Authority and Illumination

Most parents know the challenge of establishing and maintaining a sense of authority with their children. As a young father, I certainly identify with the joys and responsibilities of leading a family. “Why Daddy?”, may be the most frequently asked question in our home. I am thankful that God has been gracious in allowing me to have a very healthy relationship with my children. This does not mean, however, that we do not experience moments where authority is questioned. Why should children obey their parents? Quite simply, it is because God has established the parent child relationship as a part of the authoritative created order. Similarly, preachers carry with them a particular authority. Preaching is an exercise in and of authority. However, where does this authority come from? How is it maintained? Why should the attorney, assembly line worker, and stay at home mom listen to the preacher on Sunday morning? These questions will be explored to demonstrate the authority of the preacher and the exercise of preaching. Furthermore, the Holy Spirit’s role of illumination to both the listener and the preacher will be addressed.

In the case of the preacher, authority is not self generated. In other words, his authority does not come from himself. The prophets of the Old Testament spoke with authority because they led with the words “Thus says the Lord.” They did not speak with authority because of their personal charisma, conviction, or even character. Rather, they spoke with authority because they spoke on behalf of the Lord. They served as instruments in the hands of the Most High God. The real authority belongs to God. However, when God calls a preacher to preach, he commissions him with authority. In Folly, Grace, and Power, Dr. John Koessler writes: 

The authority to which we appeal is derived authority. When Jesus commanded his disciples to baptize and teach, he linked their commission with his own. “All authority on heaven and on earth has been given to me,” Jesus told them. “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:18-20)

The word “therefore” in Jesus commission should not be overlooked. It points back to the supreme authority that Jesus said had been given to him. Jesus’ own authority was the launching pad for the teaching and preaching ministry of the disciples. It is also the catalyst for authority among modern preachers. How often do preachers cite the great commission and miss the authority from which it is derived? Jesus’ earthly ministry was also marked by authority. The gospels regularly express Christ “as one who had authority” in his ministry of preaching and teaching (Matthew 7:29, ESV). The preacher carries the mantle of Christ’s authority every time he enters the pulpit to preach the word of God.

While the preacher’s authority is derived from God, his authority is maintained by God’s word. Preachers should never carry Christ’s mantle of authority in a careless or frivolous manner. There is a high measure of faithfulness the preacher must maintain. That faithfulness is measured by the preacher’s ability in “rightly handling the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15, ESV). The apostle Paul continued later in his letter to his son in the faith, charging him to “preach the word.” Preaching is not an aimless speech or casual address. Rather, there is an authoritative target that the preacher must aim for; that target is the word of God. In a lecture given at Dallas Theological Seminary, John Stott notes: “The preacher who enters the pulpit with no Bible in his hands is to be pitied. He cannot expound Scripture because he has no Scripture to expound. He cannot speak because he has nothing worth saying.” Stott affirms the idea that the preacher’s authority in the pulpit is maintained by his ability to open and expound the Scriptures. If the preacher wants to hold an audience with the attorney, assembly line worker, and stay at home mom, he must first determine to hold up the Scriptures.

The authority maintained by the Scriptures also points back to the authority derived from Christ. These sources of authority work in tandem. Koessler notes, again from Folly, Grace, and Power: “The Scriptures testify about Christ, and Christ bears witness to the Scriptures. Each speaks of the other, and they both speak with the same voice.” This harmony between Christ and his word is the platform of authority from which the preacher can proclaim the good news. It is also the pavilion of authority under which the preacher can rest.

Even as the preacher operates by the authority of Christ and from the authority of the Scriptures, there is another element of preaching that must not be overlooked. That is, the Holy Spirit’s work of illumination. The Moody Handbook of Theology defines illumination as the Holy Spirit’s ministry “in guiding the believer to an understanding of divine truth.” Supernatural truth cannot be understood by natural means alone. There must be a divine work that provides assistance and instruction for understanding the special revelation of God’s word. The apostle Paul writes: 

Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. (1 Corinthians 2:12-13)

Illumination is a gift of God’s grace and the means by which transformational understanding takes place. The Spirit’s application of God’s word includes what Koessler refers to as “the God-given conviction of faith.” 

The Spirit’s work of illumination also extends to the preacher. As the preacher assimilates the truth of God’s word into his life, he must in turn disseminate that truth to the congregation through the exercise of preaching. Koessler explains that the Spirit “works in the mind of the preacher to give insight on God’s word.” The preacher must apply this level of insight to the text itself and, as Koessler notes, to the “bearing the text has upon the audience.” To deliver an effective sermon, the preacher must exegete the text and the audience, as well as apply sound homiletical principles. This process requires both the preacher’s grace driven effort and the Spirit’s divine ministry of illumination.