to encourage us to always seek to be anointed with the Holy Spirit in our ministry of the word. I trust that this catalog may become a resource for you and your ministry.

The Spirit’s Anointing seen in the messages, discourses, and pastoral work of the apostles and others in the Book of Acts.

1. Peter’s Pentecost Sermon: Acts 2:14 – 40

Preaching with power and authority.
Preaching with enthusiasm and energy.
Preaching with courage and conviction.
Explaining the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy.
Preaching the Resurrection.
Preaching the exalted Christ.
Preaching the sending of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.

2. Peter’s second sermon in the portico of Solomon: Acts 3:12 -26.

Preaching to convince and convict.
Preaching Christ’s ascension.
Preaching the great promises of God from the Old Testament.
Preaching the blessings of the Gospel.
Preaching with warnings for disobedience.

3. Peter’s defense before the elders in Jerusalem: Acts 4:8-13.

Preaching the power of the exalted Christ.
Preaching Christ rejected by men.
Preaching Christ as the only way to salvation.

4. Peter’s discernment of the sin of Ananias & Sapphira: Acts 5:1 – 10.

Showing the gift of pastoral discernment.

5. Stephen’s sermon to the Jews: Acts 6:10 – 7:59.

Preaching with wisdom (6:10): knowing his audience, what they needed, and how the Gospel applied specifically to them.
Preaching the history of redemption (salvation history).
Preaching the promises of the Old Testament.
Preaching with searching application (that cost him his life).
Preaching to convict of sin (7:51).
Preaching in the presence of God (7:55).

6. Philip preaching Christ in Samaria: Acts 8:5 – 15.

Preaching the good news of the arrival of the Kingdom in Christ.

7. Philip preaching to the Ethiopian Eunuch: Acts 8:29 – 35.

Having the desire to proclaim Christ: asking questions (8:30).
Being sensitive to what the Eunuch was thinking about and taking him from where he was to Christ: “beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him” (8:35).

8. Saul preaching in Damascus: Acts 9:22.

Preaching apologetically: giving evidence that Jesus is the Christ.

9. Peter preaching to the house of Cornelius: Acts 10:34 – 43.

Preaching truths freshly revealed to him by the Spirit.
Admitting that he did not see the truth correctly in the past.
Preaching with a great grasp on the overall “event” of Christ’s coming into the world and ministry in Palestine (10:38 – “the thing which took place”) which Peter was privileged to have a part in (though he did not fully grasp the significance of what was happening during the incarnation).
Preaching as a witness of the things that Christ did (preaching is a form of witness to the truth, even for us).
Preaching as God’s appointed messenger (10:41, 42).

10. Paul preaching to Sergius Paulus in Paphos on Cyprus: Acts 13:6 – 12.

Preaching to the heart of a man (“he fixed his gaze on him”).
Preaching with the convicting power of the Spirit.

11. Paul’s message in Pisidian Antioch: Acts 13:16 – 41, and the following week Paul & Barnabas speaking boldly: Acts 13:46 – 52.

Preaching salvation history with enthusiasm, as living history, calling men to God today.
Preaching the Christ of history.
Preaching the events of Gospel history.
Preaching the God who makes and keep His promises in history.
Preaching the resurrection.

12. Paul & Barnabas in the synagogue in Iconium: Acts 14:1f.

Preaching in such a manner that large numbers of people believe.

13. At Lystra, speaking to a lame man and preaching in the aftermath: Acts 14:8 – 18.

Preaching as men to lost men; not allowing the hearers to worship the preachers.
Preaching God as Creator and God’s goodness to all men in providence.

14. In the deliberations of the council at Jerusalem: Acts 15:28.

The Apostles sensed/knew the presence and agency of the Spirit in their pastoral dealings.

15. The Spirit testified to Paul in every city; Acts 20:23.

Paul knew the immediate testimony of the Spirit in his life and ministry.

16. Paul’s defense in the barracks: Acts 22:1-21.

Preaching in defense of the truth, and before accusers and persecutors (which was Paul’s experience increasingly as his life moved forward).
Preaching with a keen memory and awareness of Christ’s personal dealings with him in salvation (he would never forget!).

17. Paul’s defense before Felix: Acts 24:10-21 and privately with Felix: 24:25.

Preaching cheerfully before his detractors, preaching in the joy of the Holy Spirit.
Preaching the resurrection.
Discussing righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come with a powerful ruler (Felix). These are things which the Spirit has been sent into the world to press on the hearts of the unconverted.

18. Paul’s defense before Agrippa: Acts 26:1-29.

Challenging the unbelief of the hearers (“why is it considered incredible among you people if God does raise the dead? – v. 8).
Preaching as God’s appointed messenger with a message of deliverance (beautifully summarized in 26:16-18).
Preaching as Christ’s obedient messenger (v. 19f).
Preaching Old Testament & Gospel history.
Preaching with the awareness and conviction that the message is “sober truth.”
Challenging his hearer (Agrippa) to believe the truth.

19. Paul’s regular labor in the Spirit during his imprisonment in Rome; Acts 28:23-28, 31.

Preaching as solemn testimony to the truth.
Preaching with conversion as his aim.
Preaching from morning until evening (v. 23).
Preaching the Kingdom of God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Spirit’s Anointing seen in the letters of the Apostles to the Churches & the Book of Revelation.

1. Romans 1:4-5 ~ “…..declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

2. Romans 1:15-17 ~ The Gospel is the power of God for salvation

Paul is referring in both of these sections to the preaching of the Gospel begun at Pentecost. It is preaching with power, and remains the powerful Gospel which is ours to preach with power today.

3. Romans 10:15-17 ~ The Beautiful Feet of the Preacher

The Spirit-filled preacher is a blessing to the anxious hearers, to those burdened by the power and guilt of sin. Let’s preach in the consciousness that there will likely be some soul burdened by sin in our hearing.

4. Romans 15:16-21 ~ Preaching ministry sanctified by the Holy Spirit

Paul described the preaching of the Gospel in his day as preaching in the power of the Holy Spirit. This means that Christ was preached, i.e., the Gospel message. But the Gospel message brought about the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed, indicating that the Spirit transformed the lives of Gentile sinners through the preaching.

5. 1 Corinthians 2:1–16 ~ Preaching as demonstration of the Spirit & Power

Paul contrasts Gospel preaching which is “of the Spirit” (owned by Him) with worldly wisdom presented by the cultured Greeks of his day. Preaching in the power of the Spirit in every generation will mimic apostolic preaching. They are our examples. We are always being challenged to change the way we preach to accommodate and ease our message onto a generation of people who either cannot bear up under a real sermon, or who have no interest in preaching, but who would prefer other forms of communication (dialogue, drama, or inspirational talk).

6. 1 Corinthians 4:20 ~ Preaching powerful words

Words alone are not effectual, but words blessed with the power of the Spirit are.

7. 2 Corinthians 3:6–8, 17, 18 ~ We are servants of the new covenant, of the Spirit

What is Paul saying here? Is he saying that we do not preach the letter (Law) but we preach the Spirit? He is saying that we preach the New Covenant, which is not a ministry of Law (letter) but a ministry empowered by the Spirit, and a ministry in which the Spirit completes and fulfills the promises of the old covenant through Jesus Christ. Paul is showing the relationship of Christ and the Spirit in verse 17 and 18. The Lord (Jesus) is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Paul is also reminding us that our preaching ministry is full of the liberty of the Spirit’s illumination. We have unveiled faces. We see clearly and we are being increasingly transformed into the image of Christ through the Spirit’s enlightenment.

8. 2 Corinthians 4:13 ~ Preaching with conviction

Paul is speaking about the force of truth upon our consciousness and upon our preaching.

9. 2 Corinthians 6:6, 7 ~ Preaching strong in the weakness of affliction

As Paul lists his afflictions, he also confesses his blessings. And in the list we find the ministry of the Spirit in the word of truth. “….in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love, in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left” (6:6c-7).

10. 2 Corinthians 11:4-10 ~ True and false preaching of Christ

11. Ephesians 1:17, 18 with 3:4-21 ~ How illumination affects proclamation

These are important portions of the Ephesian letter with regard to the doctrine of the Spirit’s illumination and anointing of the preacher to preach the Gospel and build up the church. Paul prays that their eyes will be enlightened. Paul understands this illumination to be a matter of God’s power working in our hearts and minds. He sees it as taking place in our spirits, which of course relates to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in our lives. In chapter 3 he speaks of his own insight (given by the Spirit) into the mystery of Christ which is now being made known through the preaching of the Gospel. So this is our task: to preach the revelation of the mystery previously hidden but now “revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit (3:5).” Then he prays again that they will be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in their hearts through faith.

12. Philippians 1:15-19 ~ All preaching is not pure

Paul is calling us to examine our motives in preaching. Are they pure motives (v. 17)?

13. Colossians 1:24-29 ~ Preaching with individual Christian growth as our aim

“Christ in you” is the hope of glory, and Christ in our hearers is the aim of our regular preaching ministries.

14. 1 Thess. 1:5-6 ~ Preaching in power and the Holy Spirit

This is an important statement of Paul for preachers of the Gospel. In it he teaches us that the Gospel is the power of God and true preaching is accompanied by the power of the Holy Spirit. He teaches that when the Spirit comes in power, conviction attends the preaching. He also teaches that “the life of the minister is the life of his ministry.” The kind of man that Paul was means everything for being a vessel of the Spirit in Gospel preaching.

15. 2 Tim. 1:6, 7, 14 ~ Fanning the Gift in the Preacher to Flame

The gift of God given to Timothy, (which was evident at the time of Timothy’s ordination to Gospel ministry the laying on of hands), was a gift that Timothy was always to fan into flame. Paul calls it a treasure to be guarded through the Holy Spirit. But this gift is described as a spirit of boldness and power and love and discipline, not a spirit of fear or timidity.

16. 1 Peter 1:12 ~ Gospel preaching by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven

Peter is trying to say that those who heard the Gospel in the first century heard it as a message from heaven sent by the Holy Spirit Himself. What a privilege! Even angels longed/long to look into the contents of this promised salvation.

17. Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22 ~ The Spirit is speaking to the churches

True preaching today must be done in the consciousness that it is the Holy Spirit speaking to the churches, not just to individuals. We must show our people and explain to them that though a man is preaching, the Spirit is speaking as the truth is unfolded biblically.

18. Revelation 22:17 ~ The Spirit is calling sinners to come to Christ

Preaching must be evangelistic, and true Gospel preaching seeks not only to build up the saints, but to evangelize sinners.

The material in this article is taken from my Syllabus on the Gift of the Holy Spirit, pp. 393ff., which you can download for free by clicking here.

John Reuther
Pastor, Covenant Baptist Church, Lumberton, NJ
Professor, Reformed Baptist Seminary, Taylors, SC

Share and Enjoy:

Filed Under: Biblical Studies, Holy Spirit, New Testament

Tags: Holy Spirit, Preaching

One Response to “The Anointing of the Holy Spirit on the Servants & Ministry of the Word”

Dan Lane Says:
February 19th, 2010 at 5:05 pm
i love this! i love that what we see in Luke, that is, Jesus preaching and doing ministry in the power of the Holy Spirit is carried on in qualified, sanctified and empowered preaching. i didn’t realize how many different ways that preaching is used. can’t wait to go back and see each of these instances. what strikes me is that in every instance of Spirit-empowered preaching there is Spirit-enabled hearing that makes it effective.

Thanks so much for this post.

Dan