Heb 4:12-13 – For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
Any time God’s Truth is declared under the unction and at the direction of the Holy Spirit, it is quick, powerful, and sharp. It pierces the heart and lays open the soul. That is why Jesus’ words were so powerful, so effective, and for the religious of the day, often very direct and uncomfortable. People marveled at the teaching that came from him, they noted that he “spoke with authority, and not as the Scribes” (Matt 7:29) whose words and teaching did not carry any divine authority or “unction”. Interestingly, the Scribes and Pharisees taught from the same scriptures, and often even scriptural truths, but their words did not carry the authority or the anointing of the Holy Spirit and therefore their teaching was flat and had no power. Their hypocrisy and ungodliness undermined everything they said, no matter how truthful or “scriptural” the proclamation may have been. The Holy Spirit did not confer the needed anointing upon their words because of the state of their hearts before God. The power is not in the words themselves, but in the Holy Spirit that undergirds and adds divine power to the proclamation of those words.
The Apostle Paul said this to the Corinthians: And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God (1 Cor 2:4-5).
When he talked about coming to them to evaluate some of their teachers who had become arrogant he said: But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power. For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. (1 Cor 4:19-20)
Without the power of the Holy Spirit at work, the declaration of the Word of God will not have the transformative impact it was meant to have. When it states in Is 55:11 that the Word of God will not return void, it does not mean that every time scripture is quoted it carries some kind of special power. It is only when the Holy Spirit confirms and energizes that word that it has any fruitful, transformative impact.
The power is not just in the integrity or truthfulness of the teaching itself, but also in the integrity and character of the person doing the teaching. Two people could preach the exact same message, word for word, and have radically different outcomes. A preacher who is not himself walking in the highest levels of righteousness, humility and godly sincerity in his personal life will NOT carry the anointing of the Holy Spirit upon his teaching and there will be no divine power in his words. This explains a lot of the ineffectiveness of the Church today, even the biblically sound ones, in actually changing lives and transforming culture. It’s not as much a problem with the message itself or method of preaching, but with the men proclaiming it. As E.M. Bounds so rightly stated in his book Preacher and Prayer: “The Church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men”. Almost all ministry training focuses on honing and clarifying the doctrine and message rather than preparing the men who carry the message by teaching *them* how to walk with God in all righteousness and Christlikeness. With it you generate a lot of pastors and teachers who know how to put biblical messages together and teach them with skill, but very few who carry that message with any kind of power or anointing. 2 Tim 2:21 – Therefore, if anyone cleanses *himself* from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.
When the Apostles continued proclaiming and spreading the Gospel after Jesus death and resurrection, their words and teaching carried the same power and authority and had the effect of “turning the world upside down”. When Stephen disputed in the synagogue of the Libertines, it says “And they were not able to resist the wisdom *and the spirit* by which he spake” (Acts 6:10). Many marveled that these were “unlearned men”, so it wasn’t the cleverness of their methods or their intellectual prowess, but the result of the power of the Holy Spirit working through humble men whose hearts were fully committed to the Lord and were walking in close fellowship with Him. Their personal, daily walk with the Lord was of such a nature that the Holy Spirit could flow through them in full measure, unhindered by any ungodliness or lack of single-mindedness on their part. Their eye was single, and their whole body was full of the light of the Lord (Matt 6:22). As a result, they spoke the Word of God in Power.