Christ is the source of power. The Holy Spirit is the instrument of power. The believing preacher is the possessor. Spiritual power born of the Holy Spirit is conceived and matured in the Scripture.
"The word of God should be made the great educating power. Here is the grand stimulus, the hidden force which quickens the mental and physical powers, and directs the life into right channels. Here in the word is wisdom, poetry, history, biography, and the most profound philosophy. Here is a study that quickens the mind into a victorious and healthy life, and awakens it to the highest exercise."—Special Testimonies to Ministers, series A; no. 7, p. 28.
To study and believe and practice the Bible is to receive life and power. It has ever been the purpose of Jesus to impart His life to those who will hear Him. In His mystical words is the secret of power : "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you." "It is the Spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." John 6: 53, 63.
"When the servants of God know of a truth the meaning of these words, the elements of eternal life will be found in the ministry. The tame, dull sermonizing will cease. The foundation truths of the gospel will be presented in a new light. There will be a fresh perception of truth, a clearness and power that all will discern. Those who have the privilege of sitting under such a ministry will, if susceptible to the Holy Spirit's influence, feel the energizing power of a new life. The fire of God's love will be kindled within them. Their faculties will be quickened to discern the beauty and majesty of truth.
"The minister who makes the word of God his constant companion will continually bring forth truth of new beauty. The Spirit of Christ will come upon him, and God will work through him to help others. The Holy Spirit will fill his mind and heart with hope and courage and Bible imagery, and all this will be communicated to those under his instruction."—Gospel Workers, pp. 252, 253.
It takes effort and stern mental application to make the Word of God a constant companion and to minister with power to a congregation. Think of the import of these words: "The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, pierces the heart of sinners, and cuts it in pieces."—Testimonies, vol. 4, p. 441.
Only a heart that has been pierced, cut, and wounded by the Spirit and the Word can possibly wield the spiritual weapons that will convict and break other sinful hearts. It is alone with God in the quiet place of study that the Lord imparts power to the preacher. His mind and heart are absorbed in meditation upon Christ and the truths of redemption. In imagination he lives with his Lord before the foundations of the world, hears the thunder of the Creator's voice calling a new world into being, and watches the ancestors of our race as they come forth to live and move in His image.
In the quiet study hour the thoughtful preacher walks with Jesus through His ministry over hill and valley, and across lake and stream, followed by the eager multitudes who seek His blessing. To the last supper, to the judgment hall, and to the cross of Calvary the minister goes with his Lord, and sees in imagination the last solemn scenes of our Lord's wonderful life. And while he pauses at the tomb, he is carried over to the morning of the first day, when he hears the enraptured voice of the angel exclaim, "He is not here : for He is risen."
Not only with his Lord, who was "a greater prophet than Moses, a greater priest than Aaron, and a greater preacher than Paul," but with lesser men he communes. He is with Elijah on Mount Carmel, and the three disciples on the mount of transfiguration. He follows David down into the valley of the shadow and up the hillside against Golia.th. He is a soldier under Gideon, and holds a lamp and a pitcher in one hand, and a bugle in the other. He joins in the shouts of the three hundred, "The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon."
He eats with Elijah the frugal fare of the widow of Zarephath, and knows the pangs of hunger as he consumes the wafer made from the handful of meal and the cruse of oil. With Paul he is shipwrecked, and feels the sting of the serpent in his arm. He stands with the Baptist in the presence of King Herod and rebukes him for having Herodias, his brother Philip's wife. Down into the dungeon the preacher goes with the faithful prophet, to share the sting and ' offense of the cross of Christ.
Standing by Peter's side, he receives Pentecostal power, as the Spirit falls, and the coal of fire touches his lips and gives him utterance. Christ and Him crucified becomes the burden of his message as he proclaims the gospel of deliverance to the multitude. With John he is exiled to Patmos and has apocalyptic visions of his Lord. He sees the Promised Land near at hand, and walks the streets of gold with the saints of all ages.
From the lips of the first Adam he hears the detailed story of Eden lost and Eden restored. He communes with righteous Noah, and for a time is shut up in the ark as it sails the global sea. With Abraham he makes the arduous climb to Moriah's gloomy height, and lives over the adventure of sacrifice with the father of the faithful. Best of all, He sees his guardian angel, the blessed Jesus, and the glorious face of God. His soul is fired with rapturous wonder, and his lips join willingly in the glory song of eternity.
Such study and meditation will reveal itself in powerful preaching of the Word. Christ and the Bible will be made the center. Mrs. White was doubtless thinking of the importance of this when she exclaimed:
"Oh that I could command language of sufficient force to make the impression I wish to make upon my fellow-laborers in the gospel! My brethren, you are handling the words of life; you are dealing with minds that are capable of the highest development, if directed in the right channel. But there is too much exhibition of self in the discourses given. Christ crucified, Christ ascended into the heavens, Christ coming again, should so soften, gladden, and fill the mind of the minister of the gospel that he will present these truths to the people in love and deep earnestness. The minister will then be lost sight of, and Jesus magnified. The people will be so impressed with these all-absorbing subjects that they will talk of them and praise them, instead of praising the minister, the mere instrument. But if the people, while they praise the minister, have little interest in the word preached, he may know that the truth is not sanctifying his own soul. He does not speak to his hearers in such a manner that Jesus is honored, and His love magnified."—Ibid., vol. 4, PP. 399, 400.
We are to study the Bible with questions upon our lips, not questions of doubt, not skeptical queries and the interrogations of narrow, shortsighted critics, but questions to provoke thought and stimulate research. What, why, where, when, how, and who? These are the interrogatives that will drive us deep into the storehouse of truth. To find the answers to these questions, we will be led not only to the Bible but to Bible dictionaries and concordances, and occasionally to commentaries. We will read Spurgeon and Moody, Luther and Wesley, and contemporary preachers not of our faith who are known for their success as sincere gospel evangelists. As we read we will be led into a deep, reverent study of the Spirit of prophecy. We will delve into the fields of language and history, biography and science. But these studies will be subservient to the great themes of inspiration.
The Bible will teach us to think as God thinks, without losing our identity as men of choice. Best of all, we may, if we come to God honestly seeking for truth, form opinions for ourselves. Indeed, it is a responsibility as well as a privilege to learn to think in this way.
"We should day by day study the Bible diligently. weighing every thought, and comparing scripture with scripture. With divine help, we are to form our opinions for ourselves, as we are to answer for ourselves before God. . .
"We should exert all the powers of the mind in the study of the Scriptures, and should task the understanding to comprehend, as far as mortals can, the deep things of God; yet we must not forget that the docility and submission of a child is the true spirit of the learner. Scriptural difficulties can never be mastered by the same methods that are employed in grappling with philosophical problems. . . We must come with a humble and teachable spirit to obtain knowledge from the great I AM."—The Great Controversy, pp. 598., 599. (Italics mine.)
Adventist ministers have been accused of being literalists. We are literalists, but not altogether. We believe that "the language of the Bible should be explained according to its obvious meaning, unless a symbol or figure is employed."—Ibid., p. 599.
Much of our power lies in the fact that we take the Bible as it reads. In short, be believe that God has made the truth so plain that even an uneducated man can understand it. We should accept the Bible as it reads, taking God at His word and accepting the truth literally, unless an obvious symbol, or figure, is employed; then this symbol should be interpreted by that which is literal. These are good rules to remember in reading the Scriptures.
We should not forget the great value of memorizing key Bible texts. Tucked away in the filing cabinet of the memory, these valuable gems of truth may be called upon for reference at any time in the service of God. But let us emphasize the fact that the education of the mental faculties of reason and judgment are even more valuable than the training of the memory.
Sincere study of the Word of God is the most important single source of life and power available to the preacher. True, it cannot be separated from prayer and faith, but these factors are out of the scope of this article. For power in service we must turn to the words of life.
"In giving us the privilege of studying His word, the Lord has set before us a rich banquet. Many are the benefits derived from feasting on His word, which is represented by Him as His flesh and blood, His spirit and life. By partaking of this word our spiritual strength is increased; we grow in grace and in a knowledge of the truth. Habits of self-control are formed and strengthened. . . . Fretfulness, wilfulness, selfishness, hasty words, passionate acts—disappear, and in their place are developed the graces of Christian manhood."—Counsels to Teachers, p. 207.
Here at God's banquet table is power and life. Let us feast and be filled.
