The Church today has almost a singular focus on evangelism and getting people saved. So for many Christians, the concept of being a “witness” means to tell people about Yeshua (Jesus) and get them saved. But when Yeshua healed people, He did not say, “Now salvation has come to you”; He spoke to them about the Kingdom of God (Luke 9:11). We are to make disciples of all the nations, and there is something much more powerful in that (Matthew 28:19).
In the book of Revelation, John wrote, “Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, ‘Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come’” (Revelation 12:10).[1] Notice that salvation is one aspect of everything being named here: salvation, power, the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ. We are to be “clothed with power from on high” and manifest into this earth the Kingdom of God (Luke 24:49; Matthew 6:10).
We need to manifest the power and authority of heaven. It would be ludicrous today to go to war with a bow and arrow against modern weaponry. Yet the reality is that Christians are in that place spiritually. The limited expression of the Holy Spirit as it is manifested in the Church today is like fighting a modern war with bows and arrows. I think we will look back on these days of limited power and say, “We didn’t actually move in the Holy Spirit then.”
Please do not misunderstand what I am saying. Of course, we know there is a baptism of the Holy Spirit, but our Church doctrines have taken away the realty of the fullness of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the power of God. In the Scriptures the Spirit always moved with tremendous power—power that parted the Red Sea, put foreign armies to flight, or came as a mighty rushing wind. The noise and power released on the Day of Pentecost was so astounding that people came from all over the city to find out what was happening. They heard and felt the power of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is given to us to bring that power. Revelation 12:7 tells us that there was war in heaven, and satan lost the war. This happened when Yeshua sent the seventy out and gave them all authority and power over satan, and He saw satan fall from heaven like lighting (Luke 10:17–18). Power wins the war. It was the power of God that Yeshua imparted to those disciples. It was a very specific power over the enemy, and there is only one enemy: satan.
The Holy Spirit is much more than what we have embraced. Yeshua told His disciples, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you” (Acts 1:8). Remember, these people had just been taught by the resurrected Lord. Yet He sent them back to the upper room in Jerusalem to wait for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit and power. We can learn everything about the Word of God, but without power we have nothing. We must have a baptism of power. God is waiting for us to move in the power of His Spirit and make satan the footstool of His feet. By the Spirit we must end all other power—just like God ended all other authority. And we can do it by being filled with the power of God through the Holy Spirit.
[1] All Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995).