17. The Word of God makes a lousy club, but it makes a great sword.
The preacher needs to be careful not to turn the Word of God into something that it was not intended to be. Our goal is not to beat people up with Scripture, but to allow the Holy Spirit to cut away those elements that are not Christ-like in their lives.
This has to do with what ministers believe the “inspiration of Scripture” consists of in our world today. The Bible was written not to put the lives of people into print, but to put “life” into the souls of people. Incarnation depends on inspiration. A person cannot have “the Word become flesh” without “breath.” The term “inspiration” means “breath.”
“For no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God” (2 Pe 1:21).
“All Scripture is inspired by God” (2 Tim 3:16a) or is given by the breath of God.
In essence, the Bible was brought about by God’s breathing the words onto the page. By His Spirit, God was quickening the authors of the Bible to write His words for us. The breath of God moved upon them and through them in a manner that caused them to write down the words of God. Thus, the words in the Bible got there from the breath of God and the hand of man.
The challenge preachers face today is in knowing how to “inhale” correctly (exegesis) the breath of God or the Word of God. The goal is not just to get the Word of God into the preacher’s head but into the preacher’s heart as well. This is where the role of the Holy Spirit comes in as it relates to preaching. Do you know the difference between being a “profes¬sional preacher” and a “powerful preacher?”
After ministers have inhaled the breath of God and His Word, they are to “exhale” the Word of God through anointed preaching so people can live again. The minister can either share the inspired scriptures as infor¬mation or for incarnation. Just as the Holy Spirit birthed (conceived) Jesus in Mary, preachers are to have the kind of anointed ministry that births Jesus in the lives of others.
Powerful preaching impregnates people with the seed, spermos (from which the term “sperm” is derived), or the Word of God; and eternal life springs forth within their hearts. The result is salvation through belief in Jesus Christ. That is how the “Word becomes flesh” today. People must experience the “new birth” of Jesus inside them to enter into salvation. The Word of God makes a lousy club, but it makes a great sword!
By: Dr. James O. Davis, Founder of Cutting Edge International and Second Billion Network
Tune-in tomorrow for the eighteenth law of communication.
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